*UPDATE - 27 SEPTEMBER 2025*

They did it! Our amazing team of swimmers got to France after 17 hours and 4 minutes of swimming on Saturday 27th September.

After months of waiting for a window to swim, Michael, Rosie, Andrew, Sarah, Hazel and George swam from Dover to France as a relay team - each tackling the waves of the channel for an hour at a time before handing over to the next member of the team.

Congratulations to the team - who together have now raised close to £40,000 for the John Radcliffe's Paediatric Critical Care Unit.

Read their full story here 

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A team of six swimmers is taking on the English Channel as a relay this summer, raising funds for Oxford’s Paediatric Critical Care Unit (PCCU) at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

The ‘Oxford Orcas’ team includes Consultant, Dr Michael Carter and Lead Education Nurse, Rosie Priddy, who both work on the unit, as well as the Trust's Chief Medical Officer,  Andrew Brent, Sarah Vaccari from Oxford Hospitals Charity, and supporters Hazel Shaw and George Middleton.

This iconic 21-mile swim is demanding, with freezing waters, strong currents, and no wetsuits allowed. The team will even be swimming in the dark, dodging jellyfish!

SPONSOR THE TEAM

Their goal is to raise £30,000 to buy specialist equipment and support for PCCU at the John Radcliffe Hospital, which cares for 1,000 critically ill children each year from Oxfordshire and beyond.

The team was originally due to swim mid July, but poor weather meant they weren't allowed to set off on their challenge. But they hope to have a new slot at the end of August and are determined to keep training and keep fundraising until they get the chance.

Andrew Brent, Chief Medical Officer at the OUH Trust said of the challenge: "I'm old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway, and busy enough to need a goal to carve out all important time for exercise - so somewhat madly I joined the team! 

"The money we raise through our Channel Swim will make an important contribution to equipping the Paediatric Critical Care Unit, now and in the future, to deliver the best care possible to the very sickest of our children.

"All support is welcome as we prepare to endure the cold water and waves - not to mention the killer whales that turned up at close range when one of my teammates swam the Channel previously!"

Consultant in Paediatric Critical Care, Michael Carter,  the only member of the team who has experience of swimming the Channel,  came up with the idea of putting the 'Oxford Orcas' together after his last experience. He explains:

"The challenges we see our young patients and their families go through is the biggest spur for all of us, and the team is determined to raise as much as we can to provide the very best for them.

"There are quite a few costs involved in doing an event like this so we would like to say a big thank you to local companies, Breckon & Breckon and Minoli for kindly sponsoring this challenge, meaning every penny we raise goes directly to Oxford Hospitals Charity to help the ward.

"Thank you also to Queenford Lakes Open Water Swimming and JMB Photography for their kind support."

The team have now raised close to £27,000 towards their £30,000 goal.

Please help the Oxford Orcas to reach their target by sponsoring the team here.

A big thank you to all the team for their months of training - we wish them every success with their July swim.