Adrian Sarchet, aka The Sea Donkey, is set to take to the water for 24 hours from 20th – 21st August at Guernsey’s Bathing Pools to raise money for two local charities.
The two charities are Vive La Vallette LBG, (VLV), the Guernsey charity that has undertaken the regeneration work at the Pools and Guernsey Disability Swimming LBG (GDS).
Funds raised from the Sea Donkey 24 Hour Swim Challenge will go towards wheelchair and assisted access facilities at the Bathing Pools and associated facilities which will allow everyone to begin their own relationship with the amazing resource that surrounds us.
Adrian Sarchet said: “This swim is likely to be the hardest swim I will ever do. Swimming at close to capacity for 24 hours and navigating 1,320 tumble turns along the way, is a truly massive undertaking. The purpose of the challenge will keep me going.”
Adrian’s commitment to swim for 24 hours continuously has attracted significant financial support from a variety of different sources, including corporates, individuals and grant givers. Thanks to a further recent commitment, the total funds now committed and/or donated to the Sea Donkey 24 Hour Swim Challenge exceed £100k, which is two thirds of the £150k target.
However, whilst the new facilities at the Bathing Pools are open and proving very popular VLV has not yet raised the total cost of the overall project which is estimated to be in the order of £2 million; hence the importance of this fundraising event.
David Warr, Chair of VLV, said: Adrian has trained tremendously hard preparing for the Challenge. We admire Adrian’s commitment to disabled swimmers on the Island through his involvement with GDS and we are delighted that £15k of the funds raised will be for the benefit of that charity. We are also grateful to Adrian for his support of the new facilities at the Bathing Pools and of his role as an ambassador for sea swimming. With a final push on the fundraising front in the remaining weeks before his challenge we remain hopeful that the ambitious target will be reached thanks to Adrian.”
The swim will start on Saturday 20th August at 3pm at the Ladies’ Pool. The support from local businesses, social swim groups and individuals for Sea Donkey 24 Hour Swim Challenge has been overwhelming with over 60 teams registered to take part, representing the breadth of Guernsey’s community. They will swim alongside Adrian for one-hour sections of his challenge.
Adrian has been training almost every day but has been focusing on ‘one big swim’ each week. He was doing six-hour swims at Beau Sejour early in the season. He then transitioned into the Ladies’ Pool, building up to a 7.5 hour swim (22 kilometres) He did his last training swim in Scotland on 31 July, swimming the length of Loch Ness (36.2 kilometres) in 15 hours 39 minutes!
A handful of remaining slots are available for corporate/social teams and individuals to get involved. Even if you’re not taking part in The Sea Donkey 24 Hour Swim Challenge you can still donate to support this fundraising event (click here).
The main picture shows Adrian Sarchet and Sarah Whitchurch at the Bathing Pools.
