I’ve taken on many swimming challenges and I love swimming in the sea. It came to my attention that a few swimmers had swum from Sealand for Aspire so I thought I’d give it a go and raise some money at the same time for a worthy cause.  I regularly swim at Felixstowe so I’ve seen the Sealand tower in the distance from the shore. 

I am a swim coach and two years ago Harriet came to me for some 1-1 lessons. Harriet is the most dedicated athlete you could find. She worked very hard gaining both strength and speed so I decided to set her the challenge of swimming Lake Windermere. I did it with her and it was great fun so I asked her to join me to swim from Sealand. I wasn’t aware at the time that you were only allowed one person at a time in the water, so we did it as a relay.

I have been open water swimming for 16 years, beginning when I started doing Triathlons.  I have done many open water swims including a Channel relay which was the worst experience of my life because of the seasickness I had in the boat.  I’ve swum Windermere twice, Loch Lomond and many 24 hour relays. In September, three of us (including Harriet) swum the length of Lake Annecey (9 miles) in France together.  There was fabulous scenery and clear water at 20 degrees and it took us 5 hours 22 minutes.

I usually swim in a privately owned lake near where I live. As it’s quiet there is a lot of wildlife - an otter pops up now and again and there are lots of massive Carpe and a couple of swans; the male (who I’ve named Sean) is very protective of the female and has chased me out of the lake a couple of times! 

I also swim at Felixstowe in the North Sea. For me, the rougher the better.  It’s more fun - I like fighting against the tide in one direction and it’s always worth it when you turn round and get a fast push back. 

I enjoy swimming as it’s great to be outdoors in the fresh air and with the wildlife. It’s an inexpensive sport as all you need is a swimsuit and a pair of goggles. It’s fun and keeps you fit. You can do it alone or with others and I think it’s a life skill that everyone should learn. 

The Sealand swim was amazing.  We had such anticipation and excitement as we sat in the boat heading out to Sealand, about an hour’s journey.  It was quite choppy when we got there. We had to wait 15 mins at the start with the boat rocking which made poor Harriet sick. But then she jumped off the boat and swam to the towers and we were off. 

After the first hour we swapped over. I crossed the shipping lane. The boat pilot radioed to tell the shipping people I was in the lane then again to let them know when I was out.  It seemed harder and a bit colder in the shipping lane.  We swapped over again after 2 hours and the sea had calmed a bit which was nice.  Harriet did the 3rd hour, I did the 4th hour. I had to message our supporters to tell them we’d be landing a bit further along the coast than expected due to the tides  We swam in together for the last bit to our supporters waiting on the beach.  The swim took us 4 hours 24 minutes. We had a great feeling of accomplishment at the end. 

We raised £1,770 which mostly came from the fellow swimmers and the kind donations of friends and family.  Sadly I am aware that a spinal injury can happen to anyone at anytime. Two men I know have been paralysed; one in a cycling accident and one in a motorcycle accident.  A spinal cord injury is  a massive life changing injury and I’m happy to help and raise money in anyway I can.

Sponsor Anna & Harriet

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