and Water Aid , the Charity NWW support . Due to this success , NWW continued funding the swim for six years until 1999 with many swimmers raising tens of thousands of pounds for the charities they supported by swimming the mighty Mersey . The 1998 and 1999 swim was won by Liverpool swimmer Dave Parry , brother of olympic swimmer Steve Parry .
In the year 2000 , the River Mersey Basin sponsored the swim . The River Mersey was now getting world wide acclaim for being a clean river attracting an abundance of wildlife with fish , seals , birds and even six small octopus ’ being released into the river . Press cuttings , videos and photographs of previous year ’ s swims were sent to the Director of The River Basin Campaign who presented a lecture in Brisbane Australia , as the Australians did not believe the Mersey was clean enough to swim . In 2000 , Jimmy Tinsley was runner up to Dave Reason from Howebridge Marlins , Bolton .
The 2001 swim was cancelled in memory of Kenny O ’ Toole who died suddenly from heart failure ( 1946-2001 ). Kenny had been part of the six man English Channel Relay Swim Team and had also swam the Mersey many times , finishing third one year . With many stories of epic swims , individual challenges and a growing legacy , the swim became a self funded event from 2002 now relying on swim entry fees to support the event . In 2001 , Robin was asked to write an article on the Post War Across River Mersey Swim for a book called ‘ Played in Liverpool ’ by Ray Physick . The front cover showed the start of the 1937 Across Mersey Swim , with swimmers diving in to the River Mersey from the side of a boat called the Skirmisher .
In 2002 , Robin Baynes founded the charity Liverpool Heartbeat and provided a new trophy for the Across Mersey Swim in memory of Kenny ‘ Dipper ’ O ’ Toole . The first swimmer to have his name on the new Trophy was Neville Barton . It was during an open water swimming session at the salt house dock in 2002 that I first learnt about this iconic swim and met Jim Tinsley for the first time . The newly formed tri-4-life team were preparing for their 2006 European Challenge that would include two seven man English Channel relay teams . From that introduction Robin Baynes , Jimmy Tinsley and Bob Jones became lifelong friends , supporters and tri-4-life team members .
The 2003 Across Mersey swim saw the 14 members of the tri-
4-life team attempt the crossing for the second time with three generations of the Hanlon family taking to the water , with the young Ryan Hanlon , 14 , being hauled out after forty minutes due to hypothermia . The winner of the swim was Richard Kay .
In 2004 , another young swimmer , Mike Searle , 17 , won the Across Mersey Swim in a record time of ( 17 minutes 22 seconds ) - a record that still stands today . In 2005 , the swim was cancelled due to Power Boat Racing on the River Mersey taking place on the same day , so an alternative swim was arranged from Seacombe to New Brighton . The City of Liverpool swimming club also featured with its first junior channel relay team . Steve Wall was the winner that year .
The 2006 Swim was cancelled through lack of safety cover . In the following three years 2007 , 2008 & 2009 , the swim was won by Matt Webster , and following his third year of winning the Across Mersey Swim , Matt received a special award in recognition of his three wins . Nicholas Robinson was the first to swim using the butterfly stroke in 2007 and two years later , Joe Coy also did the same .
With the continued success of the swim , Liverpool Heartbeat , tri-4-life , City of Liverpool swimming club and Merseytri with the support of all Merseyside dive clubs , canoe clubs and local Mersey fisherman boats were coming under increased bureaucratic pressures from the local council and port authorities that wanted increased documentation and insurances to legitimise the swim as an ‘ event ’. By the very nature and adventure aspect of the swim this would always prove difficult .
As a volunteer extreme and adventure event organiser , it was always my intention to keep the swim open and accessible to as many deserving participants as possible . Whilst every precaution and consideration for safety would be given , the element of risk would always remain an attraction and challenge of the swim , with swimmers raising funds for their chosen charity instead of the numerous invented commercial enterprises looking for profit .
In order to meet National Governing Body requirements for insurance cover , a run was added at the end of the 2010 and 2011 swims to form ‘ The John Hulley Across Mersey
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