I took up swimming in 2011 and swam my first 5 km for Marie Curie in 2012 after losing my aunt to cancer. That was the last year the Swimathon was to benefit Marie Curie, so I haven't done such a long swim since then. But now Marie Curie and CRUK are back in the pool, and so am I, starting my training now to get into shape for March.

Thanks to my friends and colleagues in Stratasys for supporting this swim as part of our efforts to improve wellbeing and give to society; also for the photo, which shows Speedo prototyping their swimming goggles on a Stratasys Objet 350 printer.

CRUK says, "£50 buys a scientific sieve to separate out big bits and small bits of DNA to reveal vital clues about how to beat cancer." I offered them a sieve I bought from Woolworths for 50p but apparently it isn't "scientific" enough for DNA.