The English Channel is seen as the pinnacle of all swims, more people have actually climbed Mount Everest than have swum the English Channel! It has been on my bucket list since starting open water swimming just over 4 years ago. However, never in a million years did I ever think that I would be considering taking on the challenge due to a deep seated fear of sea swimming.

This year I've decided to face my fear!

I am lucky enough to have been taught to swim at an early age, and have always been able to enjoy the water. Unfortunately not everyone is this fortunate. It's a fact that the majority of the worlds underpriviledged children don't know how to swim, many of whom live close to large bodies of open water. Swim Tayka aims to tackle this by providing free swimming lessons to those that need it most, and provide drowning prevention education.

Anyone can drown, but no one should! Just £10 will save a child.

The Challenge

We have a ‘swim window’ of 6th - 13th September 2025. During this week myself and 5 other members of the "Blue Lagoon Legends" will begin our epic swim across the English Channel from Dover to France.

The 6 person relay team will each swim 1 hour stints in the busiest shipping route in the world, until we reach the other side. We could end up swimming 3 or 4 hour stints each, all while battling strong currents, jellyfish, sea sickness and everything else the Channel can throw at us.

Our aim is to complete this in under 14 hours reaching France in time for an early evening aperitif!

Swim Tayka

SwimTayka is a charity teaching The Life Skills Of Swimming And Water Stewardship.

They provide free swimming lessons and drowning prevention education to underprivileged children who live along the earth’s open waters.

Drowning is a silent epidemic that claims an estimated 360,000 lives every year, many of them children.

Drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. These are wasted lives and preventable deaths.

What better way to support their important work than raising funds whilst testing our own physical and mental strength in attempting to swim the English Channel as part of a Relay Swim team.

Honesty and Transparency

If you choose to donate to this worthy cause please accept my thanks and the thanks from all at SwimTayka. So you know exactly where your money is going and what the outcome of the challenge could be please note the facts below;

1. The 'cost' of the cross channel swim is £800. This goes towards direct costs of making it happen, like the boat, pilot and training events. Any money raised above £800 will go directly to the SwimTayka charity. My aim is to raise £1800 so SwimTayka receive at least £1000. I am also looking to cover the £800 either myself or from corporate sponsors.

2. The event could get cancelled due to bad and unsafe weather conditions. Your donation will still be used by the charity

3. I may get sick or injured in the run up to the event and not be able to participate. Your donation will still be very welcome and will be used by the charity.

4. You can also visit the SwimTayka website https://swimtayka.org/

Please dig deep and give what you can. Thank you!