Sheppey ladies complete emotional long-distance challenge to remember swimmer, Carol
A group of female swimmers at Sheppey Leisure Complex have used the centre’s pool to swim the distance from Sheerness to Holland to remember a much-missed fellow swimmer, Carol Harris, who sadly passed away earlier this year.
Carol had set herself the long-distance challenge back in 2024, but she never got the chance to complete her big swim, losing her battle with cancer in March this year.
As a tribute to Carol, the group of all-female swimmers who attend Sheppey Leisure Complex’s This Girl Can (TGC) session every Tuesday and Thursday decided they would complete the swim on her behalf, while raising money for Cancer Research. The TGC group was bolstered by a number of Carol’s work colleagues, who joined the ladies for a swim.
Vicky Jones, a Swimming Teacher at the leisure complex, runs the TGC session, said:
“We all still miss Carol. A few tears were shed along the way, but the swimmers were determined to complete the 188-mile challenge, as a way of remembering and paying tribute to such a special lady.
“In just under six weeks, the group supported by some of Carol’s work colleagues swam over 12,000 lengths of the pool, in the process raising over £1,000 for Cancer Research.
“For making it all the way to Holland, I awarded certificates to each of the swimmers. On each certificate was a photo of our lovely Carol – she was the reason our swimmers kept going all the way to Holland!”