Hi all,

Firstly, an update on WEZIMBABWE's most recent project. They have now officially become partners in the Kuyamura Trust, who are currently working to build and operate Tichakunda Pre-School in Hatcliffe on the outskirts of Harare, Zimbabwe. Kuyamura Trust means 'To Help' in the Shona Language.

Please visit their website now and have a look at the horrific conditions that these children are expected to learn in. It is totally heartbreaking reading what they have to put up with, they have no choice, there is no other option. The option WE have, is to help improve the facilities they have available to them. Having two boys myself, whose education needs are incredibly well catered for in this country, I have cried and cried looking at the photo's of these little African children, singing their nursery rhymes in the scorching hot sun, it breaks my heart. WeZimbabwe are now DIRECTLY helping to improve these childrens chances of a healthier, happier eduction. The first thing they will be doing is the sinking of a borehole to provide clean water. As I mentioned, please visit their website: http://www.tichakunda.com/ or you can follow the link directly from http://www.wezimbabwe.org/

My son's school was shut down immediately when there was a burst water pipe (which meant there would be no running water for a few hours). At Tichakunda Pre-School they have NO running water, ever, just a deep un-protected well which is meant to cater for the whole school - all their cooking needs, drinking, cleaning etc. They have three toilets, to cater for 700 pupils and all the staff. These children's classrooms are wooden shacks, which have holes in the rooves, they have no floors, just dust & stones covered with plastic sheeting. If the children are lucky, they get ONE meal a day of porridge. We all know too well how a well fed mind performs better, how are these children meant to have a chance? This is an example of ONE of the schools in Zimbabwe. There are so many underprivaledged children that we can help. Please, if you have children of your own, put yourself in these pictures and imagine your child in this school. We can help to improve these conditions, at least give them running water to start with. Every single pound helps.

http://www.justgiving.com/jacquismithschannelswim/

Thank you.


On a slightly lighter note...... I would like to thank everyone that HAS helped so far.


And HOW:

......the fundraising event held at The Shoulder of Mutton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, this past weekend was a tremendous success. Thank you so very very much to all my close family who helped so much during the run up to the day - mainly with the ticket sales and organising of the X Factor competition! I appreciate your help so much, I have a lot on my mind with the swim only being four weeks away and you managed to alleviate any stress which may have come from organising this event. It was a great day, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. The X-Factor competition went down a treat! As you will see from the picture, I was very honoured to have Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole & Louis Walsh turn up to judge the competition. Well done to the winner, Trudy, who won (better than any record deal and £100,000) - a meal for two at Coco's Restaurant and a bottle of Baileys!!!



So, an update on what we managed to raise through the raffle, x factor competition,BBQ, killer pool, bouncy castle & various other little games! - a WOPPING £2007.77. I am so very very pleased with this amount, I never expected to riase so much and I am so grateful for everyone's contributions. In total, along with contributions online through my justgiving website, to date, you have helped me raise £3565.77 for WEZIMBABWE. Since the event took place I have had a chance to sit down and page through the raffle tickets and I can't believe how many people bought tickets, and how many tickets they actually bought! I really am so grateful. Thank you very very much. I am only sorry that everyone couldn't win something, but I hope that those who did are pleased with what they won!

Nearly there now with just under four weeks to go until my 'slot' starts. I am off to Windermere this weekend where I hope to complete at least a 6hr swim. Mark, Danielle & Jason will be on the boat 'feeding' me with my new state of the art 'feeding stick', whilst trying to figure out the best way to encourage me to keep going, and of course driving the boat away from any hazards. I will be sure to post an update after the swim, along with some photo's as I'm sure Danielle will be happy snapping after a few hours of boredom!

Once again, thank you VERY much for everyones generosity. Every penny helps improve the facilities available to the little children in Zimbabwe, like those at the Tichakunda Pre-School.

All the best,

Jacqui

A forced smile at the end?!

The harbour & me in the distance, the dot, not the man!!!

Surely that ferry would be quicker, easier & cheaper!!!

