Channel Swim Relay 2015

BQA Member Tim Down is due to take part in a Channel swim relay this coming September, unfortunately he has had a couple of late withdrawals from his team and they are now down to two which isn’t enough given our capabilities. This means that we are now urgently looking for 2-3 more swimmers to join us at late notice.

The details…

Our booked window is from 19th-26th September, we are free to go at any time during this period although as it is very much a weather dependent event we should take advantage of the earliest opportunity. This is a week of neap tides which present the most favourable conditions.

The form of the swim is – no thermal protection apart from a single swim cap plus standard traditional swim togs. Definitely no wetsuits or anything remotely resembling one. Each swimmer swims for an hour at a time in rotation so if there is a team of four it is one hour swimming, three hours off. With a team of mixed ability, able to average between them 1.7 – 1.8 mph the swim might take between 13 – 15 hours depending on conditions so each swimmer in a team of four might expect 3 or 4 stints, in a team of 5 that is likely to reduce to 3.

The cost of the swim is a total of £2,600 for the pilot boat, plus registration fees and incidentals. Approximately £1,500 of the cost of the boat has already been raised so any new swimmer joining would be expected to pay or raise money for their share of the remaining cost of the pilot boat – this is likely to be in the region of £200-300.

We are raising money for the international disability charity Motivation www.motivation.org.ukWith a September slot the sea is likely to be at its warmest and so represents a wonderful opportunity to take part in a very big adventure!

All the best Thanks … Tim Down

It there are any BQA members that want to join him message me ‘Jean Ashley’ and I will let you have his phone number. There aren’t many opportunities to swim the Channel and someone out there might just be interested!