Update - We are starting our swim at 0030hrs on Sunday 16th September!

Watch our progress live on the internet,  txt us messages of support and see up to date photos of the swim at the following link: http://www.amslivetrac.com/ 

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Thank you for visiting our page.

Our team is a group of Microsoft employees based out of Reading, Berkshire.

In September 2007 we will be undertaking a team challenge to raise money for the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust.  The trust provides critical support to the emergency services in our the surrounding area and the service it provides is funded only by charitable donations.

Our challenge is to complete a relay swim of the English Channel.  The shortest distance across the Channel is from Shakespeare Beach, Dover, to Cap Gris Nez (the headland halfway between Calais and Boulogne). This distance is 18.2 nautical miles which is approximately 21 land miles.  We estimate this distance will take us around 14 hours.

The challenge will be completed on one day between 17th and 21st September.  Exactly when will depend upon weather conditions.

Similar rules apply for team swims as for solo crossings.  No wetsuits or other flotation devices are permitted nor physical contact with the guide boat.   Each team member will swim in relay for an hour then continue in rotation until we reach France!   We will have to contend with sea temperatures of 18 Degrees C,  swells, jellyfish and of course anything else we may come across in the crystal clear waters of the busiest waterway in the world.

Microsoft will match any donations, made pound for pound.

Many thanks