From Non-Swimmer to Fundraiser: Daniel's Challenge for BBC Children in Need

This year, Daniel is back in the pool, continuing his journey from a complete non-swimmer to a determined fundraiser for Children in Need. Last year, he took on a personal challenge: swimming his first-ever 25 meters, supported by the team at the Better Swim School at Wantage Leisure Centre. With guidance from coach Clare and the unwavering support of the Adult Swimming lesson community, Daniel achieved his goal and continued to attend lessons, steadily improving throughout the year.

But Daniel's journey didn’t stop there. Motivated by a desire to give back, he set himself an even bigger challenge for 2025: to swim 25 miles as a team with at least 2 of them done by Dan personally, in batches of 25x25m lengths each day. He also wanted to raise money for Children in Need in the process and give back to community. To date, he’s already swum over 6,000 meters on his way to smashing that goal and participates weekly in the Adult Swimming lessons at Wantage Leisure Centre.

Supported by his family and friends, as well as fellow Adult Swimming lessons participants and the leisure centre team, Daniel massively exceeded his target. The team clocked up just over 40 miles in 7 hours at Wantage Leisure Centre on Saturday 8th November 2025.

The Swim Doctor team is proud to have played a role in his success and is offering additional support by providing pool space for his fundraising efforts.

"Thanks to the team at Swim Doctor, I’ve come a long way since last year’s challenge,” said Daniel. "The support has been incredible. From my first swim to now, I’ve learned so much, and I couldn’t have done this without everyone here."

Daniel has already raised over £500 of his £1,000 goal. To donate and help him hit his target, visit his JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/swim-2