A TALENTED swimmer has won a national competition in conjunction with a Sport England campaign to get the chance to swim a mile at an open water event.
Jennie Hipkin of Walton entered the competition as a challenge to inspire her children and other women to embrace opportunities to try new things.
She has won free entry to the event in partnership with Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign and will swim at the Henley Swim Festival held in the Thames in Oxfordshire on July 10.
A spokesperson for Henley Swim said: “A total of six women from across the country have been selected to swim with Jennie, the group is being mentored by ice swimmer Cath Pendleton.
“Cath, known as the Merthyr Mermaid, was the first person to swim a mile in the Antarctic Polar Circle.
“The selected women are now all training for the event both in the pool and in open water.
“They met for the first time last weekend at Queenford Lake in Oxfordshire, for an Introduction to Open Water session.
“The women were taught tips and techniques to help transition to outdoor swimming, along with important safety advice.”
In addition to the training the six women are regularly contributing to a blog which includes descriptions of their adventures.
The blog can be found at bit.ly/3a3Yw5D.
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