Aquadeacon swims pierlessly
The Ven Sue Groom, Archdeacon of Wilts, has swum half a mile in the sea for charity, and has achieved 176% of her target funds.
Sue says:
"I'm raising money for the British Heart Foundation and I'd be very grateful for your support. The BHF has helped halve the number of people dying from heart and circulatory disease in the UK but sadly every day hundreds of people lose their lives.
"It's only thanks to support from people like us that the BHF can create new treatments and discover new cures. £24 could pay for two hours of research by an early career scientist, but every pound helps so please give what you can to help me hit my target. Thank you very much!
"In the pool I've been practising breathing to one side for 50m, then the other side for 50m, then bilaterally so that I can cope with swell or waves coming from one side in the sea."
The day before, she posted:
"Yesterday I received this email from the British Heart Foundation:
'Current forecasts mean that we expect the sea conditions to be more challenging for participants than anticipated...
'The 1.4 mile swim will now take place in a 2 lap loop. Please note, for safety reasons, you will now not be permitted to continue on to Boscombe Pier...
'As the swim will be more challenging, the new format will enable our Event Water Safety Team to provide more support and also offer opportunity to complete your event after 1 lap (if you wish!).'
"Wow!"
On the day, after a successful but shorter-than-planned swim, Aquadeacon Sue posted:
"Well, I made it! It was quite a challenge - my first sea swim. It was so rough that the course was changed, no pier to pier this weekend, rather an 800m swim along the shore with an optional extra loop for those who were brave and strong! I settled for the 800m.
"Every time I tried to see where I was going, all I could see was a wave waiting to break over me, no chance of seeing the very large red buoys. I was very grateful for the paddle boarders keeping an eye on us and pointing us in the right direction! Thank you very much for sponsoring me."
To date, Sue has raised £441 of her £250 target.
If you would like to donate, please visit her JustGiving page.
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