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Caroline decided 2021 would be the year she would finally attempt to swim the English Channel.  She contacted Aspire to enquire about swimming as part of one of its six person relay teams and in November 2020 received confirmation that she had a place on a boat for July 2021 as part of team Aspire Terriers.

When a team member had to drop out Caroline ‘persuaded’ James that it’s a challenge he would really like to do as well...

As part of a relay we will swim an hour at a time at day and night in 15° water trying to dodge the jellyfish, ferries and sewage. Plus swimmers often suffer with sea sickness so all in all a great day out!

There have only been 4,133 officially recognised Channel swims to date (solo and relays) so this is not an easy challenge.  To be an officially recognised crossing swimmers cannot be assisted by any artificial aids so that means no wetsuits, fins etc - just hat, goggles and a cossie.  So the next few months will involve swimming hundreds of lengths of the pool but also getting into some chilly lakes and rivers to get used to the cold.

Aspire, the charity we are supporting, helps people who have suffered from spinal cord injuries to get on with their lives.  Most of these people will never fully recover from their injuries but Aspire enables people to regain independence by arranging accommodation suitable for wheelchairs, liaising with employers to provide appropriate working  arrangements and improving mobility through exercise as well as providing counselling and emotional support.

Thanks for reading and we will be very grateful if you can support our challenge and also help Aspire keep doing its amazing work  🏊🏻‍♀️⛴🌊