Four British Army and Royal Navy veterans with missing legs swim across English Channel
Ten years after a team of amputee British military veterans battled their way across the Channel, the squad are back again to repeat the feat to raise money for charity Blesma
by Danny Buckland · The MirrorAn intrepid group of limbless veterans will hit the waves next week to swim across the English Channel and create history.
The former forces team, each missing a leg, face a daunting 25-mile battle against currents, strong tides and jellyfish to make it across to the French coastline.
The swimmers, all members of Blesma, the Limbless Veterans, are attempting to repeat their inspirational mission of September 2014 when they became the first all-amputee squad to successfully swim the Channel.
“We were the first to do it and decided it would be a great challenge to try to repeat it ten years on,” says Steve White, a former Royal Green Jackets rifleman and now deputy chairman of the charity’s board of trustees. “It will be tough because we are ten years older but the aim remains the same - to raise funds for Blesma and the incredible work it does for veterans and their families.”
The team – Steve, 59, Conrad Thorpe, 60, an ex Lt Colonel in the Royal Marines, 56-year-old Craig Howorth, from Bacup, who served as a submariner in the Royal Navy, and Jamie Gillespie, 49, a former Royal Engineer from Hertfordshire – hope to complete the crossing in under 14 hours.
“I don’t think we’ll beat our record of 12 hours 14 minutes from ten years ago but it will be a great achievement and an emotional event just to make it across,” says Steve, from Suffolk. “There are four of us but we only have four legs so it takes so much effort to cover the distance. But we are doing it to help inspire others and to raise funds for Blesma and that is plenty of motivation alongside our personal determination.”
Vivienne Buck, Blesma’s chief executive, adds: “This is an extremely tough challenge but they have been training hard and are determined to show what can be achieved after injury and setbacks.”