We honestly can't remember how this journey began nor who thought up this 'adventure' but I blame my brilliant swim buddy Kristina!! 

We're both long distance swimmers and ready for the challenge of swimming the English Channel as team 'Foss and Ouse'. We're trying to be one of the first 100 teams to complete a 2 person Channel relay.

As you can imagine the training has been somewhat 'bumpy' with pools and lakes being closed so training turned to weights, yoga, pilates and bikes. We're now hard at work making up for lost time in open water and pools.

Our 2 hour qualification swim was undertaken in Whitby in water below 15 degrees (a requirement of the Channel Swimming Association). We're both experienced long distance swimmers having completed the length of the 3 longest lakes in the Lake District (Coniston 5 miles, Ullswater 7 miles and Windermere 10.5miles). Kristina has also completed a 6 person and a 5 person Channel relay, I have completed a 6 person Channel relay and a 2 way Windermere swim (21 miles).   

Our support boat is the Louise Jane and our pilot Andy King, our crew our husbands, Don and Stew and there will also be a Channel Swimming Association Observer on board to ratify the swim. We start whatever time of the day the weather and tides allow and following a toss of a coin Kristina is starting the swim, on the beach at Dover with the sound of a klaxon. Kristina then swims for an hour, then I do and this carries on until we reach France! The swim could take anywhere between 12 and 20 hours which is a lot of 'ins and outs'!! We're hoping for a smooth crossing but are prepared for one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, bumpy seas, seaweed and of course jelly fish. Fingers crossed we'll get going around the 14th August, but who knows, only the weather!!

We're supporting a small local charity, York Rescue Boat that does a great job at helping to keep people safe on our local rivers and also educating folk about safe ways to swim in open water. If you can support them we'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

York Rescue Boat is an independent lifeboat and search and rescue charity, every single member of the team is a professional volunteer, no one receives a wage. All monies raised through this page will go to help fund our weekly prevention and rescue patrols on the River Ouse in York as well as our education program in schools, youth groups and university's teaching the fundamentals of water safety