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| Heath pond lifeguard’s
cross-Channel tribute to father |
A LIFEGUARD at Hampstead Heath ponds has taken part in a cross-Channel
relay swim, and then dedicated the feat to her father, who died
last year.
After an extensive training regime at Parliament Hill Lido, Julie
Cave’s ‘Team Merv’ embarked on the 21-mile swim from
Dover to Cap Gris Nez, between Calais and Boulogne.
The team of five swam in relay, each spending an hour-and-a-half
in the water at a time. The crossing took 14 hours, eight hours
longer than the fastest Channel relay time, set by a United States
team in 1990.
The team was named after Ms Cave’s father Mervyn, who died
aged 59 from Parkinson’s disease, after a 20-year battle with
the condition.
Ms Cave said: “This swim is for my dad and for all the times
I was never there for him to help ease the load.”
Ms Cave, who has been a lifeguard at the Heath’s mixed pond
for five years, said high winds had made the Channel swim difficult.
She added: “The waves were choppy and the winds strong. We
all threw up in the sea.
“We had to swim against currents that added an extra two miles
to the journey.”
But the team raised more than £10,000 for the Parkinson’s
Disease Society.
If you want to donate to the team’s charity fundraiser, visit
www.teammerv.
com
Pictured: The cross-Channel relay team, Nicola Hurley, Dawn Wakeling,
Julie Cave, Steve O’Connell and Anne Schuster. |
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