Edward’s Channel Swim

'My name is Edward Williams and I am swimming the English Channel on August 21st in aid of the Prostate Cancer Research Centre.  The Channel is 21 miles long and I am aiming to complete it in 14 hours.

I am 19 years old and have been planning this swim since I was 14.  It is only recently that I considered doing it for charity, and the Prostate Cancer Research Centre seemed the most obvious choice for me.  The reason for this is that my Dad, who is a retired surgeon, devoted a huge part of his career to the cause and later contracted the disease himself.

I have swum since a very young age and worked my way up the ladder from county to national standard.  Last year I was the fastest l9 year old at the National Masters Championships in Sheffield for 200m backstroke and 4th for the 50m butterfly.   I have raced these events for years, but decided it was time to try something new in the distance league, and so I figured tha the Channel was a good place to start.

The training for it is beyond anything I could ever have imagined and the pain of it makes me feel sick occasionally!  I have to cover 30 miles every week in the pool plus open water training, plus land training in the gym.  In total I aim for 3-4 hours every day under the supervision of my coach and personal trainer, Stuart Taylor, who has devised the entire training programme for me.   Most people think I am mad for taking on such a demanding feat and putting myself through 9 months of pain, but in my opinion if the money I raise saves just one life, then the whole thing will have been worthwhile, and my job will be done.   I have never failed to achieve any goal that I have set myself, and I do not intend to start now.' Edward Williams

If you would like to offer you support to Edward donations can be mede by contacting us by phone on 020 7679 9366 or by email info@prostate-cancer-research.org.uk Donations can also be made on Edwards website http://www.edward-williams.org.uk