Adrian Sarchet

Adrian Sarchet is a Guernsey marathon swimmer known as Sea Donkey. His film biography describes a former junior pool swimmer and rugby player who became a lawyer before returning to sustained exercise through open water. In his own account, the turning point was an invitation from his brother at Christmas 2009 to join a charity sea swim. He began swimming in Guernsey waters the following January.

Channel swimmer Roger Allsopp helped turn that local challenge into a larger ambition. Sarchet joined part of Allsopp’s qualifying swim at Dover, earned a qualifying certificate himself and committed to a Channel attempt. On 10 August 2012, he completed the England-to-France route in 14:02:00 with Neil Streeter aboard Suva and observer Mike Ball. Family, friends and an ITV filmmaker accompanied the swim.

The English Channel began an Oceans Seven journey that concluded with Cook Strait in 2020; ITV reported him as its twenty-first finisher. James Harrison’s documentary Sea Donkey follows his North Channel challenge, giving the nickname a wider audience. Sarchet also used swimming to support access to the water at home: in August 2022 he completed a 24-hour swim at Guernsey’s La Vallette pools to help fund improved accessibility.