Channel Swim for Charity
Challenging Channel Swim Raises Funds for Hospice
23-year-old Sam Windless from Newent swam the English Channel on July 21st in an effort to raise vital funds for St Michael's Hospice after witnessing the positive impact the local charity had on his friend and her family when they were facing a bereavement a number of years ago.
Sam is not shy of challenges, having a list of them which he is slowly ticking off. "Swimming the Channel has always been one of those crazy-yet-achievable challenges I have dreamt of conquering," he said. He has also set his sights on the London Marathon, and as a triathlete, he believes he can compete in these events quite ably. He has always been a decent club swimmer, and through Loughborough University he began competing in triathlons, now regularly achieving top five finishes, amongst some wins and a qualification for the age group world championships in 2008.
This is the biggest challenge Sam has taken on so far and he thought it fitting to try and raise funds for a local charity, choosing St Michael's Hospice because it proved invaluable for a very close friend. "My friend, aged 16 at the time, her two older sisters and younger brother saw their mum diagnosed with terminal cancers. After as much home care as possible she was moved to St Michael's. The move enabled the kids to see their mum whenever they wanted, day or night, created a comfortable and practical environment for her whilst offering the very young family all the support, guidance and advice they needed." Sam explained his decision, continuing to say: "The staff at the Hospice have been praised by the family for their friendliness and desire to accommodate them in anyway they could. My friend also told me how the Hospice since contacted her after her mum's death, offering further support as well as invitations to various events and fundraisers, which is nice as it shows the Hospice is still carrying out such great work. She has described how it was very reassuring and comforting to have such support around in her biggest moment of need."
Covering 21 miles of the world's busiest shipping lane in 12 hours and 39 minutes was a mammoth task for the relay swimmers, Sam with his friends Paul Robinson and Graham Jones, especially with the unpredictable conditions of the channel, jelly fish and ferries to contend with! The swim was broken up into hourly efforts: an hour in the water, two hours on the boat to recover, warm up, drink lots of coffee and eat loads of pasta and then back in for another plunge and so on! "That's probably one of the hardest aspects," Sam commented. "Getting dry, warming up and then having to jump back in again."
Using his triathlon schedule as the starting point for training, Sam soon found that swimming had to take over, with pool training being continuous all year round. He took his first dip in the open water of a lake in February. The trio's first Dover harbour swim took place in March, where around 100 channel swimmers descended into the water in nothing but Speedos, in water that touched the mercury at just 9 degrees. Sam said of that experience: "I wasn't sure whether my skin was freezing cold or burning hot, but you soon realised once the shakes began in the water it meant it was time to get out! The shakes then carried on for a good half an hour, whilst trying to dress as quickly as possible and slurp on coffee."
"Sam's belief in the quality of the care the Hospice has provided his friend is matched by our faith in Sam that he can achieve this incredible feat," said Communications Officer Anika Backhouse, before the swim date was confirmed. "Along with his two swimming partners, Sam is covering 21 miles of open water and is hoping that the water will be 15 degrees! That makes me shiver, just thinking about it. He deserves the support of the community, so please sponsor him and help him reach his £2,000 target."
Sam is raising funds via the Just Giving website, so please sponsor him at www.justgiving.com/SamChannelWindless