The first of two crazy challenges this year. Oops 😬

This will be my 4th 24 hour relay with Level Water, and my third at Shepperton. You’d think I would have learnt by now. But as usual I signed up in the middle of winter when I was snuggled under a blanket with a dog or two for encouragement. It always seems like such a good idea at the time. You remember the camaraderie with your team and all the fun bits. It’s like a festival but by the water. The less fun bits are car camping as an amputee and putting a damp swimsuit on to swim when it’s your turn in the middle of night. But my memory appears to have faded . At least there are no eels at Shepperton , unlike Clevedon….right???

So, I am swimming with Team Just Keep Swimming, and that will be our mantra to get us through the 24 hours… and cake. Lovely bunch of swimmers, possibly not quite as mad as me, and they all have four limbs…each! Swimming is the easy part, but the anxiety of doing something out of my comfort zone, plus accessibility ,and swimming in the dark, and the fear of those eels ( you know who you are!) is always there. But swimming at sunrise and sunset is super special. We will each take it in turns to swim for an hour at a time for 24 hours.

Please pray to the weather gods for unbroken sunshine, as it will make such a difference.

Level Water is a cause very close to my heart. In 2019 I had an above knee amputation following multiple surgeries, failed salvage surgery to save my leg, and then sepsis. I remember very little of that time, thankfully. I was in a very dark place afterwards, but I am certain it was swimming that saved me. It is now such as huge part of my life, and if I can’t swim for a few days, I am allegedly prone to going a bit mad.

The first splash. The holding your breath. The echoes of laughter. The wet hair. The lifted spirits. The joy of gliding through water. The smile that lasts all day.

Swimming is like nothing else. The skills you develop, the confidence you build and the joys you feel are all universal. Yet access to swimming in the UK is not.

Level Water use the power of swimming to improve lives for children with disabilities.

Everyone should have the opportunity to learn to swim and fall in love with the water just as I have.

Please consider making a donation if you can, no matter how small.