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Harrogate woman swims English Channel for charity

Tuesday, 3 September 2024 07:00

Harrogate's Millie Bell completed her 'dream' of swimming the English Channel solo.

A Harrogate woman has raised more than £3,300 for charity after swimming the English Channel solo.

24-year-old Millie Bell swam the 21 miles from Dover to Northern France last month whilst fundraising for St Michael’s Hospice and Cosmic.

Millie was able to complete the incredible feat in 13 hours and 11 minutes.

She started her journey at Shakespeare Beach I Dover at 2:54am before swimming through the night.

She told Your Harrogate:

“After 3 years of training, I achieved my dream of swimming the English Channel.

“I will now focus on recovery before training resumes for the Ice Swimming World Championships in Italy in 2025 where I will be representing Great Britain.”

Speaking about the challenge, Millie recalled the final moments before reaching the finishing point - a lighthouse at Cap Griz Nez.

She said:

“After around 12 and a half hours of swimming my pilot stuck his head out the window and I was told I needed to push, at that point I had 1500m to go but the tide was about to change and I would have face another 2 or 3 hours swimming to land.

“With my support crew cheering me, I found some energy and managed to up to pace!”

Millie was fundraising for St Michael’s Hospice, who cared for her grandmother, and Cosmic who provide emergency care for babies and infants.

She’s raised £3,379 to date, smashing her original target of £2,000.

If you’d like to contribute to Millie’s fundraising campaign, find her JustGiving page here

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