Harry and Guy are taking on an epic open water challenge on 6 September to raise funds for MDUK. They will be swimming day and night to cover 70km in their three teams of five to make a difference for the 110,000 people living with muscular dystrophy in the UK.
They are hoping to surpass their fundraising total in the last charity fundraiser, which raised an amazing £25k each through the support of friends, family and corporate sponsors.
During the first lockdown I was chatting to some of my former teammates from our previous English Channel Relay and we agreed it would be good to tackle something a little harder which, at more than twice the distance, Lake Geneva certainly is,
said Guy.
“This was largely to raise [money] for charities, although there was a little bit of self-preservation in there too! The various lockdowns took their toll on many of us and having something worthy to strive towards was a welcome distraction,” he added.
After not being a keen swimmer when he was younger, Guy first took up swimming after a life-changing back operation in 2010. He was told “If you want to stay walking, swim!”, so he quickly switched his suit for goggles and began training. Guy was later diagnosed with a heart condition, so the enforced exercise regime came at a good time for his overall health.
The 15 swimmers have been training hard for the upcoming event, as they prepare for the physical and mental challenge that comes with open water swimming.
“I have trained pretty hard and pretty well for the past year or so, and so am feeling pretty well prepared,” said Guy, 47, from Kent.
“Speaking to the others doing the challenge, I think we all feel the same. Although, some of the newbies to open water swimming are pretty anxious about the night swimming and the mental challenge of swimming in the darling knowing you have 300m of nothingness below you,” he added.
“Hopefully all will be fine though. It would be gutting if some of us didn’t make it after the hundreds of hours of training.”
Unfortunately, his two children won’t be able to support him in person for his daunting Lake Geneva swim as they will be back in school after the summer holidays. But this hasn’t deterred him and the team has been making good progress so far.
Guy also sits on the Microscope Ball committee for Muscular Dystrophy UK and completed a push-up challenge with his daughter, Annabelle, for MDUK in 2020.
“I’m acutely aware of the colossal shortfall in funding the charity [faced during the pandemic] and the impact this [had] on those dependent on them, due to the cancellation of many fundraising events,” said Guy.
“They are an amazing charity so, I thought of doing some press ups! I completed 250 press ups a day and Annabelle did 100, broken up into sessions of between 25 and 50 a time. We both loved raising money for MDUK, so you were top of my list for this challenge,” said Guy.
Krishan Solanki, Head of Events for Muscular Dystrophy UK said: “The Geneva70 Swim Charity Challenge is an incredible event that is sure to push our fundraisers physical and mental stamina to the limits. We’re so grateful Harry and Guy have chosen us as their charity, and we’re sure their contribution will make a huge difference to the 110,000 people living with a muscle-wasting condition in the UK through funding research into treatments and cures, and providing support to those who need it.”
To support the team and follow their incredible challenge, head to their online fundraising page here.