I along with two members, Malcolm Swarbrick and Tim Shattock, of our Triathlon club (Tewkesbury Tri Club) are going to complete a channel relay swim this summer. This involves an overall minimum swim of 21 miles across the British Channel and when factoring in tides is likely going to be further. The swimmer in the water rotates every hour for the duration of the swim and we each expect to spend around 4-5 hours in the water. As well as the swimming the weather conditions and sea sickness are other challenges that we will have to cope with. We have a swim window between July 28th and August 2nd, when typical water temperatures are 14-16 degrees.

This is a very big personal goal for all three of us and we are raising money for two charities, Cyclists Fighting Cancer (CFC) and Sandford Lido Limited (the charity for Sandford Parks Lido, SPL). The reason for selecting them is to recognise the importance of these two charities to us. Our coach Dave Granger is a long-time supporter and trustee of CFC. Since CFC began in 2005 they have donated 5,000 new bikes, tandems, specially adapted trikes and trailers to children and young people who have been affected by cancer throughout the UK. Not only does this help them to regain their physical fitness, strength and confidence, it also allows them to spend more time with their families, having fun and creating special memories.

Sanford Parks Lido in Cheltenham is a superb facility and we have done and are doing lots of our training there and we also want to support and acknowledge this. Our team have paid all fees/ costs associated with taking part in this challenge and all donations received (minus card processing and fees for using the just giving website) will be split between the CFC and SPL. We would be grateful for any contribution to our goal or raising money for these charities.

You can track us on the swim we will be starting at 8:00am 27th July, see the link below and selected the box for Gallivant.

http://cspf.co.uk/tracking#