Godmanchester woman to swim English Channel with only her arms
Sophie Etheridge is planning to start her swim tonight
A woman from Cambridgeshire who finds the touch of water and air painful is planning to set off on her solo swim across the English Channel this evening.
Sophie Etheridge, of Godmanchester, had been a swimmer all her life until a car accident in 2011, which left her with hypersensitivity in her legs and using a wheelchair.
Now Sophie, 31, who has fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndrome, is planning to swim the Channel using only the power of her arms.
"I've got to fight against the mental block"
“One of the biggest things is going to be to keep reminding myself that despite the fact it hurts, it’s not doing damage to that leg,” she said,
“That pain is real, but it’s not causing damage so I don’t need to stop.
“I’m going to be taking medication throughout the swim, regular painkillers to keep me ticking over and I’ve got to hope for the best and fight against the mental block to say ‘stop swimming because it hurts’.”
Following her accident 12 years ago, Sophie’s injuries meant she could not take part in any sport.
She was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome, which according to the NHS website, is “a poorly understood condition where a person experiences persistent severe and debilitating pain”.
The pain usually affects one limb but can affect other parts of the body.
Channel swim aiming to 'upskill' swimming teachers
Sophie set an aim of taking part in the one-mile Great East Swim in 2016, and since then, has gone on to take part in other swimming and open water events across the country.
Through her swim, she’s aiming to fundraise for the Swimming Teachers Association to help their campaign called STARLIGHT, which tries to upskill swimming teachers and qualify them as specialist disability swimming teachers.
And the Adaptive and Disabled Open Water Swimmers Group, which aims to raise awareness of open water swimmers with disabilities and show what those with disabilities can do, has around 1,000 members.
"This will hopefully inspire kids that have disabilities"
“It’s nice to remove that barrier and level of judgment people instantly get when you see someone with a disability,” Sophie added.
“Especially open water swimming, it’s such a friendly and welcoming community.
“Hopefully the money I raise is all going to go towards helping more disabled people qualify as swimming teachers.
“This will then hopefully inspire kids that have got disabilities to learn to swim and give them some role models to show what they can achieve if they work hard enough.”