{"id":166896,"date":"2025-09-24T23:56:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T23:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/166896\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T23:56:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T23:56:22","slug":"rugby-player-completes-first-full-swim-of-caledonian-canal-in-memory-of-jenny-hastings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/166896\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby player completes first full swim of Caledonian Canal in memory of Jenny Hastings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RobRob Eyton-Jones<\/p>\n

Iain Sinclair is the first person to swim the full length of the 200-year-old Caledonian Canal<\/p>\n

Former professional rugby union player Iain Sinclair has become the first person to swim the full length of the Caledonian Canal – a challenge he took on in memory of Jenny Hastings.<\/p>\n

Jenny, the wife of former Scotland rugby international Scott Hastings, took her own life last year age 60.<\/p>\n

A keen athlete and mental health advocate, Jenny had gone missing in the water at Wardie Bay in Edinburgh after a swim. Her body was found in the area days later.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Iain told BBC Breakfast<\/a> that Jenny had “courageously battled” her mental health challenges and inspired many through her love of outdoor swimming.<\/p>\n

He also dedicated the swim to his friend Colin Maguire, who died suddenly from a heart attack in 2024.<\/p>\n

As he finished the 60-mile challenge in Inverness, he was greeted by an emotional Scott – who said on social media that he was “in total awe” of his friend.<\/p>\n

\"RobRob Eyton-Jones<\/p>\n

Iain Sinclair was congratulated by his former Edinburgh Rugby teammate Scott Hastings – who lost his wife last year<\/p>\n

On the day of her disappearance in September last year, Jenny had been visited by a mental health practitioner after her depression took a turn for the worse.<\/p>\n

Scott had arranged to meet her in the afternoon for a swim in the Firth of Forth at her favourite spot in Wardie Bay.<\/p>\n

During her dark days, Scott said it was a “place of healing” for her.<\/p>\n

But when he realised he couldn’t see her and instead saw her buoyancy aid tethered nearby, he contacted the coastguard for help.<\/p>\n

Jenny’s body was found five days later, on the couple’s wedding anniversary.<\/p>\n

She had lived with depression for 20 years before she died, and Scott said there had been several scares before.<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Hastings<\/p>\n

Jenny and Scott Hastings first met when they were at school and spent 45 years together<\/p>\n

Scott and his family joined Iain’s support team as he took on the mammoth swim along the canal, which connects the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

Other people have swum the individual lochs – such as Loch Ness – that form parts of the 200-year-old canal, stretching from near Fort William to Inverness.<\/p>\n

But Iain got permission from Scottish Canals to pass through its four lochs and 29 lock gates.<\/p>\n

The 48-year-old completed his swim in eight days – with around six hours spent in the cold water each day – finishing in Inverness on Monday.<\/p>\n

The journey was captured in spectacular pictures by Iain’s friend Rob Eyton-Jones, who was also part of his support team.<\/p>\n

He has raised \u00a360,000 Crohn’s & Colitis UK, British Heart Foundation, and Mikeysline.<\/p>\n

Scott previously told the BBC: “He’s been an inspiration for me and it’s just taking that legacy forward.<\/p>\n

“Jenny would’ve loved to have seen Iain doing what he’s doing and would be so proud of him. I can’t wait to get onto the boat to support him.”<\/p>\n

In pictures: How the challenge unfolded<\/p>\n

\"RobRob Eyton-Jones<\/p>\n

The challenge started at Corpach near Fort William.<\/p>\n

\"RobRob Eyton-Jones<\/p>\n

Iain decided to do the challenge in memory of Jenny Hastings.<\/p>\n

\"RobRob Eyton-Jones<\/p>\n

The challenge took Iain through parts of the canal constructed during the 19th Century.<\/p>\n

\"RobRob Eyton-Jones<\/p>\n

The swim also took the former professional rugby player through areas of stunning Highland scenery.<\/p>\n

\"RobRob Eyton-Jones<\/p>\n

Natural lochs also form parts of the canal, including Loch Lochy.<\/p>\n

\"RobRob Eyton-Jones<\/p>\n

Iain passes Urquhart Castle during his swim up Loch Ness towards Inverness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rob Eyton-Jones Iain Sinclair is the first person to swim the full length of the 200-year-old Caledonian Canal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-166896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}