Adrian Sarchet skirted hypothermia to reach 24 hour goal
Adrian Sarchet’s 24 hour swim challenge has hit its £150,000 fundraising target.
The money raised will cover the newly installed assisted access facilities at La Vallette and also provide £15,000 towards the work of Guernsey Disability Swimming.
Adrian, aka The Sea Donkey, swam nearly 60km in the Ladies Pool from 20th to 21st August.
‘We absolutely had to reach the fundraising goal, paying for the enhanced accessibility features at the Ladies Pool was simply too important, so that meant failure was not an option. I was able to draw upon all my Oceans Seven experience and skirt the boundary between healthy and hypothermic, measuring my effort so that I could last the 24 hours.’
Adrian said that the hardest part of the challenge was being awake the entire time.
‘On my previous marathon swims, I’ve been very successful at “zoning out”, entering that Zen space in my mind where I can’t feel my body and time has no meaning, only to find that hours have passed. On this swim, having to tumble-turn every 50 metres, meant that I couldn’t zone out, and instead of losing hours, I think I counted every metre.’
The Sea Donkey 24 Hour Swim Challenge was organised by a team of volunteers on behalf of local charity, Vive La Vallette.
Dave Warr, Chair of Vive La Vallette paid tribute to all the volunteers, supporters and swimmers, including the 17 corporate teams who took part in the challenge.
‘We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Adrian, he is a remarkable individual, passionate about sea swimming and supporting Guernsey Disability Swimming. Furthermore he is a wonderful ambassador for Guernsey and we count ourselves fortunate for the encouragement and support he has given us as we continue to develop the facilities at La Vallette into a thriving community space where all feel welcome and valued. Our thanks also to the team of volunteers and participants who helped make this unique event such an outstanding success.’
You will be able to read more about Adrian’s motivation and the challenge in the Autumn issue of ActiveGsy, out soon.
