UPDATE:  I'm now 2/3 of the way there, have now exceeded 40km!   Still having to walk the distance in the pool for the most part.  Progress is slow, but it's still progress!  Any donations would be hugely appreciated to keep me going in the winter months!

UPDATE:  Oh the irony of taking up swimming to find 3 months into your challenge that you have cartilage issues probably caused by your swimming and arthritis in your good knee!  But I'm not defeated.   After a 6 week sabbatical out of the pool I got back in - and have adapted my challenge to a "Swim Walk".  I've learnt to use a pool buoy so I can "swim" just using my arms for some lengths -  and use it to stabilise myself while I walk the other.  Today I reached 29km since January, just 1km short of halfway.  My progress is far slower than I'd hoped but it's progress!  @fitzroyuk and myself would be so grateful for any further sponsorship and a huge thanks to all who have donated so far!

I'm planning to swim a total of 60km for their 60th year.  Last year I suffered an Achilles tendon injury and I also suffer from osteoarthritis and am currently heading towards a knee replacement.  In order to build up the leg strength I have lost in the last year and during the pandemic, I recently started to swim again.  Swimming in itself can be difficult for me, particularly if I have a bad pain flare up.  That is why I have set myself a long term challenge -  a short term challenge is just not feasible.  On a personal level it will keep me motivated to continue with my water based exercise and improve my health but more importantly, it will hopefully raise enough funds for people we support to be able to enjoy some fun days out together doing something different that they may not have had an opportunity to do before!

I'll be regularly updating my Strava stats with my swims if you want to give me a follow.  At the point of launching my page my YTD stats stood at 16km which has taken me 10 weeks.

FitzRoy do amazing things to support people with learning disabilities and people with autism to keep safe and live their best lives. Please help me to raise funds for this fantastic charity.

Thanks for the support! #challengeyouin22

Ange