Two Year 9 students from Taunton School have made history by becoming the youngest people to complete a solo swim across the Bristol Channel, surpassing the previously held record by a year.
At just 14-years-old, Izzy and Susy completed the 29.93km crossing from Penarth to Clevedon in six hours and 28 minutes, a distance which is the equivalent of Taunton to Tiverton as the crow flies.
The Bristol Channel has the second-highest tidal range in the world and is one of the UK’s most challenging stretches of open water to cross. Izzy and Susy undertook the challenge in support of The Big Swim campaign which aims to raise awareness of sewage pollution in our seas. 
Susy said: “It’s the hardest thing I have done but all the training was worth it, even though I can barely raise my arms above my head now!” and Izzy said: “I’m still tired now but I am really proud of us.”
A very special moment at the end of the swim saw Susy, the younger of the two, allow Izzy to exit the water first so that she could be the youngest swimmer to ever complete the swim for around ten seconds before Susy exited the water.
Both students have been at Taunton School since Year 7 and joined the School’s Long-Distance Swimming Club (part of its leading co-curricular programme) the same year where they began learning the techniques required to complete swims of this nature.
Izzy and Susy are familiar with Channel crossings, having completed a relay swim of the Bristol Channel in July 2026 and a relay swim of the English Channel in August 2025, all aided by Taunton School’s Head of Long-Distance Swimming, Hamish McCarthy.
Hamish said: “I was so proud when the girls crossed the finish line – I’m still emotional now! They have been training for over a year and it has all paid off – they’ve smashed it.”
Having conquered the Bristol Channel, the swimmers now have their sights set on the North Channel, one of the world’s most demanding open-water swims, when they meet the minimum age requirement of 16. Completion would see them achieve the prestigious Triple Crown of channel swimming at the earliest opportunity.
Find out more about The Big Swim: https://www.justgiving.com/page/thebigswim
Find out more about Taunton School’s co-curricular programme: https://www.tauntonschool.co.uk/explore/co-curricular/
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