North Devon surfer cracks epic endurance swim in memory of a young man taken too soon

A North Devon surfer and business owner has completed an epic solo swim from Hartland to Croyde in memory of a young man who lost his life far too young.

Josh Surridge, aged 28, completed the 23-kilometre endurance challenge on Thursday, July 10 in around six hours and has so far raised almost £3,500 for The Forward Trust in honour of Jonathon Bailey.

Above: Josh Surridge safely ashore at Croyde beach after his incredible six hour swim for charity. Credit: www.zacsurridgephotography.co.uk 

The brother of Josh’s close friend and well-known North Devon surfer Will Bailey, Jonathon tragically passed away in April last year, aged just 23-years-old.

Josh, who runs Coastal Adventures in North Devon with his brother Zac, said: “The devastating news of Johnny's passing drove me to take action to raise awareness and funds for a charity which supports those battling mental health and addiction.

“Those close to the family know that Jonathan had an extremely tough battle with his mental health for much of his young life.”

Above: Two safety boats crewed by family and friends supported Josh during the 23-kilometre swim. Credit: www.zacsurridgephotography.co.uk 

A former RNLI lifeguard who grew up in North Devon, Josh did swim competitively when he was younger but had not completed any distance swims for some years.

He spent several weeks training and in May raced in the River Shannon in Ireland for the Gaelforce Great River Swim, coming in second place.

Conditions were not perfect for his big swim from Hartland to Croyde on Thursday, but were manageable. The team’s two safety boats met at Clovelly and then headed to Hartland to wait for low tide before Josh took to the water and everything went pretty much to plan.

He said: “Conditions overall were tougher than we thought they would be, it was choppy and the wind was a little stronger than expected, but the only injuries I came away with were a bit of wetsuit rash and sunburn.

“This stretch of coastline is well-known for its strong currents and powerful swells so it added another element to the challenge.

“We had the two safety boats and a crew of friends. I would like to thank Andy Miller, Vaughan Lawson, his son Cory Lawson, my dad Andy Surridge and my brother Zac, Will Bailey, Jonathon’s brother and Josh Simpson who was the doctor on the boat.”

Above: Taking a short break. Credit: www.zacsurridgephotography.co.uk 

The group paused every 30 minutes for Josh to take on board nutrition gels such as those used by triathletes and electrolyte drinks.

There was one moment of concern as Josh neared Croyde and he said: “Between Croyde and Saunton, there was a big dredger boat coming in towards us. The crew was on it but it was a panic moment for me, although they had it all under control and in the end it wasn’t that close to us.

“We had a great time on the beach when we arrived, lots of friends and family were there, including Will and Jonathon’s mum.”

Josh said he had also had good support from well-known North Devon surfer Matt Knight, who provided support to Ross Edgley when he completed the Great British Swim around the entire mainland coast of the British Isles. Matt provided advice and navigational suggestions based on his own experiences.

Above: Getting there! Credit: www.zacsurridgephotography.co.uk 

Josh would also like to thank DryRobe, Wetsuit Outlet, Stuart Poynter, Jack Hutchens, Neil Gilson, Paul Greenaway and everyone who has supported or donated and taken his fundraising well beyond its original £2,000 target.

Now he is considering another challenge in the future and said: “I had it in my head once I had done this that would be it for me swim-wise, but it has motivated me to do something else, maybe an Ironman Triathlon at some point.”

You can still sponsor Josh and donate to The Forward Trust if you wish via his JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/page/joshua-surridge-1736170719374

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