Well. At least the six hour qualifier is out the way. With approximately 4/5 weeks to go I am glad that it's out the way. I can honestly say that I enjoyed the swim. Mark and I arrived in Dover on the Friday evening and went for a HUGE carbohydrate based meal in preperation for the morning. Bed at 8.30 & awake at 7 followed by a big bowl of porridge, I was then ready for the job! The weather was good.... not sunny but not raining! The wind was rather strong but nothing inhibiting. I got in at 9am after being appropriately greased up and briefed as to what time to come back into the shore for my 'feeds' of warm maxim energy drink. The first stint was 2 hours, during which Graeme Schlachter kindly accompanied me (Graeme completed the Channel last year in a fantastic time of 11hrs 45mins and we have since got in touch because of having one big thing in common, being Zimbabwean!). It was great to have company, even though you can't really talk, it's nice to see a face next to you every time you breath! From then on it was one feed every hour, which Graeme kindly made sure was ready for me on arrival...... along with a mini roll & ibuprofen at one point! The good thing is that I wasn't really exhausted at the end, nor was I cold. My only concern is the shoulder pain which I have had in the past returned after a couple of hours. But I am now working on this with pain killers & physio so it should be fine!...... I had a good HALF a lager to celebrate and was in bed for 8.30 again!!!

Mark's original plan was a trip to France while I swam, however, he was devastated that this trip to get 'provisions' had to be abandoned because he had forgotten his passport!

I have two / three more long swims planned before the big onr. I will be up in Windermere on the 4th July, with Mark, Danielle & Jason to crew for me and I hope to do a good, long swim up there - at least another 6hrs. The plan is to go back down to Dover mid July to take part in one of the infamous training weekends and do a long swim on both the Saturday & Sunday. We will have the boys with us this time so hopefully the weather is good and it won't be too hard for Mark to keep them happy for all that time! He may even be able to nip to France, providing he doesn't forget his passport this time!

Thanks again for all your support...... Nearly there now. Jax X

May / June update!...

Sorry it's been a bit quiet on the update front, but that should be a good sign as most of my time has been spent training! As you will see from the picture I have attached I will be having a casual gathering at the local pub in Chapel-en-le-Frith to draw my raffle and to get myself psyched up for the last 6 / 7 weeks of training!

May was good. I spent my birthday trudging up and down a very 'reedy' lake near Danielles home in Bedford, while she very kindly dragged herself out of bed at 7am to watch the boys for me. I have spend nearly every Sunday at the Albert Dock where the jelly fish are out in force this year! I'm getting in my full quota of 2hrs there and it's now about 16 degree's on average. I competed in the Ivan Percival 4 mile race which I did in 1hr 27mins... I was really pleased with this because last year I did my 4 mile race in 1hr 48mins. I came 4th out of the woman, and fourth overall!!! - The women really do rule in this sport!

Thursdays are spent at Boundary Water Park in Knutsford. Water temperatures are rising slowly (which isn't necessarily a good thing as I need it to be about 15 to prepare myself for the Channel). I did 2hrs in the River Dee last Wednesday which was frreeezing, but really good practise as there was quite a strong current..... it took 20mins less to swim downstream that it did to swim upstream! Tomorrow, Sunday 13th, I will be going to Blackpool to swim in the sea. I am going to try and get a 3/4hr swim in which should prepare me for my trip down to Dover next weekend. I am hoping to get my 6 hour qualifier done there (weather permitting) however, I SHOULD do it! After that the next task is Windermere at the beginning of July. Again I want / need to do at least a 6 hour swim there. So at the moment, it's go go go..... when I'm not outdoors swimming I'm indoors trying to build up speed & endurance....

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me, I hope I can make you all proud! More pictures to be posted next week!...... Bye for now, Jax X

April update...

Hello!

Very exciting, open water swimming has started! The first dip was in the Albert Dock, Liverpool, the water temperature was just under 10 degrees, I stayed in for 12 minutes. I have built this up slowly and have now reached an hour @ 13 degrees. So the distances are picking up again and my body is getting used to the cold. Of course it's really cold and as soon as your head goes under, you get a headache! but it's very stimulating and really rewarding when you've finished. The pain of the cold fades away as you get more & more numb! I did about 3km on the last swim and felt good. The jelly fish are around, in their large shoals but of course they are still very small at the beginning of the season. It's very strange how to begin with they were one of my biggest fears, and now they feel like my friends! I say hello every week and talk to them as I swim by, in a strange way it's like having company!

