Channel swimming dads hoping for world record

Four dads are hoping to set a world record by doing a swimming relay across the English Channel for charity.

Nik Haynes, Olly White, Ross Szender and Adam Tapp, who are known on social media as Channel Medley Relay 2026, will each swim a different stroke - backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.

The quartet, all aged in their 40s and from East Devon, plan to head into the water on 27 August and are aiming to break the record for a relay swim across the Channel while raising money for Hospiscare.

The dads added they had a "secret weapon" in the form of massage therapist Heidi Bell-West, whose great-great-great uncle was Capt Matthew Webb - the first man to swim across the Channel.

Each of the dads will swim their stroke for an hour before having a three-hour rest, with the current record for a medley-order relay across the Channel set at 11 hours, 29 minutes.

The four men said they wanted to demonstrate resilience and determination to their children, but are also doing the challenge to raise money for charity.

Szender, who will be swimming butterfly, said: "In 2023, my mum passed away with cancer and was given a diagnosis of one month to live.

"Hospiscare were there right from the beginning, for her and for the family."

Haynes said it had "taken a lot of coordination" to set up the record attempt.

"We're four guys in our 40s with families, at least two kids each and full-time jobs," he said as they did a practice session in the sea at Budleigh Salterton.

"We haven't had a lot of time to set aside and we've been sneaking the training in, but we're very committed to making it happen."

The plan is to swim the shortest route between England and France.

White, the team's breaststroke swimmer, said: "The best case scenario is we get a small tide, because with the Channel the tide moves you around quite a lot, and we leave from Shakespeare Beach at Folkestone and end up at Cap Gris-Nez."

Bell-West said it would be a tough challenge for the dads because of the strokes they were planning to do in potentially adverse weather conditions.

"It's going to be cold no matter what, so they will need me to keep those muscles moving as much as possible," she added.

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