Swimmers from Junior Development Squad are in the process of swimming the equivalent of the English Channel in a tribute to their former coach.  The 35 swimmers will be raising money for the Weston Park Hospital Charity in memory of Keith Downing, who died from lung cancer at the age of 48 in February 2007. 

Younger swimmers will tackle the 21 miles in relay teams of three, while older, stronger members will strike out on their own.  The challenge for the swimmers is to cover the Channel distance in ten hours, which equates to 1,344 lengths of a 25m pool, working out at about two miles every hour.  Most of the swimming will be done at Ponds Forge, culminating at Goodwin Sports Centre on March 27th.

They hope to raise £5,000, with proceeds to be split between Weston Park Hospital Charity and the Junior Development training camp taking place in October this year.