Carpenter Swims Channel for Hospital Charity
DESPITE admitting he’s terrified of the sea, a dad-of-two has
raised cash for the Children’s Hospital for Wales by attempting to
swim the Bristol Channel. Geraint Price, 37, from Llanishen, raised
more than £500 after he took on the challenge of swimming the
10-mile stretch from Penarth to Weston-Super-Mare but ended up
swimming further than expected after the tide prevented him from
reaching his destination.
After completing a gruelling weekly training programme of
open-water swimming and pool sessions to hone his technique,
Geraint did his swim on Thursday, August 25 but got cut off a mile
from Bristol when the tide took him off course and he had to turn
back.
It’s different to his day job on dry land as a carpenter
for Ian Williams, which along with colleagues donated £200 to
his sponsorship fund. The former Royal Marine completed the swim
within his eight hour goal to raise cash for the Noah’s Ark Appeal,
the charity of the Children’s Hospital for Wales.
The challenge meant Geraint had to conquer some deep-rooted
fears. He said: “I was so nervous about the swim. I’ve always had a
phobia of the sea. It’s the fear of the unknown and what might be
underneath you. Fish make me go cold.
“I did some swimming in the sea when I was a Marine but recently
I decided to tackle my fear and join an open-water swimming club.
The Channel swim was solo so I didn’t have that security of being
in a group and that was tough.”
Geraint was lucky to have a support crew with him, including his
wife Sarah, son Ieuan, 12, and daughter Bethan, 10, to cheer him on
thanks to Phat Cat Charters which donated a boat for the day.
He added: “My family gave me brilliant support. They could see
that the tide had taken me a long way off course and were trying to
get me back into the boat. There was no way that I wasn’t finishing
the swim. Although I could see where I was heading I realised I
wasn’t going to make it so decided to turn back.
“I’ve decided to learn from this year and I will definitely do
it again next year.”
Geraint raised funds for the Noah’s Ark Appeal’s ‘Splish,
Splosh, Splash’ campaign, which aims to buy a hydrotherapy pool for
the hospital. His challenge followed the rules for English Channel
swimmers, which made it a cold experience. He explains: “You’re not
allowed to wear a wetsuit if you’re swimming the English Channel
because it can help with buoyancy. I followed the same rules and
just wore my bathers.”
The carpenter experimented with goose fat and petroleum jelly to
see which was most effective at keeping him warm and discouraging
jellyfish. Geraint said: “I’ve already been stung once by a
jellyfish and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. This
challenge has definitely helped me get over all the things I was
scared of.”
Mike Turner, development director for Ian Williams, said: “We’re
very impressed with Geraint’s determination to complete this
difficult swim. The Children’s Hospital for Wales does fantastic
work and we’re more than happy to boost Geraint’s sponsorship fund
to help their appeal.”
To support Geraint visit www.justgiving.com/geraint-price0