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Brit starts swimming challenge this summer in Mallorca

Swimming round Sa Dragonera starts 150 mile challenge for Anna Wardley

featured in News & reviews Author James Fisher, Mallorca Video Reporter Updated

A British endurance swimmer will begin her campaign to swim 150 miles, round five islands, this summer in Mallorca.

Anna Wardley, 36, will begin her Five Islands Swim Challenge on May 27th by swimming round the small island of Sa Dragonera. The tiny island, which lies off the south west coast of Mallorca is an uninhabited nature reserve, and will be the first of Anna's challenges in an attempt to raise money for charity.

"I have a gruelling training programme to make sure I'm prepared mentally and physically for what are set to be the most difficult swims I've ever faced." Said Anna, and a gruelling training programme is what she is going to need.

Once she has made it the seven miles round Sa Dragonera in fairly brisk 17 degree water she has some real challenges ahead. A twelve mile swim around Portsea in Hampshire will be followed by a 41 mile swim around the Channel Isle of Jersey. Anna will then head to the Hebredies in Scotland to attempt possibly the most difficult stage of her challenge; a 30 mile swim around Tiree in water that is not expected to be more than 13 degrees above freezing. She'll finish her mammoth task in September with a non stop sixty mile swim around the Isle of Wight that is likely to take thirty hours.

This final swim round the Isle of Wight has only ever been completed by three people. Kevin Murphy was the first in 1971 and he pointed out: "No solo swimmer has ever managed to get to Bembridge to catch the tide, which means we've all had six hours of swimming against it, going nowhere before being able to make progress again."

By contrast the swim around the little island of Sa Dragonera seems pretty easy but it is still the equivalent of swimming 450 lengths of a normal pool and with no walls to stop at or kick off and choppy water it is going to be far harder.

Anna's plan is that the swim in Mallorca will begin a five month quest to raise £50,000 for her chosen charities which include; The Samaritans, Toe in the Water (a sailing charity for injured service men and women) and Sail Africa which aims to improve the lives of young people in Durban through sailing.

If you want more details on Anna's challenge or would like to sponsor her you can find out more at www.annawardley.com

We'd like to wish her the best of luck and hopefully we'll be there when she crosses the finish line on May 27th.

Follow the link to watch our video report from Sa Dragonera