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15 Jun 2007 14:16:20
Five students from the University of Bedfordshire will be heading to France next month, but instead of taking the Euro Star or a ferry, they will be swimming across the channel to raise money for charity.
The students will be joined by Jo McKeown, a graduate of the Bedford campus who lost a leg in a road traffic accident in 2001. Jo decided to take part in the swim after her former teacher Helen Elkington, who is also a former Olympic swimming coach, told her about the fundraising challenge for a range of charities.
The six have been covering a minimum of 144 lengths (2 miles) per session, as well as distance training, practicing bi-lateral breathing – breathing on both sides when doing the front crawl - and also stroke counting to help them maintain a regular rhythm and pace.
Jo said: “The training has been a challenge for me because of my disability but I’ve trained hard and feel well prepared. I have been getting up at 5.45am each day to do my training but the early starts haven’t put me off. I’m keen to raise as much money as possible for charity.”
Jo, along with the students, will take turns at swimming a stretch of the Channel. Each participant will swim for an hour before swapping with a team mate.
Leading the training sessions is Great Britain Olympic swimming coach, Helen Elkington, who has taught swimming for more than 50 years. This will be the fourth time she has trained students for the Channel swim.
She said: “I originally organised the Channel swim to raise awareness of the benefits of swimming, and also to celebrate the centenary of teaching PE in Bedford, but this soon grew into a more regular event.
“I have previously trained students over a two-year period, but this year I had eight months to train the team. I’m sure with favourable weather conditions they will do fine, as they are a gutsy team.
“I promised I would never do another following our 1993 swim, when the team all suffered badly from sea sickness because of the weather, but I agreed to do one more crossing to mark the first year of the University of Bedfordshire.”
The students will continue to train in Bedford and at a local lake before heading to the Solent in Southampton on 10 June to prepare for sea swimming. They hope to make the swim between 20 June and 01 July, weather permitting.
To find out more about the cross channel swim or to donate money visit www.justgiving.com/jomckeown. To find out more about the sport courses offered by the University of Bedfordshire visit www.beds.ac.uk or phone 01234 400400.
Latest news» 2007» June» Cross-Channel challenge for Beds students
