Cancer affects all of us at some point or another throughout our lives. Last year in the UK 10,239 men died of prostate cancer.

The four of us, Peter Maule, Peter Frost, Simon Backer and Joe Middleton(myself) decided to do our bit and raise money for this worthwhile cause. The question was what could we do that was sufficiently challenging (and possibly stupid and/or naïve – time will tell I guess) and tough to encourage everyone to get behind us in the hope that we could raise some serious money

We decided to swim the English Channel and promptly booked it for August 2013 (between the 12 (my birthday – yes - spoiling myself I know - and 20th). Now everyone 'knows' of the Channel but did you know the following?

- its 21 miles as the crow flies but courtesy of unpredictable tidal conditions and shipping channels most will swim 26 miles (that’s a marathon)

- only 811 people have swum the Channel since 1875. By comparison, Mount Everest has been climbed 2,049 times

- there is only a 10% success rate

- the temperature will be around 18 degrees and wetsuits are not allowed - we will be going 'Nearly Naked'

- the average crossing time is 13 hours

We knew that this was going be tough and although we are all competent swimmers, with Frosty and Pete both having swum the Channel before, Simon and myself had no idea what to expect. Sorry correct that, I had an idea what to expect although Frosty and Pete waited until I had paid my money before telling me what I should really expect!

And so, taking the above facts into account, we all agreed that just swimming to France was simply not enough and decide to embark on a 2-way!!! Yes, you read that correctly, a 2-WAY!!! There and back. No stopping at the nearest ‘Carrefore’ to stock up on red wine and pate, this will be c26hours of non-stop swimming.

Training has picked up already and will increase significantly week on week until we peak in time for our swim. Our training plans have been devised by Frosty and we have been fortunate enough to be sponsored by Speedo with our kit.

Follow my progress at: http://nearnakedmenswimchannel.blogspot.co.uk/

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