The Light Fund English Channel Relay Swim is now on for Tuesday, 28 June… earlier than expected due to a favourable small weather window in an otherwise unsettled period.
At 21:30 this Tuesday the two teams taking part in the challenge fundraiser will meet their boat pilots at Dover marina and at 23:00 the first swimmers will step into the water and start swimming for France. It will be ‘very dark, very cold and very lonely’. Some 15 to 24-plus hours later – tides, currents and any other eventuality permitting – the final swimmer in each team will hopefully reach the French coast somewhere between Calais and Boulogne.
After more than 18 months of relentless training, commitment and preparation, the swimmers are as ready as they can be.
Final team selections have now also been made. Team Optimist comprises Ian Down (captain), Eion Wallace, Katie Price, Jason Goonery, Mark Bezodis, Kevin Langstaff and reserve Tasmyn Knight. Team High Hopes comprises Stephen Gould (captain), Mark Kingston, Rhys Fleming, Anna Hewitt, Anne Bradford, Simon Gresswell and reserve Terry Lamb.
You can also watch the whole thing from the comfort of your own home. The Light Fund has set up a WhatsApp group with an additional link to the boat tracker set up by the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation (CS&PF), the governing body for English Channel swimming.
That means you will not only be able to see and hear real-time action and film footage from the swim, but also be able to encourage the swimmers with supportive messages.
Simply click on this link from your phone to automatically join free of charge. Your friends and colleagues involved in the swim be thrilled to know that you’re cheering them on. The GPS boat tracker can be found here: http://cspf.co.uk/tracking.
And don’t forget – before, during and even after the swim there are still many opportunities to help The Light Fund reach its target of £250,000 for this fundraiser as well, of course, as chances for corporate sponsors to be name checked in the challenge event film presentation at The Licensing Awards on 13 September at the Grosvenor Hotel.
“Despite the demands of work and family, interruptions from stomach bugs and Covid, everyday stuff like repetitive strain injury and even domestic accidents which means one swimmer with a burn-blistered hand, we have trained diligently for months and we’re as ready as we’re going to be,” said event challenge organiser and captain of Team High Hopes, Stephen Gould. “It won’t be easy reconciling the cold, dark, pollution, Channel traffic and seasickness with a cramped open-deck boat in this notorious stretch of water, but we’ll be buoyed up by the amazing support we have received and will no doubt continue to receive from our friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
“Thanks again and please remember that the best way to cheer us on in this arduous ordeal is to donate – no matter how seemingly small or insignificant the sum. As we battle through guaranteed stress and discomfort, there is no better motivation than an escalating fundraising figure on JustGiving.”
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/thelightfundenglishchannelrelayswim2022
Twitter @thelightfund
Instagram @the_light_fund
Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow @LicensingSource on Twitter and @licensing_source on Instagram.
