A Manx woman is to don her swimming costume and goggles to swim the English Channel.
Carina Crawford, aged 31, who grew up in Ramsey but now lives in London, will be part of a relay team.
They will be swimming multiple hour-long stints to raise money for Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART).
The team is due to take to the water over the next couple of days. They haven’t got a set time because they are waiting for favourable weather conditions.
Carina said: ‘I’m excited about the challenge and after the cold water training we’ve done I feel ready for what the Channel may throw at us. Although I’m really hoping for calm seas for the swim!’
She added:‘Having lived next to the sea I have an affinity with it and yet I’m also in awe of its vastness – every time I enter the water I learn to embrace the unknown.’
Nine months ago, Carina said she was barely able to finish a length of freestyle without the sensation of almost drowning.
‘I have had to practically re-learn how to swim,’ she said. ‘We’ve had to muster all of our courage to swim in the challenging sea conditions that have remained at temperatures well below 15 degrees given the coldest winter and spring in decades this year in the UK.
‘However, the motivation to dive in each time comes from remembering those we are supporting are facing much tougher challenges every day.’
The challenge is raising money for HART partners providing education to children affected by conflict in Sudan and South Sudan, and fighting child malnutrition on the isolated Atauro Island, which lies just off the coast of Timor Leste.
Carina has done voluntary work with HART assisting with analysis of a nutritional survey in Atauro Island.
