Lake out of bounds – but there’s no stopping swim

With £1,000 already pledged for The Ear Trust, Dr Anne Raine, of Harden, contacted Barry Watson, 71, of Bingley, a former record-breaking channel swimmer, who is currently in training to swim the English Channel again.

He suggested holding an alternative event in Ilkley Lido and agreed to come along and adjudicate.

So instead of tackling the one-mile swim in Windermere, Cumbria, Dr Raine completed the swim in the equally-cold waters of the Ilkley Lido, securing more than £1,000 in sponsorship for the Ear Trust.

The Ear Trust, which was founded by Anne’s husband, ENT surgeon Chris Raine, supports the work of the Yorkshire Cochlear Implant Service at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

The service helps profoundly deaf babies, children and adults hear through cochlear implants. It recently moved into a state-of-the-art Listening for Life Centre at BRI.

Anne said: “I was intending to raise money for The Ear Trust by taking part in The Great North Gas Swim in Windermere, and so was extremely disappointed when the whole event was cancelled at very short notice.

“I had had a tremendous response and had been promised so much sponsorship money I couldn’t let my sponsors and The Ear Trust down. The challenge for me was to do an open water swim in a wet suit, something I have never done before.

“So a group of five of us plunged into the open air pool at Ilkley on September 4, the day the original event was due to take place, and all succeeded in completing the swim and were presented by Barry with certificates and our times to prove it.

“I was the only one of five to swim for The Ear Trust and am extremely grateful to all my wonderful sponsors. The Ear Trust has already achieved a tremendous amount with the opening of the Listening for Life Centre, and this donation will help set up a room for testing and research which will keep Bradford in the forefront of the international cochlear implant scene.”