I might be swimming across the world’s busiest shipping lane but did you know that 1 in 5 Londoners has a disability and are twice as likely to be inactive?

That’s why I’m raising money for WeSwim – a small but mighty charity removing barriers experienced by disabled Londoners who want to be more active alongside creating an incredible community.

In August 2027, I’ll be attempting the 34km or 21mile crossing from Dover in England to Cap Gris-Nez in France. Armed with just a pair of bathers, googles and swimming cap I will zig zag my way across the channel being pushed by the currents, crossing shipping lanes and avoiding jellyfish.

The average time a crossing takes is 15 hours, so I’m setting my target at £1,000 per hour I’m likely to be in the 16-18 degree water.

Your money will deliver physical, social, and mental health benefits for disabled adults in London while building skills and confidence among volunteers. In 2025, WeSwim provided £1.2 million in social value – 12 times the investment – try getting that return from the stock market!!

On a personal level, I can vouch for the value and impact any donation will have - I have supported over 80 sessions since joining WeSwim in October 2023. It is regularly a highlight of my week! I love seeing each swimmer grow in confidence and experience the freedom water offers.

In 2025,

• 271 disabled swimmers took part in WeSwim sessions

• 2,633 hours of swimming were supported

• 150 volunteers supported swimmers in the water

• 2,589 volunteer hours were contributed

• 96.8% of swimmers said their connection to community increased

• 90.7% said their fitness improved

• 98.6% said they feel safe at WeSwim

Why support me now – because so far my longest swim was 12km or 7.5 miles taking me almost 5 and half hours, in preparation for next year, I’m attempting

1. Champions of Champions – swimming 5 miles/8km, then 3 / 4.8km and finishing with an easy 1 mile / 1.6km in Dover Harbour in June

2. 24 hour Relay with other WeSwim volunteers in Shepperton Lake in June

3. Swimming 4 miles/6.4km across Torbay and then back again in July

4. Swimming 11miles or 17.7km from one end England’s longest Lake – Lake Windermere to the other in September

5. And just a week later, 15kms DocktoDock in the London Royal Docks

6. 1 mile or 1.6km every hour for 12 hours from 7pm to 7 am to Swim the Night at Hampton Lido in October

If successful, that’s 45miles or 72km in events – not even including my training!

Answers to your questions

But you’ll be in a wetsuit yes?

o Nope for it to be an official ratified swim, I must swim without assistance of any kinds (other than feeds) which includes wetsuits as they provide buoyancy, swim suits with thermal linings and touching the boat or another person

Will you eat?

o Yes – feeding regularly will be important to keep me warm and my body fuelled for the ultra endurance activity. Feeds will be thrown to me either in a bottle or in a small tupperware container tethered to a line so my support crew can pull it back on the boat

You’ll get a break though?

o Not really, because the tide doesn’t stop, if I rest too long, I’ll get taken further away from my target increasing the time it’ll take and decreasing the chance of me making it

But why?

o Because I can – I love the water, I love to be challenged and when I first heard about swimming the channel when I was about 12 in Australia, my brothers said I couldn’t!

Is it expensive?

o It’s incredibly expensive – and the fact that I am in a position to even attempt this is not lost on me. There are lots of costs – from the big ones like boat, fuel and support crew costs on the day to training camp costs and preparation events, to the smaller ones like, nutrition, joining the Channel Swimming Association and channel charts.

Want to know more? Follow me on Instagram at swimming.zoe for lots of swimming content!