Arrival in Kent

After meeting up together and cramming everything into a Ford KA and Peugeot 206 all 5 of us headed down to Kent and away from Reading and all the festivallers.  Despite heavy traffic we made it to our destination (just outside Folkstone) in 2.5 hours which included a McDonald's lunch break.  If ever we needed to pile on the pounds its would be now!

On arrival we unpacked and then headed down to Dover to meet with our pilot Stuart.  After being presented with a cup of tea onboard Sea Leapoard we chatted about the swim and had many of our questions answered.  Apparently it is pretty unlikely we will see jellyfish, are mostly likely to be swimming in darkness at some point, and we may encounter some seals! It is unlikely that we will swim over the weekend due to the weather but fingers crossed it will happen early next week!

Back at where we are staying, and after a Tesco trip, we whipped up spaghetti bolognese and then settled down to begin our Midsomer Murder marathon that is going to get us through the next few days!

Training in Dover Harbour in the morning, time to get seriously acclimatised!

Expect plenty of updates over the next few days...

Packing!

The day has finally come, we are leaving for Kent in a couple of hours!

Training has been in full swing in recent weeks, albeit on an individual basis as everyone has been away in recent weeks either with university, holidays, Olympic volunteering!  Training in various pools/ lakes/ and seas has occurred for all of us, and wetsuits have now well and truly become a thing of the past.  However, half of the team were able to meet up for a final training session last night at the lake while Josie crossed the channel via ferry - she spotted no other swimmers while onboard and no sharks either for that matter!

After a flurry of phone calls to each other last night all of us are now packed and have planned a meeting place which hopefully will avoid all the reading Festival traffic!

No idea when we are swimming, its weather and tide dependent, so there may be plenty of updates the next few days as we do some last minute acclimatisation/ training in the Channel itself.

Lets hope we can seize the Olympic spirit and do ourselves proud in the next week...

Planning!

While training and fundraising are still ongoing we have now got the planning stage for our imminent voyage across the Channel!

Certain products such as light sticks are requited according to official regulations and on top of this things such as 'grease' to stop rubbing and at least have a positive psychological effect on the temperature of the water, need to be purchased.

Research into these products is underway as well as the compilation of a long list of items to take - layers and chocolate being near the top!

We will keep you posted on our progress...

All steam ahead!

Lots of activity again recently.  Firstly fundraising news - we went to another car boot sale on Sunday 15th July and raised another £54 for the swim.  After an early start and several drives later we ended up at the Sonning Common Car Boot Sale - the A33 one having been closed due to the weather and slippery ground.  Fortunately The rain did miraculously hold off all day on the Sunday and we were able to get rid of a lot more stuff and raise a decent amount of money in the process.  A special thanks must go out to Jasmine Hicks who came along to help us at the car boot sale despite not being a member of the team as Amy and Josie needed an extra pair of hands, thank you Jasmine!

Sponsorship is still coming in and we are all extremely appreciative and overwhelmed by the amount of support being shown to us - thank you to everyone who has so generously donated so far.  If you still haven't donated and would like to you can donate directly to Cancer Research UK through our Just Giving page http://www.justgiving.com/Challenge-521  or alternatively email us at challenge521@hotmail.co.uk for details of where to send a cheque.

Training has also stepped up in recent weeks.  As all members of the team have now been to the lake it is much easier for us to all go as and when we can.  Wetsuits have now well and truly been abandoned and it has to be said that training last night was actually pleasant in terms of temperature and was a welcome method of cooling off after such a hot day!  Fingers crossed the weather remains this good or at last reappears for the week of the swim!

From now until the swim training is to become more intense, even for those of us on holiday.  The final stages of planning, for instance what to pack, are underway and it is very exciting that it is getting so near!  For now just keep swimming...

More training!

Despite it being the weekend 3 of us (Josie, Izzy and Poppy) went to outdoor training this morning and were in the lake for 8am!

Particular praise must be given to Poppy as it was not only her first time doing outdoor training, but she also braved the 17.6 degree Celsius lake in only a splash vest and drag shorts!  Her argument being here that she may as well skip the wetsuit stage and get used to the coldness from the beginning.

Furthermore, she managed to persuade Izzy to drop the wetsuit and do the same!  Poppy's encouragement did not work quite as well on Josie who remained in her wetsuit, but she has promised to ditch the wetsuit the next time she goes.

For those who may be unaware when we complete the swim in August we are only allowed to wear standard swimming costumes, with the option of greasing up as the only extra layer of potential warmth allowed.  With the English Channel in August being anywhere between 12 and 18 degrees Celsius in the summer ultimately all outdoor training should be completed without extra layers - so well done Izzy and Poppy.

It s also worth a mention that it was Josie's fourth outdoor training session in seven days today, which is  dedication to training, even if it was in a wetsuit.....

All of us are picking training back up on a more serious basis at present now that the exam period is truly over and will will keep you updated on our progress...

Updated Photos

The Flickr page has (albeit in a very late fashion) been updated with photos from our fundraising evening back April.  Enjoy them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/challenge521

Bake Sale

Yesterday The Abbey School (Josie and Alice's old school) allowed us to hold a bake sale at their annual Sports Day.  After a morning of preparation, collecting of doughnuts and baking we made our way to the sports ground where it was being held and set up our stall.

We are delighted to announce that we raised £200 for the Mark Evison Foundation throughout the day, which is a fantastic amount of money for a very worthwhile cause (http://www.markevisonfoundation.org/).  All the cakes and doughnuts went down extremely well, and not just with those of use who were selling them!

For Alice and Josie it was also lovely to be back at their old school, and particularly at an event such as Sports Day where they could once again cheer on their old houses and watch the infamous teacher's race with some familiar faces!

A huge thanks much be given to the staff at The Abbey for allowing us to hold a fundraiser and making us feel so welcome, as well as including us in the programme which explained how and what we were doing.  A further thanks needs to be given to the staff at the Palmer Park who were also very welcoming and helped us set up.

Another outdoor training session may be occurring this afternoon weather permitting.... If it does go ahead Izzy will be introduced to the lake!