Two women attempt to swim from Marblehead to Scituate

Scituate MA — Two California women took on a grueling open-water swim Tuesday morning, May 27, attempting to swim nearly 18 miles from Marblehead to Scituate as part of their qualification for upcoming marathon swims in Ireland.

Abigail Fairman, 49, and Sarah Roberts, 42, entered the water at Devereux Beach in Marblehead just before 6:30 a.m. Tuesday with plans to finish at Minot Beach in Scituate later in the day. The swim was organized alongside the Massachusetts Open Water Swimming Association.

The swimmers faced water temperatures between 55 and 57 degrees and spent hours battling changing ocean conditions off the Massachusetts coastline. Organizers said parts of the route placed them more than 10 miles offshore.

For the first few hours, conditions stayed fairly calm. But by late morning and into the afternoon, rougher seas, stronger swells and shifting tides made the swim much harder. Roberts said at one point it felt like they were barely moving forward because of the currents.

Both swimmers were also stung multiple times by jellyfish during the attempt.

Despite the difficult conditions, Fairman stayed in the water for the full eight-hour qualification requirement, while Roberts continued for about another hour and a half before both swimmers returned to their support boat.

Although they did not complete the full Marblehead-to-Scituate crossing, both women successfully completed the cold-water qualification time needed for marathon swims scheduled later this year in Ireland.

Fairman is preparing for the 21.4-mile North Channel swim between Northern Ireland and Scotland. The two swimmers are also expected to compete together in the 13-mile Fastnet Swim off the coast of Ireland later this summer.