I have always loved swimming and a challenge. Swimming from England to France, the busiest shipping lane in the world and combating the cold has been in the back of my mind as something to tackle one day. More people have successfully summited Mount Everest than have swum the Channel.

I competed regularly in the past but always in a comfortably heated swimming pool. Recently I have challenged myself in a wet suit with open water lake and river swims for triathlons, but now it is time to step out of my comfort zone and tackle the great British outdoors in nothing but a swimming costume, hat, goggles, ear plugs and a layer of goose fat. The time in the water and the distance is something I can train for but whether by body will physically and mentally be able to withstand the cold is going to be the biggest barrier.

Sometime between 11 - 19 July (as soon as weather permits), 3 guys and 3 girls will swim for an hour at a time from Dover until we reach Calais. Swimmers at the front are likely to do 2 or 3 hours. Imagine exercising in freezing cold water for an hour, getting out to switch off on a boat for 5 hours and then repeating that 2 or 3 times, perhaps in the dark whilst dodging jellyfish, container ships, debris and battling against the current. If one of the team is unable to complete their stint safely (likely due to hypothermia), the challenge is over for everyone. I have a lot of acclimatisation to do between now and July so if you fancy a dip in a river/lake/sea please get in touch! 

Betty, Granny, passed away in 2017 after 91 wonderful years. Betty loved her sport, playing lawn bowls for England in her hay day and kept me up to date on competitions across the world thanks to her BBC spectating. The year Betty was born, 1926, saw the first female, Gertrude Ederle successfully swim the English Channel. Without vocalising my thoughts, I knew that when the time came, I would aim to complete a swimming challenge in Granny's memory. Shortly after Granny passed away I had a message from a friend who had been contacted to ask if she knew anyone who would be interested in making up the final place on a Channel Relay team - it was fate. 

As much as this will be a personal challenge, throughout training and the event, my energy will be dedicated to Place2Be. The charity works with primary and secondary school children to provide mental health support to build their resilience through talking, creative work and play. This is Wycombe Abbey's School charity this year and Granny was always very fond of the work by children's charities which seems fitting.

Find out more about the Place2Be here: https://www.place2be.org.uk/what-we-do.aspx

Any support you are able to give will be greatly received by the children who Place2Be work with and it will certainly spur me on in the water. Thank you.

Hannah