Swim for Surtees
 |
Share this story with your favourite social / bookmarking site. |
(Front Row) Hannah
Nottage, Sasha Richards, Nick Elvidge, Jack Udale and Henry
McNeil.
(Back Row) Raphael Gruber, Dominic Robinson, Mark Newton, Ben Clyde-Smith and Rory Pickard.
Ten teenagers are to swim the
The son of former F1 World champion
John Surtees was killed in an accident at Brands Hatch last summer. He was
airlifted to the
Now his fellow pupils at
Organiser Dominic Robinson, said:
“It’s quite daunting but at the same time we’re really excited about it as
well.
“It’s going to be a really good
experience - the loneliness of being in the water and having to keep going
because the rest of the team are relying on you to do your
bit.
“It will also be something great to
tell the kids when they are older. More people have climbed Everest than swum
the Channel.
“Between us we have done more than
1,000 hours of swimming since we started training two years ago. It’s been
absolutely tiring and some mornings it’s been so hard getting out of
bed.”
Dominic, 17, will be joined by
friends Mark Newton, Henry McNeil, Jack Udale, Raphael Gruber, Nick Gandy, Nick
Elvidge, Sasha Richards, Rory Pickard and Ben
Clyde-Smith.
Six of them will take in turns to
swim a total distance of 21 miles in a time of between 12 and 15 hours on June
21, depending on the weather.
Little Britain star David Walliams,
38, completed the crossing in 10 hours and 30 minutes four years ago after
training for 11 months to get in shape.
Only 10 per cent of people who try
to swim the
Cash raised from the swim will also
go to the Surtees family’s chosen charity Headway, which improves life after
brain injury, and the Matthew Elvidge Trust.
The Sussex Air Ambulance also
rescued the cousin of former Channel swim team member Hannah Nottage, following
a road crash.
Dominic added: “They do a fantastic
job and it’s really important that it keeps going and
develops.”
To sponsor Dominic and the team
visit www.justgiving.com/swimtofranceforairambulance.
