About

From August 2018 to August 2019, you will mostly find us under water… swimming in various lakes, pools and coastlines around the UK to raise vital funds for the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association. 

MND is a rapidly progressing disease that affects the nervous system and impacts on people's ability to walk, communicate, swallow and breathe. There is still no cure for this disease, with average life expectancy ranging from 6 months to five years from onset of symptoms.

Emily's dad, Richard, was diagnosed with MND last August and sadly passed away from the disease on the 6th of July 2019. The MND Association helped tremendously in providing advice, education, healthcare and support throughout Richard's illness. 

However, funds are still critically needed to further support research into new treatments in the future, as well as provide financial help to individuals and their families affected by the disease now. Shockingly, there is currently only one drug available for MND, which extends life for only 2-3 months. It would be amazing if, in our lifetimes, a cure is found.  

Event details

As Richard was a keen outdoor swimmer, we wanted to follow in his footsteps and do something that will really challenge our commitment to the cause! That’s why we’ve decided to take part in an outdoor swimming event each month over the course of a year with the aim of swimming 20,000m in total.

So far we have completed the following swims: 

August:

21st Aug: 1.6km: under looming skyscrapers in the Canary Wharf Mile Swim

September:

9th Sept: 1.5km: dodging the canoes in Fritton Lake, Norfolk

21st Sept: 500m: the official Motor Neurone Disease swim at Royal Victoria Docks

October:

30th Oct: 200m: spooky night-time halloween dip in the docklands

November:

3rd Nov: 600m: two loops around the beautiful Bray Lake course in Maidenhead 

December:

1st Dec: 200m: one loop around Hampstead Ladies Ponds

15th Dec: 100m: back in the ponds for another freezing dip

28th Dec: 25m: blowing off the cobwebs on our favourite beach in Walberswick, Suffolk 

January: 

26th Jan: 30m: A relay event dressed as squids at the Tooting Lido UK Winter Championships 

February: 

17th Feb: A freezing, frosty morning swimming off all the birthday cake from Laura's birthday! 100m: one loop around Hampstead Ladies Ponds

March: 

29th Mar: A stark contrast to all of our other swims so far, we had enough of Brexit and went tropical in Singapore for our March swim. 

April: 

20th April: Back in Suffolk, this time in Dunwich to swim off all the Easter eggs! It was a beautiful day but very chilly still in the sea! 

May: 

6th May: A chilly bank holiday morning at Parliament Hill Lido, we completed just over 600m (10 lengths of the lido) A mild 12 degrees but felt like 4!  

June: 

22nd June: Took part in the Great East Swim in Ipswich, it was a beautiful day and such a well organised event! Laura swam one mile and Emily swam half a mile. 

July: 

21st July: Swam the Big Splash in Stoke Newington, the water temperature was 20 degrees which felt fantastic in comparison to earlier swims!