Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

This is our story:
When you finally listen to your hurting body telling you it’s time to stop playing rugby, you grab one of your best rugby team mates and
decide to swim the English Channel! Obviously.

Over the years, when we were still playing rugby, V and I had often talked about maybe one day swimming The Channel together. When I
mentioned that I’d had these hypothetical chats to a man who runs a
sea-swimming group, he was quick to pull me up and tell me, “A lot of people TALK about wanting to swim The Channel. If you really want to swim it, you need actually to get on and book it.” “All talk, no action” was not an adage I ever wanted on my tombstone, and so, in 2016, V and I followed the procedures, found our pilot, paid some money and booked our Channel slot for July 2018.

It’s been a tough road, with many difficulties to overcome, (and we are still overcoming some), but here we are with just a few weeks to go – months and months and months of acclimatisation and hard training gradually coming to its peak – and at some point between 28 July and 2 August, on a Spring tide (considered a slightly tougher swim than a neap tide), we (team-name “Go with the Flo”, harking back to a fantastic rugby tour from 2000) hope to get the go-ahead to start swimming at least 21 miles to France; taking it in turns to swim 2 hours each at a time, across the busiest shipping lanes in the world, in conditions that we expect to be challenging, possibly at night, possibly with jellyfish, possibly with seasickness, definitely with determination to do our absolute best not to let each other down – EXACTLY as we did when we played rugby. 

Many people have asked if we are swimming for charity. The huge, physical and mental, personal challenge and a sense of embarking on something truly adventurous have been the motivation for both of us to swim The Channel, but I feel that if our swim, as personal as it is to us, could also do something good for someone else, then raising some funds for a great cause would be the right thing to do:  In the days before my (absolutely wonderful) father died in April this year, I asked him what charity he would like me to swim The Channel for, and he said “Sue Ryder". So it shall be. Those who have known these difficult times will appreciate the impact and importance of the support charities like this give to patients and their families.  I am grateful for any donations from you, as we try to help this charity continue to help others.

The support and encouragement we have had this far from friends, family, teammates, work colleagues and fellow swimmers have been wonderful. We are lucky to have you behind us. Thank you.

Wish us luck!

Emma Smith and Emma Vockins/ Loreal and V /Go with the Flo.
xx

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