Swimmers prepare for Falmouth event

Friday 11th May 2012

Hundreds of people are preparing to tackle a one-mile open air swim to raise funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

The fourth annual Castle To Castle event will see more than 240 people swimming across the River Fal from Pendennis Point to St Mawes in Falmouth in support of the charity.

Last year's swim raised more than £50,000 for the charity's services in the Devon and Cornwall area.

EastEnders' actor Steve McFadden, who plays Phil Mitchel, joined swimmers last year and has completed the event twice in total.

Steve said: "I'm gutted to miss the RNLI Castle To Castle swim this year; it's always a fantastic challenge for a brilliant charity."

This year's event, on June 3, will be started at 4pm by BBC Radio Cornwall presenter Laurence Reed. He will also hand out trophies and medals to the successful swimmers.

RNLI event co-ordinator Sarah Cheers, and RNLI legacy manager Kate Ireland will be among the participants. Sarah said: "This is our first time taking part in the event. Although we're both quite nervous about the currents, we're really looking forward to getting across to St Mawes, and know that we'll be in safe hands with the RNLI lifeguards and volunteer RNLI lifeboat crew from Falmouth, who will be on-hand monitoring the safety of the swimmers."

Runners can also take part in a 10 kilometre cross-country circular run starting near St Mawes Castle and finishing at St Mawes harbour. Swimmers can take part in the run after finishing their swim.

Entry is £10 and the closing date for entries is May 27. To enter visit http://www.rnli.org.uk/castle2castle and to enter the 10km run email cornwall@rnli.org.uk.

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