Swimmer 'counting days' to training in city lido

A disabled swimmer aiming to swim between England and Wales has been waiting for a lido to open so she can step up her training.

Sophie Etheridge, 31, is preparing to swim the Bristol Channel in August, after swimming the English Channel in 2023.

Miss Etheridge, a swimming teacher who lives in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, said she was "counting the days" until the Peterborough Lido opened for the summer so she could start to train outdoors.

The lido opened on Friday - and she estimated that she had so far swum nine kilometres (more than five miles).

"I've been counting the days until the lido opened because it means I can start training for the Bristol Channel outdoors," Miss Etheridge, who uses a wheelchair, told the BBC.

"The lido is ideal because it's a 50m pool with lanes roped off - not many people swim as far as me.

"I went on Friday and did four kilometres then went again on Monday and did five kilometres.

"Once the weather gets a bit warmer I start training and then I've got a sea training camp in Wales - Porthcawl - at the end of June."

Miss Etheridge, who does not wear a wetsuit when swimming outdoors, swam the English Channel last year. She is hoping to complete the "triple crown" of open water swimming by attempting to swim the North Channel - between Northern Ireland and Scotland - in 2026.

She said she needs several thousand pounds to pay for a support boat and crew to sail with her across the Bristol Channel and had been trying to raise money.

Miss Etheridge, who is originally from Hastings, East Sussex, told how she had been injured while studying music at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, 13 years ago.

She said she had been in collision with a car while cycling and the injuries she received had left her disabled.

Miss Etheridge, who plays the clarinet and is a member of the Huntingdonshire Concert Band, said she made the journey from Godmanchester to the Peterborough Lido by catching a train and using her motorised wheelchair to get to and from stations.

Open water challenges

• The English Channel is the body of water separating England and France, and it is a 33km (20.5 miles) swim to cross it
• The Bristol Channel has the second highest tidal range in the world, with 15.24m (50ft) variance in tides, complicated by scattered headlands and islands. The direct route from Sandpoint, Somerset, to Lavernock Point, South Wales, is 19.3km (12 miles), but swimmers often battle strong currents
• North Channel swims typically start near Donaghadee (on Northern Ireland's Ards Peninsula) and finish on Scotland's Rhins of Galloway - a minimum distance of 34.5km (21.4 miles)

The open-air pool opened on Friday - a few weeks earlier than usual.

Vivacity, the lido's operator, said it was inundated with inquiries regarding the opening.

The pool, on Bishop’s Road, is usually open between April and September.

In 2023 the lido stayed open until 10 December - the first time it had extended its opening into winter in its 88-year history - to make up for the closure of the city's Regional Pool.

Several other swimmers joined Miss Etheridge on Monday.

Phil and Sonia Hayden travelled from their home in Farcet, Cambridgeshire.

Lifeguard Tom Jackson, 21, said lots of swimmers had used the pool over Easter.

"Opening day was quite busy," he said. "I think we had something like 60 people, maybe 70, in the morning."

He said the water temperature had been 22C (75.2F) on Monday and added: "Some people like it cold."

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