Events are back!
After a dire year of cancellation after cancellation, we were excited to travel to London on 18th September to support thirteen swimmers taking part in Swim Serpentine to raise funds to help protect whales and dolphins.
Laden with goody bags full of generous gifts from WDC Partners, it was a 5am start to reach Hyde Park in time for the first ‘wave’, which saw Isla, Ophelie and Georgie take the plunge into the lake for the half-mile distance. The youngest of our Team Orca swimmers Isla (13) was excited, albeit a little nervous, to be undertaking her first open-water swim but thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Georgie had a particularly busy day, travelling straight after the event to Newcastle to start university and proudly sporting her medal – a great talking point when meeting new housemates.
Later in the morning, Adam and Laurence were delighted to complete the two-mile distance in very respectable times and claim the coveted London Classics medal as well as their Swim Serpentine medals. Completing the two-mile distance for the second time in aid of WDC, our very experienced open water swimmer Ian just shrugged his shoulders when asked how it went – literally just a swim in the park!
Alex didn’t stop smiling after her two miles and was so pleased she’d seen WDC’s social posts asking for swimmers. Completing Team Orca our one-milers, Sophie, Lindsey, Hollie, Frances, Galina and Debs all declared they’d definitely do it again. Lindsey said it was ‘the best of days’ and others commented how well organised the whole event had been.
WDC is incredibly grateful to Dock and Bay for sponsoring Team Orca and for generously donating quick-dry towels to every swimmer. Swimmers were also thrilled with their cosy orca hoodies from Big Wild Thought and happily posed for photos with towels and hoodies afterwards. Young Isla received an extra gift – a swimmable mermaid tail from Planet Mermaid.
There is still some fundraising money to come in, but our fin-tastic swimmers will have raised almost £11,000.
If September was all about swimming, October is definitely Marathon Month! Simeon from WDC Partner Delphis Eco took on the Virtual London Marathon on 3rd October, running 26.2 miles in the beautiful South Tyrol and Oxford student and Varsity Match player Daisy ran a little closer to home. Between them they raised £1,353.
Long standing adopters Lani and Jackie ran the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon that same day and, whilst they didn’t see Nessie, they were elated to complete it and raise a monster £675.00.
Another long-standing supporter, Gavin, will be taking on the ASDA Yorkshire Marathon later this month and has already reached his £650.00 target. We wish him all the best for a great run.
To express your interest for Swim Serpentine 2022 or for more details about how you can fundraise to help protect whales and dolphins, email [email protected] or visit our fundraising pages.
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