Kate Mccallister
Kate's English Channel swim relay
Fundraising for Aspire
Story
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Hi my name is Kate and I am a year 11 Student at Leicester Grammar School and I swim for Leicester Neptune Swimming club.
Having done competitions all my life in the pool last summer my friend Katie and I decided to go open water swimming at Stanton lakes. It wasn’t my first attempt but this time I began to enjoy the change from pool swimming and all through the summer I trained open water twice a week as well as continuing my normal training program at Leicester Neptunes. We decided to enter a competition, so travelled down to Bristol to take part. From here I took part in quite a few open water competitions including the 3km at nationals and a 5km swimathon at the end of the season.
I have always thought about swimming the English Channel having captain Matthew Webb (the first person to swim the English Channel) as a relative. Katie and I thought about doing it together. To start with it was an idea we thought could never happen but after much research and finding aspire, we found a relay team of 6. These include my peer swimmers from Leicester Neptune Swimming Club Macjec, Umer, Charlie, Katie, Sam and myself.
This event is one of the toughest challenges a swimmer can do, it is a minimum 21 mile swim as the crow flies with very strong tides and currents and some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
Raising money for Aspire will mean that we can make a real difference to those who suffer from spinal injuries or conditions and help them lead normal lives through the assistance of Aspire.
In November we were assessed by Aspire for swimming the channel as a relay team and our whole team passed with flying colours. We learned a great deal about what Aspire can do and also what challenges we will have to overcome when swimming in the English Channel.
Here are some of the things we will encounter:
21 miles of swimming minimum - will swim further due to tides
Water temperature between 14 & 18 degrees centigrade
Stinging jellyfish
Swimming in complete darkness - Starting on the tide clock!
Adverse weather conditions
Rough seas
Floating debris
Fighting fatigue and hypothermia
One of the busiest shipping lanes in the whole world
Please help me and the Aspire Neptune team raise money for this great cause
Any donation can make a difference
Hi my name is Kate and I am a year 11 Student at Leicester Grammar School and I swim for Leicester Neptune Swimming club.
Having done competitions all my life in the pool last summer my friend Katie and I decided to go open water swimming at Stanton lakes. It wasn’t my first attempt but this time I began to enjoy the change from pool swimming and all through the summer I trained open water twice a week as well as continuing my normal training program at Leicester Neptunes. We decided to enter a competition, so travelled down to Bristol to take part. From here I took part in quite a few open water competitions including the 3km at nationals and a 5km swimathon at the end of the season.
I have always thought about swimming the English Channel having captain Matthew Webb (the first person to swim the English Channel) as a relative. Katie and I thought about doing it together. To start with it was an idea we thought could never happen but after much research and finding aspire, we found a relay team of 6. These include my peer swimmers from Leicester Neptune Swimming Club Macjec, Umer, Charlie, Katie, Sam and myself.
This event is one of the toughest challenges a swimmer can do, it is a minimum 21 mile swim as the crow flies with very strong tides and currents and some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
Raising money for Aspire will mean that we can make a real difference to those who suffer from spinal injuries or conditions and help them lead normal lives through the assistance of Aspire.
In November we were assessed by Aspire for swimming the channel as a relay team and our whole team passed with flying colours. We learned a great deal about what Aspire can do and also what challenges we will have to overcome when swimming in the English Channel.
Here are some of the things we will encounter:
21 miles of swimming minimum - will swim further due to tides
Water temperature between 14 & 18 degrees centigrade
Stinging jellyfish
Swimming in complete darkness - Starting on the tide clock!
Adverse weather conditions
Rough seas
Floating debris
Fighting fatigue and hypothermia
One of the busiest shipping lanes in the whole world
Please help me and the Aspire Neptune team raise money for this great cause
Any donation can make a difference