Speedo is proud to support Cancer Research UK’s The Swim

Ronan Keating and Richard Branson take on a gruelling challenge in support of Cancer Research UK. They need all the help they can get...including you!

This September, Ronan Keating and Richard Branson will captain a team in Cancer Research UK’s ‘The Swim’, a unique celebrity-led relay challenge to swim the Irish Sea from Holyhead to Dublin. It is a gruelling distance of 56 miles, almost three times the length of the English Channel, several degrees colder, deeper and more treacherous.

The hazards are infinite: they will have to cross four tides, risk hypothermia, seasickness and exhaustion, fend off venomous Lion's Man - the world's largest known species of jellyfish, and encounter some of the thirty species of shark that pass through the Irish Sea, including the enormous basking shark, the world’s second largest fish.

Ronan Keating said: “I’m not a strong swimmer, in fact I’ve only just started learning! But the motivation to learn and raise money for Cancer Research UK was enough for me to sign up. The public’s support is going to be essential in helping us achieve our goal raising £1 million for Cancer Research UK’s life saving work.”

The Swim team will be made up of 10 people, including Keating and Branson and The Gadget show’s Jason Bradbury, as well as other swimmers and celebrities who will be revealed soon. To support the team, people are encouraged to set their own swim challenge, for example swimming the distance of the Irish Sea in their local swimming pool to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Speedo is proud to support Cancer Research UK’s The Swim. Find out more about how you can get involved or sponsor the team today.