IT dragged a Norse king to his death and nearly sank literary heavyweight George Orwell, but the infamous whirlpool of Corryvreckan was tamed

yesterday - by five intrepid swimmers.

Widely feared by sailors, the stretch of wild water, half a mile wide, between the Hebridean islands of Jura and Scarba represented the ''ultimate challenge'' for endurance swimmer Simon Murie and his team of hardy holidaymakers.

One of them, Frank Chalmers from Dundee, became the first Scot to swim the whirlpool in more than 50 years. He said: ''I feel elated, it's such an extreme challenge, it's you against the elements.

''As soon as you get in the water you feel nothing except pain. If you let your feet drop you felt the current powering away underneath you.''

Judy Sadgrove, a fitness instructor, became the first woman to make the crossing. ''I thought I was never going to get out of there alive,'' she said after completing the treacherous stretch of water.

It is just one leg of the six-day island-hopping tour of the Inner Hebrides organised by adventure holiday company Swimtrek.

The tour started at Port Askaig, Islay, and is due to reach Craobh Haven on the mainland tomorrow. Meaning ''speckled cauldron'', the Corryvreckan, is the sixth largest whirlpool in the world.

It is caused by a two-hour tidal difference between the sound on the east and the flood tides of the Atlantic ocean, which collide between the steep ridges of the gulf of Corryvreckan.

An underwater pinnacle known as the Hag breaks the swell, disturbing the tide to create a maelstrom. ''At times it's like a giant washing machine,'' said Duncan Phillips, skipper of the support vessel Farsain.

''I was naturally relieved they did it; you've got to respect the Corryvreckan. I've seen boats spinning like a top, literally going round and round with 30ft-high breaking waves.

''It can be one of the worst places in the world to be in a boat, absolutely wild and unnavigable at certain stages. I thought they were crazy at first.''

The Swimtrek tour, which also comprises a 10-hour walk over the Paps of Jura, is the first of its kind in Scotland. Mr Murie, who last year swam the English Channel, said: ''These guys can now join the select few who say they've done the Corryvreckan. It's a place not to be messed with, but then they said that about Everest and the Channel.''

With only 40 minutes of ''slack tide'', the swimmers had only a small window of opportunity yesterday to cross the whirlpool safely. He added: ''You've got to get the timing spot on, if not it's 'see you later alligator'.''

Mr Murie is keen to begin an official list recording those who have mastered the maelstrom.

The first recorded swim across the whirlpool was by Bill Dunn, the one-legged brother-in-law of George Orwell.

Dunn, who smeared himself in sheep fat to ward off hypothermia, made the crossing while the author was writing 1984 on Jura in the late 1940s. Orwell's attempt was less successful when the unpredictable current capsized his boat, nearly drowning the author and his son. After yesterday's success, Swimtrek is keen to attract more people to the adventure holiday market.

For some of the group, who each paid (pounds) 495, it was their first experience of open water swimming. ''Scotland is one of the most extreme places for outdoor swimming. The ferocity of Corryvreckan has a huge place in Scottish history and folklore making it a wonderful, significant crossing.

''If a chap with one leg can do it, why can't we?''

A spokesman for the Coastguard and Maritime Agency agreed that people were taking more risks in their hunt for adventure.

''People are always wanting to push themselves to do wild and wacky things,'' said Mark Clark, citing as an example two balloonists' botched attempt to set a new altitude record on Wednesday.

''There's no such thing as zero risk, but we hope people do everything to minimise the risk to themselves.''

The gulf of Corryvreckan is said to be named after Breachan, a Viking king who tried to prove his love of a Hebridean princess by anchoring his ship in the whirlpool for three days using anchor lines made of wool, hemp, and virgins' hair.

But the king drowned when the third line broke - one of the maidens had apparently been less than truthful about her virginity.