Two teams of swimmers will be taking part in the English Channel Relay Swim between 30 June and 3 July 2022 to raise funds for the industry charity.
Full details have today (25 May) been confirmed for a major challenge in aid of The Light Fund for 2022.
The English Channel Relay Swim will be taking place between 30 June and 3 July, 2022, and will see two teams of industry executives race each other in order to raise funds for the charity. The mixed teams are of variable swimming ability and will be captained by two experienced open water swimmers, all from the licensing industry.
The swim will commence in Dover, with the aim to finish somewhere on the French coast between Calais and Boulogne. At its narrowest point, the English Channel is 21 miles… however, with at least three, if not four, tidal shifts to contend with, the distance swum may be nearer to 40 miles. Depending on the weather and the tides, a successful crossing could take anywhere between 12 and 24 hours (or indeed longer). Each swimmer will swim for an hour in a fixed rotation, repeating until the French coast is reached.
The full squad to form the two teams – named The Light Fund Optimist and The Light Fund High Hopes – will be made up of the following executives:
- Stephen Gould, Bear Conran
- Anna Hewitt, Spin Master
- Simon Gresswell, SGLP
- Katie Price, The Roald Dahl Story Company
- Kevin Langstaff, GB eye
- Tasmyn Knight, Warner Bros. Consumer Products
- Mark Bezodis, Perry Ellis International
- Anne Bradford, Poetic Brands
- Rhys Fleming, Dependable Solutions
- Terry Lamb, Corsair
- Rob Corney, Bulldog Licensing
- Mark Kingston, ViacomCBS
- Ian Down, Keystone Law
- Ezekiel Sweiry, Fabric Flavours
- Jason Goonery, SEGA (reserve list)
12 swimmers – forming two teams of six – will be selected from the squad for the swim itself.
Each swimmer will be required to complete a qualifying swim in advance, which will be 1.5 hours in water of 16C or less, out of the water for an hour to rest and re-warm and then back into the water again for another hour. They must also pass a stringent medical assessment.
As with many things, lockdown has meant that team training has been set back by at least 11 months, although some members have been training in the Thames and Jubilee rivers, while memberships have been set up with Dover Channel Training and Durley Sea Swims.
It’s an ambitious challenge and the teams are going to need the support of the wider industry. A number of sponsorship packages have been put together, ranging from £100 for instant anti-fog goggle spray and lip balm, up to £25,000 for the two master sponsor positions.
For full details on the sponsorship opportunities, you can contact Stephen Gould, Mark Kingston, Simon Gresswell or Anne Bradford by clicking on their respective names.
Everything you need to know about the swim can also be found by clicking here. Many thanks to both Blue Chalk Design for its work on the sponsorship deck and Watermelon for creating the challenge logo.
Team members will also be contributing a monthly blog to LicensingSource.net to keep the industry updated on their training.
THE COLD FACTS
The English Channel is considered to be the Holy Grail of open water swimming. It is part of the Oceans Seven – the hardest seven open water swims in the world.
The English Channel is the busiest shipping lane in the world with circa. 1,000 vessels passing through it every 24 hours.
More people have climbed Mount Everest than have swum across the English Channel and this includes relays.
No neoprene is permitted – just a standard swimsuit, single silicone hat and a pair of goggles.
It is cold (circa. 14-15C at the end of June with much colder pockets mid-Channel) with unpredictable weather, currents and tides.
It is full of aquatic life including nasty stinging jellyfish, poisonous Weaver fish, and yes – sharks….as well as detritus of all sorts and bilge.
If Mother Nature doesn’t end the dream, sea sickness may. A boat in the Channel chugging along at a swimmer’s pace can be brutally uncomfortable. Most relays that fail, do so because of sea sickness.
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