Jersey woman to swim the Channel for seventh time in six decades

Sunday 06 June 2021

A Jersey woman is planning to swim the Channel for the seventh time in six decades, in a bid to raise money for charity, and pay tribute to the memory of her late husband.

Sally Minty-Gravett MBE is aiming to raise at least £10,000 in aid of Dementia Jersey and the Jersey Lifeboat Association, having already hit over 75% of the target.

Pictured: Sally and Charlie, sitting with their dog, affectionately called 'Charlie Too.'

She will be swimming from Dover to Calais in early July 2021, having swum across the Channel every decade since 1975 – indeed, at the time of her 2016 swim, she set a Guinness World Record. 

A leading figure in Jersey’s swimming community, Sally was awarded an MBE for her services to swimming in 2016, and has still been going strong, in 2019 swimming: 

• across the Gibraltar Straits from Spain to Africa;
• across the Arctic Circle from Finland to Sweden;
• the full 21.3 miles of Lake Tahoe.

Though she was originally intending to do her next crossing in July 2020 as a ‘retirement’ Channel swim to mark another decade, the attempt was postponed after the health of her husband, Charlie, deteriorated and he passed away that month.

Charlie was a well-known and loved long-distance swimmer on the island in his own right too, with friends banding together for a virtual 1,600m swim last year to pay tribute to him last year to raise money for the Jersey Lifeboat Association.

To commemorate a year since his passing, it will now be entitled “My 6th decade Solo Channel swim - For Charlie. In his memory." 

The swim will both raise money for both the Lifeboat Association, as well as Dementia Jersey's Splash Chat programme, an initiative that Sally was an active volunteer with for over five years.

Pictured: On the swim, Sally said that she is feeling "great and ready to rock!"

With the current tally at over £7,800 currently, she is looking to hit at least £10,000 for the two charities. 

On how she was feeling with four weeks to go before taking the splash, Sally said: “I am keeping as focussed as I can and staying healthy and strong in anticipation. 

“Training has been very ‘challenging’ with April and May being so cold and the sea being 1.5c lower in temps than usual. But now feel great and ready to rock!”

Rachel Le Corre, Marketing Manager at VG, Sally’s main sponsor, commented: “In 2020 we proudly partnered with Sally as principal sponsor of her seventh cross-channel attempt in six decades. 

“It was with much regret that Sally had to postpone her attempt until 2021 but we are immensely proud and inspired by Sally’s determination to complete her ‘6th decade Solo Channel swim - For Charlie. In his memory.’” 

You can donate to Sally’s fundraiser by CLICKING HERE.