An elite team of international swimmers, led by Edinburgh-based, world champion and Olympic silver medallist, Dan Wallace, are aiming to swim the English Channel in record time, in a bid to raise £10 for every metre swam, in support of the Ukrainian refugee crisis, and Cancer Research UK.
The team will be swimming the 33 kilometres from England to France and crossing the English Channel is considered the most gruelling open water swim in the world. The current record was set in 1990 by the US National team.
As well as negotiating the globe’s busiest shipping lane, swimmers must also contend with water temperatures as low as 10c in no wetsuits whilst battling the strongest currents in Europe.
The event will take place between June 9 and June 15 depending on weather conditions and the five-person team attempting the gruelling swim are Dan Wallace, Team GB Olympic Silver Medallist, World and Commonwealth Champion, Jack Blyzinskyj, Olympic trials finalist for Team GB, 11x NCAA All-American, Ross McWhirter, Scottish and GB Triathlete, Jordan Dunn, Scottish national team member and Harrison Haines, Australian, former University of Florida athlete
Wallace was a member of Team GB’s Olympic Silver Medal 4x200m freestyle relay in 2016 is focused heavily on making sure the swim is a success in and out of the water.
The Scot said: “We are aware of the pressure there is to perform and we understand the challenge we’ve set ourselves, every one of us has a point to prove and we are not taking any shortcuts.
“Throughout our lives, all five of us have shown immense dedication to swimming and once again we are full steam ahead, training in the pool, in the open water and in the cold”.
Jack Blyzinskyj, of Ukranian heritage, who is a full-time MBA student at Imperial College in London, said: “As a family with deep Ukrainian roots, the invasion was difficult to comprehend and impacted me personally.
“My Grandfather was born in Western Ukraine when the country was under Soviet occupation in the 1930’s. At 15, just after World War 2, – he had to flee his country of birth, was in a refugee camp in Italy for a while, before settling in England.”
Ross McWhirter, a former triathlete, said: “Cancer shows mercy to no one, and cannot be ignored. Whether directly or indirectly, cancer will affect everyone, and can have a lasting presence on those it touches.
“Being able to make one small gesture in the fight against this is something I take a huge amount of pride in. The five of us doing this swim are merely a focal point of energy for a cause much greater than ourselves. I am able to do something about this now, so I am going to make sure it is to the highest standard I can contribute.”
Jordan Dunn, who is a national swimmer from Edinburgh, Scotland said: “The last six months have been an illuminating experience for all of us on the metre by metre team, the challenges we’ll face on the day will push us far outside our comfort zones and our preparation in the lead up to the swim will need to match that.
“Even though a lot of the training we are doing is independent, we work well as a team and each of us rely on the others to keep focused, accountable and engaged with the goal we’ve collectively set.”
The team has raised over £90,000 for charity so far and this will be one of the biggest fund raising efforts ever for a Channel swim and one of the most experienced teams to ever cross it.
REFERENCE: $50 pays for one child’s school supplies, $100 pays for the seeds to plant our organic garden (which in turn feeds the broader community), $250 pays for meals for a family of four for a month, $750 pays for a generator that we send to Ukraine, $1000 pays for tuition and school meals for one child for a year, $1,250 pays for gas for one truck to take supplies to Ukraine and back
Link to charity: https://www.meterbymeter.co.uk
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