Julie Ryan forced to abandon English Channel swim

Aug 9 2009 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

A RESCUE worker who vowed to swim the English Channel in a daring charity fundraiser was forced to abandon the bid for her own safety.

As a volunteer with the International Rescue Corps (IRC), Julie Ryan has taken part in rescue missions all over the world, helping to find survivors of natural and manmade disasters.

The charity relies purely on donations to keep afloat, and saw a severe dip in funds in the wake of the credit crunch, prompting Julie to spring into action.

The 42-year-old NHS manager, from Malton, North Yorkshire, spent 10 months preparing to swim the English Channel, a marathon 16-hour journey across 22 miles (35 kilometres) from England to French soil.

But her hopes of achieving her goal were dashed 13 miles out from her starting point in Dover, when rough seas swamped her and strong tides were pushing her into the ferry lane.

A deeply disappointed Julie was forced to halt the swim . . . but she has pledged to make another attempt next year in a special sponsored relay event.

She said: “I was just upset and disappointed, it’s just one of those things really . . . the gods of the Channel weren’t smiling on me and the weather got to me.

“When I set off last Sunday at 7.45am it was a glorious day. The first four hours were lovely, I was making good time and even though I’m not the fastest swimmer I knew I was going to do it.