Newbury nurse swimming English Channel in aid of drowning prevention charity

A year ago, she could hardly swim. But now a Newbury nurse is swimming the English Channel to raise money for charity.

Dana Smith, lead nurse at Mary Hare School for the past 10 years, will tackle the challenge later this month (July 22 to 30) as part of a six-person charity relay team, with the swim lasting 12 to 18 hours from Dover to France.

She could barely swim front crawl a year ago. But now, on her 50th birthday year, she’s diving headfirst into one of the world’s toughest open water swims to raise funds for SwimTayka, a charity providing life-saving swimming lessons to children in developing countries.

Mrs Smith, who lives in Newbury but is originally from the Czech Republic – a landlocked country – told newburytoday: “18 months ago I couldn't swim front crawl at all.

“I always liked swimming as a child. In Czechia, we do lots of swimming.

“But I never learned to swim front crawl, so this is a big challenge for me.”

Mrs Smith has spent months training to swim in the Cotswolds.

When asked what the hardest part of her training has been so far, she responded: “Swimming for one and a half hours without stopping in the water.

“Going into the sea or lake in March is quite cold.

“It's more about the mental state. Your body can do anything, and you can swim for long hours.

“But when you're in the water in the middle of the English Channel by yourself, you can’t let your mind overtake you.”

She will be joined by five other people from the United States, London and Kent during her challenge.

She has so far raised £1,170 through her online fundrasier – almost hitting her £1,800 target.

Visit her JustGiving page https://www.justgiving.com/page/dana-english-channel to donate.

Trust fundraiser for the Mary Hare Foundation Cecilia Burdett-Ward said: “We’ve all heard so much about Dana’s challenge. It’s amazing what she is doing.

“Mary Hare is quite an exceptional school. We have members of staff doing amazing things, including some doing skydiving for charity soon.”

SwimTayka founder Bryan Avery said: “Fewer people have stood on Everest than have swum the Channel.

“Every year, 360,000 people drown worldwide. Our mission is to drive down this alarming statistic.

“We run programmes teaching local children to swim in places as far-flung as Bali, Jamaica and Brazil, all coastal locations where learning to swim simply isn’t part of the curriculum.”

Visit https://swimtayka.org/event/channelrelay to learn more about SwimTayka’s work.