First Dip in the dock!

The slime almost looks like pleasant green grass?!

The boys still aren't convinced that the dock is too cold for them! Soooo....

when we got home we had to replicate the dock... needless to say from their facial expressions, it was COLD!!!

Boundary Water Park, in Knutsford, Cheshire starts up tomorrow which I'm looking forward to. So in a few weeks I should be able to make good use of both these open water sessions and should really get in 4hrs of open water in each week.

My first open water event will be the Albert Dock 4mile on the 23rd May. This will be quite tough mainly because the water will still be really cold.
The next 'gathering' apart from the weekly swims, will be my trip down to Dover at the end of June. This will be for one of the infamous 'training weekends'. I will be heading down with just Mark as his very kind parents are having the boys for the weekend! I am really grateful for this as it will give me time to concentrate on my swimming (while Mark nips to France & collects some 'provisions'!

Beginning of July I intend to swim a 2/3 way Coniston. This is about 5.5miles long so I need to do at least a two way for my 6hr qualifier.

18/19th July I will head down to Dover again for a training weekend. This time Mark AND the boys will be with me! So that will be fun.

The following weekend is the final trip down to Dover..... we have two weeks accomodation booked and I hope that my swim will fall inside those two weeks. Of course, as I have mentioned before, this is so weather dependent so I just have to keep my fingers crossed for a good summer!

Thanks again for ALL your support..... & I will keep this updated more now the swimming is 'heating' up!

Cheers,

Jacqui

March update.....

Once again it's been a while since I updated this, sorry!

Firstly - to invite you ALL to my fundraising event. Details are as follows:

I am going to be holding a fundraising event at The RAA (Richmond Athletic Association) on Saturday 30th May 2009! I am hoping this will start as a great 'family' day out and then follow with a good party in the evening. The event will be running from 2pm until late evening (11pm ish). There will be a price of £15 per person (no charge for children under 13). This will include a hog roast meal which will be served around 5pm. There will be an open cash bar from arrival until the end. There will be a bouncy castle for children along with a couple of other games and an 'assortment' of activities for the adults including either a live band or DJ in evening.Please come along! This enormous challenge has been the main occupant of my mind for a very long time! The training is exhausting, along with juggling family life & work - so please support me and help me reach my target of raising £5000 for WEZIMBABWE. The support that I have received so far, by either donations directly to WEZIMBABWE, or through the many messages & emails that I have received, has been amazing. I hope this event will be a great gathering of friends & family. I will then be able to personally thank everyone who has helped so far....So, PLEASE accept this event ASAP if you plan to come along. At the moment it's running as a facebook event 'Channel Swim Fundraising Fun Day for WEZIMBABWE!' - go on there and join the event, it's open to everyone. I will then forward the details to everyone on how to purchase tickets. Please pass this on to all your friends & family, the more the merrier.... If you don't have a facebook profile please just email on jacquismith@baileysmith.co.uk and I will send details on to you directly!P.S. For those of you that do not live near enough to Richmond to be able to get a train / bus / cab home, here is a link with hotels / B&B's - not sure on availability so I'd call sooner rather than later!http://www.activehotels.com/wl/servlet/search/freshSearch.do?trkref=SMU&latLong=51.469131,-0.294897 http://streetmap.co.uk/postcode/tw92ssSo - onto an update on my swimming!!! - Training is going WELL! The new year was good and I felt really strong after starting up at the gym again. January was a great month and I managed to cover a lot of distance in the pool. February I found very tough. For some reason I felt like I had hit a brick wall! I asked advice from fellow swimmers and I also emailed Alison Streeter - Queen of the Channel - swum it 43 times! The feedback that I got was to maybe cut back on either the gym work or the cycling. Maybe I was overdoing the 'less necessary' parts of keeping fit. Rather spend more quality time in the pool, than spend half hearted time in the pool because of being too tired. This seems to have worked and at the moment I am either cycling in the morning and swimming at night, or going to gym and then swimming at night - not all three in one day! Also I think I was pushing too many weights. I have gone back down to doing 'few weights and many repetitions' - for endurance rather than strength as it were.

