As a teenager I decided that I would swim the Channel. I was regularly swimming for my local club at that point. The ignorance of youth - I thought it would be a relatively easy challenge to complete! However, at the age of 14 I stopped competing and the challenge was forgotten.

For a significant birthday, nearly a decade ago now, my children bought me a book to record my bucket list. I decided to use it for that and to record some of my most memorable moments. As I was looking for inspiration for my bucket list, there was a suggestion to swim the Channel and I joked with my children that as a teenager it was something I thought about doing. They convinced me to add it to my bucket list! With the wisdom of older age I realised that to actually swim the Channel would be a step too far for me, however the Aspire Channel Swim would allow me to pool swim and tick that one off the bucket list. And so I signed up!

I haven't swum regularly for over 30 years and had mainly got in the pool for fun sessions with the children. However, the challenge has got me back in the pool. I now swim just once a fortnight as I have a problem with the chlorine affecting my sinuses but the challenge has rekindled my love of the water.

Getting access to reasonable pool time with lane swimming meant early morning starts for me and I'm really not a morning person!  I enjoy swimming because I can just switch off and at the same time do some non-weight bearing exercise. I find this extremely beneficial as I have arthritis and the lack of impact really helps me to keep fit. Swimming brings back some lovely memories of being a teenager, competing in galas and being part of a team. My main reason for swimming is to keep fit. I very much enjoy my food and without exercise I would gain a lot of weight so this helps to keep my weight in check. I basically exercise so I can eat what I like!

I swim at Wombourne Leisure Centre and they were very supportive when I told them about the challenge.  I completed the challenge in 8 weeks, which was quicker than I'd originally planned and I swam a total of 22.4 miles. I am very fortunate to have a wonderful network of family and friends who gave very generously to enable me to raise £300. I used Facebook to keep people informed of my weekly progress.

I don’t know anyone with a spinal cord injury and I didn’t know too much about Aspire, but having done some research I realised it was a great charity to support.  The Aspire Channel Swim has helped me tick one off my bucket list and has been added as a memorable moment. I thoroughly enjoyed undertaking this challenge. It's got me back in the pool and swimming and hopefully made a difference to other people's lives.

Sponsor Tracey

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