Latest news with #SwimTayka
BBC News
25-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Two women from Hastings raise £28k in Channel charity swim
Two friends have swum the English Channel, raising £28k for swimming lessons for disadvantaged Kedwell, 50, and Sarah Branson, 53, from Hastings, braved freezing water, strong tides, jellyfish and exhaustion to cross from Dover's Samphire Hoe to Cap Gris-Nez in France earlier this pair made the gruelling 22-mile (35.4km) journey in two relay teams - Ms Kedwell's group Blue Tide reaching its destination in 16 hours and 15 minutes, while Ms Branson's Riptide Racers clocked in at 17 hours and 34 minutes. It was an especially difficult task for Ms Branson, who admitted that 12 months ago she could barely swim a length of her local swimming pool. "I tore my meniscus a few years ago and wanted to show that, however old and broken, we can do hard things," she said. "Swimming the Channel is not just about the physical challenge, but the mental belief that you can do this. Ms Kedwell added: "When our families met us back at Dover, it was a big emotional moment."Looking out to sea and realising I swam that gave me a huge sense of pride." Each swimmer took on one-hour stints in their teams, plunging into dark, unpredictable waters from their aptly named support boat, High eventual success was due to months of dedication, early morning sea dips, endurance training and ice-cold plunges. The pair added that their friendship inspired them both to keep money raised so far will go to SwimTayka, a charity providing free swimming lessons and environmental education to underprivileged children living along the world's rivers, lakes and coasts.
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Doncaster NHS practitioner to swim English Channel for charity
A healthcare worker will take part in a relay swim across the English Channel to support a charity that aims to prevent drowning Bull, an advanced medical practitioner from Doncaster, will take on the 21-mile challenge as part of a team of six women to raise money for SwimTayka, an organisation that teaches children in low-income countries how to Bull, an orthopaedics practitioner at Montagu Hospital, is also raising money for the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals (DBTH) said the other women on her team had been strangers but that their "love of swimming has brought us together and we are so excited for the journey ahead". Ms Bull has previously taken part in the challenging Ironman World Championships and the Ice Swimming World she said this was her first time swimming the Channel and she did not want to let down the charities or her team, who have named themselves the Riptide prepare for the challenge, she has been swimming in either a pool or open water four times a week. 'Truly inspiring' Raising money for the NHS Trust was special, she said, and she hoped it could "improve patient outcomes and working conditions for colleagues".She added the SwimTayka charity was also important to her because she felt "privileged in terms of being able to swim"."I've come across so many people who can't swim, and actually adults as well," she said."It's great they're teaching kids in undeveloped places how to do it - it's a great charity to be involved in."Suzy Brain England OBE, chair of the board at DBTH, said: "Ellie's determination and commitment, both in her clinical role and through this extraordinary fundraising challenge, are truly inspiring."On behalf of the board, we are incredibly proud of Ellie and wish her and the Riptide Racers every success as they take on the English Channel."The team will be on standby to swim between 11 and 18 July, with the exact day being chosen based on the swimming conditions. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
30-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Woman's Channel swim in aid of children's water safety lessons
A woman is preparing to swim the channel to fundraise for children at risk of drowning in parts of Asia and South America who had never learnt to Jewell, 50, who lives in Bristol, will be one of a five-person team called The Channel Pirates attempting the English Channel Relay will go to UK-based charity SwimTayka which runs teaching programmes in countries where swimming was not part of the culture, but the risk of drowning was are due to set off from Dover on 6 September and take turns to swim for an hour at a time until they reach the French shore. Ms Jewell said: 'It may be a bit of a midlife crisis but I've swum the River Dart 10k three times and initially I thought I would never be able to swim 10k, then I did it and then again…"And there's a sense of maybe there's something else I could do.""I learnt to swim when I was four and I was really lucky. I had a swimming pool near me I could learn to swim, it was all very easy."But we're not fish, we don't automatically know how to swim and where there aren't the facilities and resources [for children] to learn to swim, someone needs to step in." Ms Jewell was participating in SwimTayka training weekends at Dover to prepare for the crossing, with fewer people having swum the channel than have climbed Everest, she said. Alongside that she was preparing for other difficulties, like avoiding the debris that collects in parts of the channel, and jellyfish, which she said was "a bit of a mind over matter thing," she said."But from all the people I've spoken to, sea sickness is the biggest challenge, because you're in a small boat in the middle of the channel and the waves will not be stopping for us."The weather's got to be good enough for us to cross the channel but it's not going to be brilliant," she Avery, founder of SwimTayka said the charity runs programmes teaching local children to swim in "coastal locations like Bali, Peru, and Brazil, where learning to swim simply isn't part of the curriculum, leaving children at high risk of drowning".Ms Jewell is aiming to raise £1,800 for SwimTayka with her channel swim.