So, unfortunately there is not anything particularty exciting in winter training to update you with! However, open water starts very soon which I'm really excited about. The first 'dip' in the Albert Dock is on the first Sunday in April. This is going to be a nice breath of fresh air after the stuffy indoor pools! Amazing how quickly your body adjusts to actually enjoying the cold!

There has been a lot to think of in the last month or so. I am in the middle of booking all my swims for the year. There are three or four organised swims that I will register for but one that I will have to attempt individually is Lake Windermere, which is 10.5miles. I need to cross this successfully in order to qualify for the Channel (it's required that you do a 6hr swim in 16degree water). However, this is not the only time I intend to swim for that long in cold water. I intend to go down to Dover for one of the 'training weekends' that are available in the harbour for aspiring Channel Swimmers. Apparently these involve a long hard 5/6hr swim on the Saturday and then another on the Sunday. Usually the distance covered is that of the Channel, or nearabout.

So. Once the open water starts again I shall post some pictures up and keep you up to date with swims I intend to take part in!

Thank you SO much to everyone for their support. To date I have raised £970 for WEZIMBABWE. I am so pleased with this as I haven't even swum the Channel yet! Thank you EVERYONE.

Coming soon will be a raffle - open to all. Many great prizes so far - but watch this space for a more detailed update!......

Cheers for now,

Jax

After the Christmas break....!

Hi again,

I thought I would put a little update on for the New Year. Training is going very well and I can feel myself getting fitter & faster. My times have come down per mile / km and I'm feeling very strong. Gym is obviously helping, and possibly the fact that I've stopped drinking!

Christmas was a little quiet as I wanted to spend some quality time with family before this hectic year of training. However, I did manage to get to the Albert Dock on Boxing Day and do about a 40second swim! - it was apparently 3.5Degrees Celsius so it was not really a 'swim', but more of a dip for people who wanted a 'kick'! It was good fun & actually not that cold because of the amount of time spent in the water. Unfortunately Mark was (selfishly!!!) really sick on Christmas Day & Boxing Day, so my designated photographer wasn't there!!! However, I managed to get some pictures from another source that was there photographing for her website, she managed to get me in one!

Me on the very right, contemplating the dip - I did get in I promise!

A nice clear winters day.

Plunging into nearly freezing water...

It might have been sunny but it was cold!

Otherwise, I'm busy planning my dairy for the year! - it doesn't look like there is going to be a free weekend for a few months. Hopefully it will all fall in to place and as soon as the open water season starts I'll be back in Salford Quays every Thursday evening, and the Albert Dock every Sunday morning. Along with my other 3 nights a week of swimming, every day cycling & gym work, I'm hoping this will be sufficient for my crossing! At the moment I'm managing to swim about 12/13miles a week, cycle about 15miles a week, and about 30mins of gym 4 times a week. Along with sit-ups & my physio exercises at night, this is about all the time I have spare! At the moment I get home at about 8, eat dinner, sit down for half an hour then go to bed! Ready to get up at 5.30 to cycle, then sort the kids out for nursery, get to work, finish work, straight to gym... and the circle repeats itself! Luckily I'm still working four days a week so I manage to get a nice quality day on Friday with the boys, otherwise I would feel like I never see them. Josh is really sweet and knows that I'm going to try and swim to France soon.... I took them swimming the other day and told him 'this is where mummy does all her swimming' and he asked me 'so is this France'! IF ONLY!

I'm really enjoying it at the moment and am loving feeling so fit. The putting on weight thing is going quite well. I'm a few kg's heavier than before Christmas, however, it's not as easy as you'd think with all the exercise.... never thought I'd be allowed to eat so much in a day.

Will keep this up to date & will make sure I post new news when I get any!

Thanks again everyone for your support.

Jacqui