The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
RNLI crewman Donnie cheered home after he completes epic swim
AFife RNLI crew member is thought to have become the first person to swim across the Firth of Forth to Inchkeith Island and back in a unique fundraising challenge.
Donnie MacLean, 42, a member of Kinghorn lifeboat crew, completed the energy-sapping fivemile round trip, across a busy shipping lane, in under three hours.
About 30 friends and colleagues were on hand to wish the 42-year-old well as he set off shortly before 12.30pm on Saturday.
A breakfast loaded with carbohydrates, including cheese and jam sandwiches, and peanut butter and banana flatbreads, helped to fuel the swim.
Ahead of entering the water Donnie admitted to being both “confident” and “nervous” as supporters cheered him on.
The time was set to coincide with “slack tide” – the peak point between high and low tide – which would present Donnie with the least amount of tidal drag.
He even had to secure permission from Forth Ports Authority to allow him to swim across the shipping channel, such was the precarious nature of the challenge.
However, he was in good company throughout – flanked by RNLI colleagues Blair Henderson, Mark Brown and Sam Tedcastle in two boats.
The outward leg was completed in calm water – without a threat from jellyfish, which had been a concern before setting off.
However as winds grew stronger, the last hour proved increasingly difficult for Donnie – with the swell leaving him without sight of the shoreline for large parts.
He said afterwards: “The conditions going out were perfect and I went off like a train, feeling good throughout the outward swim.
“However the waves whipped up a bit during the return and the support boats were being pushed closer to me, which made it increasingly dangerous.
“Because of the way I breathe, I asked them both to come on my right-hand side, but then I could taste the petrol from their engines in the water which wasn’t nice.”
Despite the worsening conditions, Donnie finally emerged from the water at Kinghorn beach, to the rapturous applause of supporters gathered to cheer him home.
And proving he still had energy left in the tank, Donnie sprinted out of the sea up the ramp of Kinghorn lifeboat station – completing the gruelling challenge in two hours and 58 minutes.
He added: “I’m tired but delighted to have completed it in under three hours, and it’s great to have a few folk come out and welcome me back too.”
Any notion of Donnie putting his feet up for a well-earned rest on Saturday night were scotched as he prepared to go on call as part of the Kinghorn crew.
Donnie’s efforts have already raised more than £3,000 to support the RNLI.
“It’s great to have a few folk come out and welcome me back too