Swimmers Become First Brits To Swim The Gibraltar Straits... And Back

Adam Walker and Chris Sheppard's swim certainly seems like the toughest challenge that anyone has undertaken for us and we were overjoyed to find out recently that, not only had they managed to swim the Straits of Gibraltar from Tarifa in Spain, to Tangier in Morocco... and back again, but that they had also broken the British record time for the first leg of this grueling venture.
 
No British person had ever previously swum there and back before now and when they entered the water on 5th July they faced some hair-raising obstacles. The reason this swim has such a fearsome reputation is mainly due to the very strong tides that Adam and Chris faced; far stronger than the English Channel crossing. The stark reality was that they had to swim quickly across one way (around a steady 3mph) to stand any chance of making it back!  Fuelled by jelly babies and chocolate mini rolls, the pair swam for almost 10 hours solidly, dodging the boats that make this stretch of water one of the busiest in the world!

"We wanted to test ourselves physically and mentally to the limit in order to raise money for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, as they work tirelessly to bring an end to commercial whale hunts in places like Iceland and Norway. These hunts are cruel, go against international agreements and are unnecessary - the meat is largely frozen and stored as it is not popular anymore.

"Their work and research makes a huge difference to the conservation and preservation of the whale population and every penny donated will provide us with all the motivation we need to take on this daunting challenge!"

WDCS is humbled by their efforts to raise money to help with our anti whaling campaign. AND IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO DONATE - http://www.justgiving.com/Swim4Whales

Watch highlights of the swim on YouTube, including a encounter with dolphins.

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