Cambridge university students

Cross-Channel swimming team under training in Fornells Bay

Fornells. The swimmers before entering the not-so-warm waters of the bay

The students, aged from 18-24 years, have been following a rigorous training programme and have been studying for exams between swimming sessions

C.M.W..Maó

Nine members of the Cambridge Swimming and Water Polo Club have spent the last week in Fornells, training for a cross-Channel relay race against a team from Oxford University which will take place in July, an event which is held every two years.

The Club´s President, Dr. David Skidmore who has had a second home in Fornells for the last 20 years, chose the bay as it offered safe conditions for training and the water temperature in April (around 16ºC) would approximate that expected in the English Channel at the time of the competition.

The team has met with a good response from local organisations and businesses as regards sponsorship (accommodation, vehicle hire, free or subsidised meals at restaurants, free diving experiences, etc.) and help with their training sessions; the Maó Red Cross has provided an inflatable boat to accompany them on their swims in case of any difficulties.

Both the Cambridge and Oxford swimmers in the race this year will be seeking private sponsors to raise money for the MacMillan Cancer Relief Charity which, according to the Cambridge ladies´ captain, Katy Stokes, will give them an added incentive to complete the course. Each team will consist of six swimmers, three men and three women, who will swim alternately on the 25-mile crossing, some completing a second leg in the 8-11 hour race which will start in Dover and finish near the French port of Calais. The event will take place on a day between 7th and 27th July when sea conditions in the English Channel are calm enough.

During their week´s stay on the island the students collaborated with members of the Maó Swimming Club (the majority of whom are in their early teens) to organise a swimming demonstration last Saturday evening in which members from each club formed relay teams for races.

Despite not having had much time to tour the island during their stay (between the daily training sessions the majority of the students have been cramming for forthcoming exams and have been kept rigidly to the training programme by the captains of the men´s and women´s teams, John Hardbattle and Katy Stokes), all of the swimmers have said that they would like to return to the island in the future with their family or friends for a holiday.