In an ironic open water happening, all the swimmers were rescued in a 3.8K charity swim for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a charity that saves lives at sea.

The RNLI provides a 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service and a seasonal lifeguard service – and its skilled lifesavers were called into action when the swimmers were swept out to sea during a charity swim on its behalf in Joss Bay on Sunday.

Dover Coastguards spent about two hours searching for all the missing participants with two inshore lifeboats, rescue boats, and some paddle boarders who were part of the event. Fortunately, all swimmers were safely brought ashore and accounted for despite some strong tidal flows when only three people finished the race. One of the swimmers stated after the race, “It was just unswimmable in one direction.”

Shelley Taylor-Smith of OpenWaterSwimmingMastery was there coaching a group of swimmers from Australia. “It was the biggest sea rescue the RNLI had ever undertaken. I was on the beach as the coach. I was very nervous as I watched the swimmers being swept off course half-mile out to sea then two miles up the coast out of sight.”

But fortunately, everyone got back to shore.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source