I found the Aspire Channel Swim in an internet search for swimming challenges as I needed something to motivate myself and give me a real kick start to work on my own fitness.

I suffered a knee Injury back in May and then had a bad case of bronchitis which meant that I couldn't exercise for a while. I was really unhappy with how out of shape I had become so I decided to get back into swimming. The Aspire Channel Swim challenge was perfect to set me a goal, keep me motivated and give me a real kick start to get my physical shape back. I wanted to do a challenge that was a real stretch for me and would keep me motivated to achieve it so I chose to do the 44 miles and will be swimming back across the Channel.

My main reason for swimming is to get back to a good core level of fitness, lose weight and generally improve both my physical and mental health.  Swimming has low impact on the joints but is also great cardio and works all of the muscle groups. It can feel like a struggle at first, but it gets easier, and it is incredible how quick you are able to grow your strength and endurance.

I had always enjoyed swimming but probably haven't swum regularly for a number of years. Since starting the challenge I am now swimming twice a day - early mornings and evenings - to get in the required distances.

The swimming will stay with me long after the challenge though as I have really enjoyed it and it is certainly the best exercise for me!

The Aspire Channel Swim has given me the motivation to really kick start my drive for better physical and mental wellbeing. I have been eating all the right foods to fuel my long swimming sessions and the results have been amazing - losing nearly 3 stone in weight in just 4 weeks or so after doing my first swim for years. The food is so important also and you need to eat a lot of the right things to fuel yourself. I find myself very low on energy in the pool if I haven’t eaten the right amounts of the right foods, so I try to eat a lot of protein, the right amount of carbs and drink a lot of fluid to try and avoid leg cramps. Peanut butter and banana on a rice cake is my secret power food an hour before I swim!

I am swimming at the fantastic facilities at the Sports and Wellness Hub at the University of Warwick. I live 5 mins away and the facilities are absolutely next level. I’ve had asthma since birth, and whilst it is less of a problem now then in my earlier years, sometimes I can still get quite out of breath quite early, needing my inhaler. What seems to work for me is sitting in the steam room for 10 mins before I swim which tends to work wonders in opening up my chest.

I have raised over £600 because I am lucky to have such a great set of friends and family that I posted the details of the challenge on Facebook and in an email to work colleagues and I hit my initial target very quickly.

I don’t know anybody directly with a spinal cord injury, but I am aware of plenty of people in sports who have spinal cord injuries and how debilitating they can be.  I am proud to raise money for Aspire and the great work that the charity does in the rehabilitation and support of those who are paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge so far and I look forward to completing it in the coming weeks. It has been kind of life changing for me with the weight loss and fitness focus it has given me and I will continue swimming long after I have completed the challenge.

Sponsor Lee

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