Two North Lancashire business owners complete gruelling open water swim charity challenge

Thursday, 4 August 2022 10:06

Two North Lancashire business owners have raised thousands of pounds for charity by completing a gruelling 24-hour open water swimming challenge.

David Makin and Ceri Smith swam 24 miles in 24 hours across Windermere, Ullswater and Coniston to raise funds for the St James’s Place Foundation, a charity aiming to make a positive and lasting change to the lives of children and young people with physical or mental health difficulties, life threatening or degenerative conditions, or young people who are socially or economically disadvantaged.

The ’Three Lakes in a Day’ Challenge – which has so far raised more than £6,000 - saw the pair’s swim begin at Fell Foot, swimming 10.5 miles across Windermere through the night, to Ambleside.

They then headed to Ullswater to begin a swim from Glenridding to Pooley Bridge, before heading to Coniston, starting from the South of the Lake and finishing at Monk Coniston.

Ceri, who runs The Aquatic Body in Lancaster, told us: ‘’Since October 2021 we have been training hard, both in the pool and open water, in a bid to attempt this amazing challenge for a cause that is close to our hearts.

‘’Originally Dave should have swum a Channel relay to raise funds for Children with Cancer however, with Covid and being unable to secure insurance, we decided it would be ill advised. If anything went wrong and he was airlifted to France not only were the borders closed, but it would also have cost a fortune to cover any medical bills.

‘’But it got me thinking about what could we do in this country that would be epic and inspire like-minded swimmers as well as raising funds for Children with Cancer, a cause very close to my heart because when I was 7 years old, I was diagnosed with Fibrous Histiocytoma, a rare type of cancer, especially in children. I was actually only the 7th person in the world to be diagnosed with this form of cancer.

‘’The operation was a success and I survived with paralysis to my left arm and my head kind of hung to one side a bit, but I was alive and could now begin the long road to recovery.

‘’Needless to say, I had many years of treatments and check-ups to follow and if I feel any lumps anywhere, even now I am rushed into hospital for them to be removed. But I am hugely grateful to be here and be able to attempt something as crazy as this challenge, so considering both our stories it’s time to give something back.’’

David, who runs his financial advisor business from his base in Hest bank, takes up the story of why he decided to undertake such a challenge: ‘’I began my swimming journey at an early age and thoroughly enjoyed it. Like most people though, I switched and changed the exercise type I did, but then, when I was 28, when my second daughter was born, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

‘’Life was never going to be the same for myself and my young family. I did not know what was round the corner, how slowly (or quickly) my condition would affect me (or them), if I would be able to cope, even if they would cope with me. Life was definitely in the unknown and to a great extent, it still is.

‘’MS affects my mobility, emotions and speech, due to the damage points on my brain and spine, but it is still an 'invisible' illness, making it hard for people to understand, because they cannot always 'see'.

‘’This is when I went back to swimming, as it was the only form of exercise I could do, where I did not have my body working against me. MS affects people in many ways, for me it is a constant feeling of what I can only describe as 'pins and needles' throughout my whole body, plus the MS Hug, which meant I had to retrain how to breath during swimming, which in turn affected my technique.

‘’I have taken part in many swims, including competitive disabled swimming and I have swum with Ceri for several years, setting different challenges each year and this year was Ceri’s turn (to choose)!

David and Ceri’s swim was supported by Bob Hudson from Adventure Swim Coaching, Glen Robinson from GROnlineCoaching, Jackie Knowles & Rosi Chester, and Capernwray Dive & Leisure, where the pair trained.

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