23/6/2010

A huge thank you to all the lovely people who donated at Downley Day on Saturday 19 June. I wore my wetsuit for four and a half hours on the CBC stall and lots of people came over to find out why I was wearing a wetsuit and ended up donating.

It was very sad to hear that one of the Great East Swimmers died on Saturday. My thoughts are with her family and friends left behind. I do hope it was not directly related to the swim.

I'm getting better and better every day and I must thank Louise, a teacher at Princes Risborough Pool for giving me the mental kick up the backside which I needed to be able to start swimming lengths without a break.

Just over a week to go now and I will do it.

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Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, and reading about my own personal "Mount Everest".

I'm 45 years old, blessed with a wonderful 7 year old daughter, and recently divorced. I had an operation in the summer and middle aged spread has kicked in through lack of exercise. In the grips of my mid-life crisis I'm the ideal candidate for a mammoth challenge to raise money for charity.

I'm by no stretch of the imagination a good swimmer, but have developed a new interest in swimming thanks to my daughter. I have battled to get past a 25 metre barrier (one length) whilst my daughter recently swam 400 metres.

I'm always very keen to be the best role model I possibly can, so being outclassed in the pool by my daughter got me thinking. How long was I going to leave it before I could call myself a good swimmer (a life-long dream of mine), what would motivate me to get rid of those voices in my head making me give up before I reach the wall?

So I searched the internet for Charity Swims and discovered that the inaugural British Gas Great London Swim (one mile open water swim) took place in the Royal Victoria Dock in August last year. The link I found was from The Child Bereavement Charity (CBC) which was even more interesting to me. 

The CBC provides specialised support, information and training to all those affected when a baby or child dies, or when a child is bereaved. Their offices are based by my daughter's school in West Wycombe and have been a daily reminder that although recently life hasn't worked out quite as I hoped my daughter and I are two very lucky ladies!

Pondering if I could transform myself from a 25 metre swimmer to a one mile swimmer in 6 months I stumbled across an article about cross Channel swimmers. To be reminded that Gertrude Ederle was the first woman to cross the English Channel on August 6, 1926 in 14 hours and 31 minutes made me feel very cross with myself. What an amazing achievement that was without any of the latest wetsuits and goggles we have access to today. She only had a red bathing suit, skull cap and motorist’s goggles which were fixed to her face with candle wax to make them waterproof.

"I just knew if it could be done, it had to be done, and I did it," she said.

The second British Gas Great London Swim takes place on 3 July 2010. It isn't a Channel Crossing, it's "just" one mile and I have the backing of Seriously Fun Swimming Schools who are helping me get pool time and training plans, and of course Funswimshop who are supporting me with all the training aids, wetsuits, goggles and swim hats I may need.

At the end of the day on 3 July 2010 I hope I can say:

“I just knew if it could be done, it had to be done, and I did it!"

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the Child Bereavement Charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.