Derbyshire boy swims across English Channel in school charity challenge

Ed Heyworth, of Fernilee in the High Peak, was part of this year’s Mencap Marvels, an initiative led by swimming coach Nikki Pope at Beech Hall School in Macclesfield which has trained teams of staff and students to make the crossing each summer since 2020.

Having begun the programme almost as soon as he started year seven, Ed was the youngest swimmer ever to participate in the challenge when his team of six set off near Dover on Wednesday, August 23.

He said: “I heard about the students who’d done it in the last two years, and they were my inspiration. I thought it would be a very good achievement just to say that I’ve swum the Channel. It does feel really good.”

Though the time has yet to be officially ratified by the Channel Swimming Association, the team’s provisional time was recorded as 13 hours and 27 minutes.

With no wetsuits allowed, each swimmer – the others Isaac and Indigo Platt-Wells, Theo Naylor, Rory Kaye and Aleksandras Rangayah, aged between 13 and 17 – took it in turns to be in the water for one hour.

Ed, who says he was not much of a swimmer just a year ago, completed two legs, the second of which crossed the French shipping lane.

After ten months of getting in the pool four times a week in all weathers, and specialist ice and jellyfish training, the event itself went like a breeze.

He said: “Timing was not really an issue for us, the only target was to get across, but we were told it would probably take 14-16 hours so we were much faster than that.”

He added: “When I was in the water, I just kept thinking about my parents, and that I had to keep on swimming.

“The conditions were good, it was a sunny day and the waves weren’t very strong. It was pretty chill. The hardest part was setting off at 2am.”

Mum Sally Heyworth added: “That was the hardest part for us as parents too. We weren’t allowed on the boat so we just had to wave them off into the darkness. We’ve been celebrating ever since they got back, he’s like a little hero.”

The family has raised thousands towards a team total which could break £20,000 this year, adding to more than £100,000 which Nikki has generated for Mencap since she completed her first 18-hour solo crossing in 2019.

All that money will go to support Mencap’s work for people with learning disabilities, their families and carers.

Ed said: “I hope the money will help people with problems they’re having, and help them to get a better education.”

The experience has taught him plenty too, he added: “I feel stronger and more confident, and like I’ve made really strong friendships. I’ll keep on swimming now. I might sign up to do it again next year.”

To add to Ed’s fundraising total, go to https://tinyurl.com/3yes24a6.