I’ve never had a swimming lesson but taught myself to swim in a pool and at the beach over the last four years or so. I live within a mile of Lepe beach and wanted to make the most of being close to it. I like to swim at sunrise before work as I love being at the beach and being there early before anyone else. I’m not very good at turning in the pool and obviously don’t need to worry about that in the sea!  I just love being outside, so sea swimming is always going to be better than pool swimming for me and it sets me up for the day.

In the summer I swim at Lepe and Calshot beaches. I do swim in the winter but not so much as I’ve never used a wetsuit until purchasing one recently. My swims before work are typically between 1-2 km. I did once decide to swim from pier to pier at Bournemouth on a day trip with my wife on my 40th birthday. It was a nice day but I hadn’t planned to do it. We were on the beach and I said “I think I’ll give it a go” so I went and did it then and there without any training. It took me about an hour, but it was quite choppy. I enjoyed it a lot and that made me think about doing longer open water swims.

I was looking for a Solent crossing as I appreciate the dangers and wanted to do it with support. I always look at the Isle of Wight from Lepe when I’m swimming and often wonder if I could do it. I looked online at different organizations but was recommended to Aspire by a friend that also swims at my local pool, as she did the swim a few years ago and told me the charity does amazing work for those in need.

Swimming the Solent - and exceeding my fundraising target - will be a huge personal achievement since I don’t really class myself as a swimmer!  My only challenge will be learning to swim properly - I think I might get some lessons before the crossing!

My main form of exercise is running but I’m not very good at that either. I’ve signed up for the New Forest marathon in September but my Solent Swim is before that, so I’m now prioritising my swim training. I’m doing two miles non-stop in the pool on Mondays, 1km in sprint intervals on Tuesdays and another fast mile on Thursdays with some longer sea swims in between, now the weather is better and the temperature climbing. It’s going ok and I’m progressing but I’m still trying to run in the morning before work with swims in the evenings.  I’ve spoken to a couple of open water coaches and will get some sessions booked in soon to help with my technique.  

My fundraising is going pretty well.  I’m at about 60% of my target, mainly from one Facebook post I did before Christmas, which is good since I’ve not really promoted it yet. I was waiting for the London Marathon and other events to finish before re-posting as I think I’ll get better responses and more donations closer to the event. My aim is to up the posts on Facebook and promote it more from late May.

It means a lot to be raising funds to support people with spinal cord injuries because my friend Steve was paralysed in a car accident in the early 1990s, and I’ve got other friends who have benefited from charitable assistance with various illnesses and issues over the years.

A few years ago my wife and I walked the South West Coastpath in one go, wild camping along the way for three months, completing a 732 mile walk and taking sea dips along the way.  After the New Forest Marathon in September I will be taking on another Himalayan peak in 2026 (Island Peak 6150m) and hopefully some more long distance swims and runs.

Sponsor Adam

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