In August 2024, a group of 13 pupils aged 12 and 13 from Taunton Prep School successfully completed a relay swim of the English Channel, swimming through the night against strong tides, waves, high winds, sea sickness and swarms of compass jellyfish.
Following two years of training led by Taunton Prep School’s Headmaster, Ed Burnett, and Head of Geography and the school’s Long Distance Swimming Club lead coach, Hamish McCarthy, the children braved the seas on 27th August 2024 in honour of The Barnaby Webber Foundation. The team, known as the Channel Titans, raised an incredible £13,000.
The Teams were delighted to have completed the 21-mile swim, with the Red Team completing their swim in 14 hours and 40 minutes, and the Pink Team finishing in 15 hours and 1 minute. The students individually swam an hour at a time with all swimming twice and some swimming three times.
Ed Burnett, Head of Taunton Prep School, said: “The English Channel is known as the ‘Everest of swimming’ and the mindset, ambition and teamwork needed to complete it requires something special.
“As our 12 and 13-year-old pupils have shown over the last two years, hard work and commitment builds the courage to succeed. I am very proud of them for the work they have put in and I am delighted that they have completed their Everest.”
The Year 8 pupils began their training in Autumn 2022 when they were just 11 years old. Following many early morning training sessions in the school’s pools, they moved to the sea at Lyme Regis and Burgh Island last summer. Pool training resumed in Autumn 2023 coupled with acclimatisation training at Wiveliscombe outdoor pool where frost sometimes covered the ground around the pool during the winter.
April 2024 saw the group add 11 degrees Celsius water at Clevedon Marine Lake to their training schedule, with open sea swims becoming the norm in May. Training swims in the sea at Lyme Regis, Beer, Anstey’s Cove and Torbay followed this, and they also completed the Plymouth Breakwater Swim.
The Channel Titans also underwent plenty of English Channel specific training using a boat and conducted several night swims and relay swims in preparation.
Barney started at Taunton School in the nursery and remained there until completing his A-levels in the Sixth Form. He was much loved by both staff and fellow students.
