Swimming the Channel

Swimming the Channel

Just two girls looking across the ocean to France, desperately training day in, day out, and hoping we can swim that far in jellyfish-infested, filthy, cold water! In just a cossie and swim hat… seriously, WHO ARE WE?!

Well, we are two friends, Sally Wood and Anne Heath, who jumped in the Thames under a year ago to swim a mile, having not swum for a very, very long time, had multiple children and a passion for sunnier climates and crystal clear waters, who decided we could make a difference and achieve something that is well outside our comfort zones – and will enable us to raise as much money as possible for a very worthwhile charity, “Aspire”.

The journey was full of early starts, FREEZING cold water, sewage, and some incredible people that we met along the way. Comedy was the theme that kept us going, and let’s face it, you have to laugh when your friend has just thrown up on you whilst you swim, or you would be sick with them, or cry!

We set off on the morning of the 24th August for a swim that would take us 17 hours and 26 minutes to achieve, and swam as a relay team of 6. Named by Aspire as “Team Rhino”, we managed to onboard our sponsors, Rhino Global Direct and Magic Five Goggles, and can’t thank them enough, particularly Dave Reynish at Rhino, who continues to support us! With over £68,000 secured so far, we are continuing to raise funds and hope to hit £100,000 by Easter 2023.

We spent the majority of the swim hugely affected by motion sickness, despite taking a lot of medication, meaning we threw up almost every 20 minutes for the full 17 hours, both in the water and on the boat! The mental mindset and the beauty in the “pressure” of a team really kept us going.

We did, however, make it, and now form part of the elite group that has accomplished a Channel relay crossing. As of the end of 2020, 2,157 individuals had completed the swim, compared to 5,788 who had summited Mount Everest – so it was a reasonable challenge. We did it in aid of Aspire, and you can still sponsor us here: https:// www.justgiving.com/fundraising/anne-sally

We, as in Sally and I, are now delivering aspirational talks to businesses and schools around the UK about our journey to the Channel – we can be booked for a fee, and that whole fee goes to Aspire (both of us are accomplished public speakers).

Feel free to contact Anne at: anne2@outlook.com or on LinkedIn.

Anne Heath (née Price, Ru ’99)