Well only one Swimming Gardener according to Google lately (as if!). Try it, I seem to have appeared on the first 8 links if you gooooogle it, so I suppose I have the market cornered here!

The Big One!

I have to start with 2 very important bits of news. First up, Local business have begun the trickle of sponsorship and momentum is really starting to pick up, since the last news letter I am excited to announce that the pledged fund now stands at a cracking £4328.00, I really have not broken the surface of the communities generosity (although some great donations came from the good old USA in the early days). Please please, keep donations coming, it is secure and guaranteed to send you off to sleep with a smile on your face if you help, every penny is vital here, I could drown you know!

Please give what you can!

Second piece of news is that I now have the formidable might of Rabbit Skips  behind me as a main sponsor. As well as their core business of skips, they are pioneering the conversion of waste into energy, technology which, could help me enormously should I need to wee in the wetsuit during the swim!

Seriously though, they are going to be sterling partners and fundraisers as many people in Sussex will already know. Their commitment to helping the community is fast becoming legend. This does mean that I will of course be swimming whilst bearing the logo of a large green rabbit (if my Dad were only here to see it). So it’s Swim Rabbit Swim so to speak, and there can only be one Green Rabbit suited Swimming Gardener, surely?

I am also delighted to receive some generous sponsorship from Arun Mowers, Garden House Design, Spanner Bonobo (yes!) David Johnson Garden Design and help from Bay Studio as well as a large donation from some adorable friends of mine and an interesting offer of a ‘loaded’ sponsorship deal....i.e. not much money for the first mile, most of it coming on mile 15!

 Training:

Well without prattling on too much, I have been thumping out a great many lengths of the pools of Sussex this Winter/Spring. After last Summer’s half distance, I realised that if I was going to be in with any chance of succeeding in this challenge, then I needed to up the training to a more punishing routine. My day starts at 6.00am, with a spinal stretch routine followed by a further 30 mins of building the vital muscles for swimming.

After work, it’s time to get wet again and hit the pool, this can be the hardest part of the challenge for me, sometimes I just want to flop in a comfy chair and read a book. That’s where a short blast of rock music and a stick of caffeine Gum can help!

 Swimathon:

I took part again in the 200 length Swimathon in Felpham last week. I used to try to finish it, now I try to race it. There were a few problems on the day but I managed a respectable 1 hour 27 minutes, 33 minutes faster than I did in 2008, I have not checked the national rankings yet but was right up there for a man of my age!

 The River Arun Pub Crawl:

 In case you missed it, myself and a few swimmers are setting out from the Black Rabbit pub at Arundel on May 28th for an 11km swim down to the Lifeboat Station at the mouth of the river, Littlehampton. All the swimmers are paying into the charity to come along, and I will be hounding them to raise personal sponsorship for the event! Swim with a smile, I say!

 The British Gas Great London Swim:

 I will be travelling to London on July 2nd to take part in the Great Swim along with 5000 other people. This is for both fun and serious competitors. I thought I best mingle with the pro’s who will show me no mercy. I am looking forward to meeting up with some of the Blueseventy crew, who were kind enough to donate my wetsuit and help with other training gear. I am pleased that they are the main sponsors of the event this year and I wish them well as they continue to kick some butt with their ultra- competitive range of swimwear and wetsuits.

 The Swinging Gardener:

NOT what you are all thinking-shame on you, but as a side step to the Aquatic antics, I am hosting a Golf Tournament on September 30th to be held at West Chiltington Golf Club details to follow but please email me if you would like to take part in what promises to be a fun  fund-raiser for the Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice and the RNLI

 And Finally:

I finish where I began. There are Families with terminally ill children in our community. There are people who care enough to help them, and that is you and me! Ill do the swim, you do the easy bit and help me to hit our target. I say our target, because it is now!