Two sisters from Purton are braving freezing temperatures every day in January in readiness to join an English Channel relay swim team this summer.
The challenge being undertaken by Imogen and Matilda Meers and their teammates involves getting into cold water daily this month – including taking cold showers, making ‘snow angels’ in the snow, lake swimming and even being doused with a hose!
The team are all raising money for UK-based charity SwimTayka, which teaches children in waterside communities how to swim and stay safe. They work in places like Brazil, Peru, and Bali, providing free lessons to children who have little or no access to swimming instruction. This year, they will also be launching a UK programme.
SwimTayka is reliant on fundraising, so every summer arranges for sponsored teams of swimmers to cross the Channel in a relay. Each team has five or six swimmers, taking it in turns to swim an hour at a time.
Becoming a Channel swimmer requires far more than just physical stamina, they have to prepare mentally too, as they overcome the cold, jellyfish and choppy waters of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
Imogen and Matilda, who are organic farmers, decided to take on the Channel swim in memory of their dad, Alex Meers, who died 20 years ago from leukaemia.
Imogen said: “Swimming the English Channel has been a dream of ours since we were young. We hope one day to complete it solo, but this summer we’re thrilled to start the journey as part of a relay team – and to do it for such an incredible charity, SwimTayka. Our preparation has already begun with trips away with the relay team, daily cold swims, and squad training.
Matilda added: “Our Dad was our biggest supporter in all of our swimming endeavours and had hoped that one day we would make it to the Olympics. While the Olympics may not have happened, we believe this is the next best thing and he would be so proud of knowing what we are setting our ambitions towards.”
For more information about SwimTayka and their English Channel relay swims, visit https://swimtayka.org/. To sponsor the sisters go to https://www.justgiving.com/page/channelswim2026.
