Saxon Crown sponsored swim for young swimmer with cancer
On Sunday, 26th May swimmers from Saxon Crown (Lewisham) Swimming Club and colleagues from GLL are taking part in a “Swim the Channel” event to raise some funds for one of the club’s members who has been diagnosed with cancer.
Jess O’Hara is a 19 year old who has previously swum for the club and is now a highly valued volunteer. Saxon Crown prides itself on being a family – a friendly club who like to be mutually supportive to its members. Jess is especially treasured because as a volunteer nothing is too much for her. At galas she can be seen lugging equipment around in preparation for the event, handing out refreshments to the officials or dishing out the medals to event winners.
Jess is one of nine children in the O’Hara family, 5 of whom still swim for the club. The family’s involvement with Saxon Crown goes back to the days of the old Ladywell Leisure Centre (subsequently replaced by Glass Mill Leisure Centre). Mum barely gets a night off from visiting one of the pools in the borough with one or more of the children and Jess often helps out or keeps Mum company.
Outside of supporting Saxon Crown, Jess’s passion is Irish dancing. She’s pretty good too - competing admirably in national and world championships. You can imagine therefore that the cancer diagnosis came as a terrible shock to such a fit young woman. Jess is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment and all this is significantly affecting her work.
The event itself will take place at Glass Mill between 9.30am and 1.30pm on that Sunday (the day before Spring Bank Holiday). GLL has allocated 6 lanes of the pool and teams will compete against each other to see who completes the 21 miles first. The competitors will include not only the Saxon Crown swimmers from each of the club’s 12 squads but also members of each club swimmer’s family (Mum, Dad, Grandparents and siblings) and a team from GLL. A swimmer can do as little as 2 lengths of the pool (that’s 50m) or as many lengths as they wish. In order to complete the channel swim within the four hours allocated, two swimmers will be allowed in each lane at any one time.
Saxon Crown has fundraised for Cancer Research in the past and will do so again in the future. On this occasion, we want to raise funds to support Jess during what is a tough time for her in particular and her lovely family who have been not just a constant but a pillar of strength within the Saxon Crown family. Time to show our gratitude.
To support this event or donate money to the cause please contact Saxon Crown Swimming Club quoting Swim for Jess on https://www.saxoncrown.org.uk/contact-us/