Roedean School students take on swim for charity

Liv Henderson, from Peacehaven, and Gracie Bernard, who lives in Brighton, were due to take part in Channel relay swim this month (June) but due to Covid-19 it was cancelled.

Gracie said: “We were gutted that we would not be able to take part and didn’t want all our training to have been for nothing.

“I wanted to prove to myself that I could’ve done it, and also as all other sports competitions that I otherwise would have been taking part in have been cancelled as the pools are closed, it was something for my training in lockdown to work towards.”

Gracie swims for Brighton Swimming Club and Liv plays water polo for Great Britain Junior Women, Mid Sussex Marlins and Worthing.

The pair did it in aid of Roedean School’s charity Off The Fence, which tackles poverty in Brighton and Hove, and will also help Brighton Foodbank.

Liv said: “Brighton, and the surrounding areas, have pockets of real poverty, so we wanted to raise money for local charities that worked directly within those communities to try and relieve some of the pressure they must be under.”

They swam 21 miles split between five consecutive days along the coast of Brighton.

So far they have raised £2,045.

They finished the swim on Saturday, June 20 and were joined by four of their teachers who swam the last 3.2 miles with them.

They also had a large (socially distanced) group to welcome them back to land at Black Rock.

Liv said: “We have enjoyed it so much that they're going to carry on sea swimming, though a slightly lesser distance.

“Gracie and I will definitely find a way to get involved in another cross channel challenge. Maybe once we’re at uni, we will get a joint uni relay sorted.”

To donate visit, justgiving.com/crowdfunding/liv-gracie-channel-swim-challenge