Take on a milestone challenge

Aspire celebrated their 100th relay Channel swim this August. Find out how swimming to France could be your next challenge

“Swimming the Channel in 2009 was one of the hardest challenges I had ever undertaken and to return 16 years later seemed almost beyond me.”

In 2009, Eleanor Reddington was part of the first ever Aspire English Channel Relay, not under CS&PF rules, swimming the Channel to raise money to provide practical help to people paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury. Sixteen years after that pioneering swim, Eleanor, who herself has a Spinal Cord Injury, once again swam to France as part of Aspire’s 100th boat to successfully cross the Channel.

“I believe that age doesn’t have to be a block to living an exciting life and so, when I was offered a place on the boat, I decided I had to return and help Aspire,” said Eleanor. As part of a team of six swimmers, whose ages ranged from 16 to 71, Eleanor crossed the Channel for the second time on Sunday 4 August 2024. The team left Dover at midnight and reached France after swimming for 12 hours 59 minutes. The boat was generously sponsored by Mobility in Motion.

“This has been an historic moment for Aspire,” said Paul Parrish, Director of Fundraising and Marketing for Aspire. “We never thought back in 2009 that a project to get a person with a Spinal Cord Injury to swim to France would lead to so much.”

ARE YOU READY FOR A CHALLENGE?

If you are inspired to swim to France, an English Channel Relay with Aspire is a great way to achieve your dream. So how do you get started?

The first step is to get in touch with Aspire at aspire.org.uk/relay-channel-swim. Your journey will start with an Assessment Day in November, where Aspire select and put together teams of swimmers who will help each other succeed in their dream of crossing the Channel. Aspire will take care of all the necessary administration, book your boat and support your challenge with Training Weekends in Dover. In return you must commit to training hard throughout the winter and pledge to fundraise a minimum amount for Aspire. Throughout your journey you will be supported by Aspire, with their record of guiding over 500 swimmers to France, as well as individual team support from your Boat Leader, an experienced Aspire swimmer with Channel relays – and often solos – under their belt.

So what are you waiting for? If you’d like to swim the Channel with Aspire, find out more now.

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What is an English Channel Relay?

The Relay Channel Swim covers 22 miles between the UK and France. Completed in teams of six, each swimmer will take it in turn to swim the Channel for an hour in rotation, until the team reaches France. Aspire teams on average take around 14 hours.