CONGRATULATIONS TO SIAN AND CATH
WHO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THEIR SWIM
Following Ex CHANNEL EAGLE 2009 – the second Tri-Service Cross Channel Relay Race- Major Catherine Jardine R SIGNALS and Major Sian Edwards RADC swam the English Channel as a pair in aid of Help for Heroes.
Catherine was commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals and is currently finishing her Staff and Command Training Course at Shrivenham, Wiltshire and Sian is an Army dentist busy fixing the teeth of the 36 Engineer Regiment in Maidstone, Kent.
Both Sian and Catherine have always been keen sportswomen and from an early age were enthusiastic swimmers. As youngsters they competed at County and Junior National Level through their local clubs. For the last 10 years they have represented the Combined Services and Army Swimming in open water and pool competition, as well as water polo. They are proud to have represented the British Armed Forces at the World Masters Championships in San Francisco in August 2006 and are looking forward to the World Masters Games in Sydney in Oct 2009.
Why are they doing it? They have both competed in previous cross channel relay competitions and talked often about solo attempts at some point in the future. However, the final night out on the Army Open Water Training Camp in Gibraltar in April 2008 saw the beginning of this challenge (albeit after a few too many glasses of rosé!). This will be a huge personal challenge for them, both physically and mentally, but with the added incentive of aiming to raise £5,000 for Help for Heroes, this should drive them on to completion.
How will the challenge work? 
Well Sian will start the relay at Dover and after a stint of two hours Catherine will take over the swim from her and carry on the madness. The relay will continue until they reach Cap Gris in France, which is a point to point distance of approximately 22 miles. A safety boat will be with us for the duration of the crossing with our support crew on board to provide morale and entertainment throughout. There will also be a Channel Swimming Federation Official to ensure there is no cheating! The aim is to complete the challenge in 10 hours or less. It will take place in a window between 28 July and 7 August 09. They are hoping for clear skies and calm seas...however you can never tell with the English weather – so fingers crossed!