We're back, and we're bigger than ever.

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But for the entrees: SCAR!

In April, I will be taking part in the iconic SCAR race. 60km over 4 days in Arizona, USA. SCAR is an acronym for the 4 lakes that you swim down the Salt river; Saguro on the first day at 15.2km. Followed by Canyon on the second at a delightful 14.4km. Apache is the big one of the event: 27.3km with a cut off time of 10 hours..... I'm hoping for 9.5!! Followed by a 10km night swim in Roosevelt to round out the race.

Every swimmer has an accompanying kayaker for safety and to provide their feeds- Will gets that (dubious) honour for me yet again <3 We'll be hiring a car to get us from lake to lake and staying in hotels each evening in between, so expect to see lots of updates from me each day!

But SCAR is only a training swim..... as for the main event;

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I am swimming Loch Ness in July. A mile longer than the English Channel, average ~7-8° (40%!!!) colder than the EC, fresh water meaning less buoyancy, midges.... and that's before we start talking about the Loch Ness Monster!!!!

This swim is going to challenge me unlike anything I've ever swum before. I'm terrified and excited in equal (I think..) measure, and I'm beyond grateful that I'm going to have my stellar support crew with me again. If I am successful, I will join the ranks of only 40 people who have completed the swim- a bit more exclusive than the 3300+ of the English Channel!

I expect this swim to take me 13-14 hours (hopefully). The cold is going to be the most challenging part for me, and you can follow along with how I'm training and acclimatising for it on my instagram (@amy.swims) or by my newsletter! (Sign up on my website.)

As always, I am paying out of pocket for every single aspect of this swim. I'm not asking for donations to fund the swim, I'm asking you to donate to help BCUK stop people dying from bowel cancer.

The why;

In January 2021, my father Nicky died due to a complication of the bowel cancer he had been dealing with for 11 years.

It's weird reading back through my old fundraising pages. In 2020, I swam from Jersey to France and raised £3.8k for BCUK. My dad was still alive at that point, it was the only marathon swim he ever saw me do. On this page, I talked a lot more about the swimming, and what BCUK does.

In 2021, I swam Guernsey to France (new world record) and the English Channel. I raised £3k. Although he had helped me plan both swims and saw a lot of my training, he never saw me finish them. I missed him so much that year, and you can see it in the page. All I write about is why I swim for him, and how much I wished he was still here.

In 2023, I swam the 70km length of Lake Geneva (new british overall record), raising £4.8k. My grief still felt overwhelming at that point. I couldn't write anything new out, I just linked back to the 2021 page and asked people to read it.

Although I'm having a little pity party as I write this now, I'm in a much better place this year. I still swim in his memory, I still think about him a lot, but I can write about my why a bit more clearly now.

I am swimming Loch Ness in part because he and my mum have holidayed on it together, and I'm kind of hoping I feel closer to him there even if he couldn't help me plan it. I've seen photos of him on the water and on the shores, and I want to be able to go to those places and know that he's been there too.

I raise money for Bowel Cancer UK really just because it still feels so unfair to me. It's so painfully, horribly, ridiculously, stupidly unfair that my dad isn't still alive. It's so unfair that we lost him so early, and that other people get to have so many more decades with their parents. It's a selfish reason, but grief is selfish. I hope that one day with enough money raised, enough technologic advancement, enough research; that no one else will have to lose a family member like we have.

About BCUK;

We’re the UK’s leading bowel cancer charity.

We fund targeted research, provide expert information and support to patients and their families, educate the public and professionals about the disease and campaign for early diagnosis and access to best treatment and care.

We’re here to stop people dying of bowel cancer.