A TOLLESBURY teen will be swimming the channel in a bid to raise money for the Maldon based David Randall Foundation charity.

Rhianna Preece, 16, of Tollesbury, will be completing her swim in August, for a charity she first came into contact with whilst studying at Plume Academy.

Having learnt to swim aged two, Rhianna developed a love for the sport, joining a swimming club at the age of eight.

After trying open water swimming last year, she committed to taking on the 21-mile swim.

She said: “I went on a summer holiday to Cornwall last year, and when I was down there I gave sea swimming a try.

“I got on with a couple of people I met down there and they started talking about a channel relay swim. It was something I’d been interested in doing for a while, swimming the channel, so I said yes.

“Swimming has always been a big part of my life. Swimming was the first sport I ever tried and loved. In 2013 I did a swimathon to raise money for charity and my 5k swim time was faster than my dad’s relay team.

“My coach said I should try open water swimming and I fell in love with it. The lake is so different to the pool and then the sea is another challenge again.”

Rhianna will be part of a team of six completing the relay swim, with each person taking it in turns to swim for an hour at a time and are each expecting to carry out three legs, in what will be a gruelling 18-hour swim.

As a motivator, Rhianna will be raising money both the David Randall Foundation and the Daniel Wilkinson Foundation.

She said: “One of the teachers at Plume represents the David Randall Foundation so I got to know of their work through him. I also used to play cricket in Maldon and briefly for Essex, and came into contact with Alistair Cook who is a patron for the charity. It has always been on my mind what a great organisation it is.

“Then last year, I was at the sports award evening at Plume and the charity came over to me and that if I ever wanted some support they might be able to help, and I thought it would be great to give something back.”

Rhianna will be completing the swim in August and is hoping to raise £1,000 for the charities ahead of the event.

To find out more or donate, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rhianna-preece-Channel-Swim.