Taplow outdoor swimmers to take on English Channel swim challenge to fundraise for charity

A team of outdoor swimmers from Taplow will be swimming the English Channel in July to fundraise for the Samaritans charity. 

The Taplow Sea Bears, a team made up of local swimmers Mike Sharp, Carine Evans, Janet Moore, Darren Bond, Claire Parkinson, and Katy Saxby, have been training hard alongside their coach Stephen Gould for the last seven months to prepare for the Relay Channel Swim challenge.

The group had never met until last year when professional swim coach Stephen Gould was informed in October that another team due to take part in the challenge had dropped out, leaving a slot available.

After taking the slot, Stephen was in search of a team and within a few weeks, he had approached fellow swimmers at Taplow Lake.

In early July (dates depending on the weather conditions), the six swimmers will be taking on the challenge to swim to France in under 20 hours, the team’s JustGiving page states.

Under the guidance of coach Stephen and pilot Paul Foreman, team members will swim relay legs lasting for an hour each.

Donning their swimming costumes and budgie smugglers, hats and googles, the team will be contending with seasickness and jellyfish, fighting tides and ‘dodging ferries and tankers’ which will also be using the busy channel shipping lane.

On their JustGiving page, Taplow Sea Bears added: “We're all amateur swimmers. Some of us have done previous swim challenges, some of us have not.

“But at one point or other we’ve all had a coached session with Stephen.”

They will be starting the challenge in the dark and hope to reach France in the daylight.

The team has spent months training and ‘acclimatising to cold water in Taplow Lake’ and have been submerging themselves in ice baths and wheelie bins.

Making their strokes efficient, increasing their speed, and preparing for the cold and any other obstacles they may face during the challenge has been part of their training programme.

Through their efforts, the team is raising funds for Samaritans – a national charity supporting anyone experiencing emotional distress or struggling to cope.

“Given that swimming and cold water has helped each of us in the team with our own mental health it seems fitting that we use this as an opportunity to raise money for an organisation that helps others with theirs,” the team added on its JustGiving fundraiser.

So far, more than £10,700 has been raised for the charity on the JustGiving fundraiser.

Team member, Katy Saxby, who volunteers for the Samaritans, said: “It’s hard to know sometimes how much of a difference a call can make to someone.

“All calls are confidential and it’s unlikely we’ll ever speak to the same caller again.

“But being able to give someone the time and space to be themselves, explore their thoughts and feelings with no judgement and know that they matter can be the starting point to finding a way to get their life heading in a better direction.”

To view the team’s fundraiser, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/taplow-sea-bears-1713707903093 

Their progress ahead of the challenge can be followed on Instagram @TaplowSeaBears and people can also follow @samaritans on X (formerly Twitter) and #TeamSamaritans to find out more about the charity’s work.