#SwimTheSolent 2024
This week I swam 5.8 km across the Solent, from Gosport to Ryde, in 2.5 hours. I was a member of a 7-person pod, each of us having registered for the event around the turn of the year, and spent the intervening months fundraising. The charity is called the Ian Pratt Motor Neurone Disease Foundation and they have been running for a decade, raising contributions and awareness in memory of their lost friend Ian.
Here are some photos from the day, and I hope to edit this article to include more personal reflections as it was such a fantastically well organised and deeply touching event; for now, many followers have been asking me for a donations page so here it is – please give generously to this wonderful foundation so that we can move a step closer towards understanding MND and how to treat it:
👉 https://www.justgiving.com/page/oli-steadman-1721391689985 👈
Angels and Warriors
Every one of the swimmers and kayaking lifeguards who take part in this charity event is given a wristband to honour a person with MND. I was honoured to carry four wristbands across the Solent this year, and hope to take part again in future. The wristband is a symbol of hope and is dedicated to our MND Angels and MND Warriors. Angels are those individuals who have fought their battle courageously with MND and now fly free of its burden, whilst our Warriors are those who currently live and battle with MND every day.
If you would like to swim the Solent some day, this is the charity I’d recommend contacting: the event was the best-organised I’ve experienced. If there is someone specific that you would like to wear a band for, the foundation can provide additional bands for you so that you can pass them on to the families of the angel, or to the warrior.
