The Swinge is the strait between Alderney

Alderney

Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...

 and Burhou

Burhou

Burhou is a small island approximately 1.4 miles northwest of Alderney that is part of the Channel Islands. It has no permanent residents, and is a bird sanctuary, so landing there is banned from March 15 to July 27...

 in the Channel Islands

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

. It often sees a furious tidal race

Tidal race

Tidal race is a natural occurrence whereby a fast moving tide passes through a constriction resulting in the formation of waves, eddies and hazardous currents...

, and Braye Harbour

Braye Harbour

Braye Harbour is the main harbour on the north side of the Island of Alderney, in the Channel Islands, a dependency of the British Crown. A break-water built by the Admiralty to protect the Navy in the 19th century shelters Braye Harbour. It is an artificial harbour created by building a pier or...

 which faces it, has a mile long breakwater to cope with this.

The etymology

Etymology

Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...

 of the Swinge is probably Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

, related to Old Icelandic swinnr (swift, rapid)

Corbet Rock lies in the Swinge. Corbet Rock is said to have been named after the ancient Corbet family of the Channel Islands.

The Little Swinge is between Burhou and Les Nannels. The Race is the strait on the other side of Alderney.