I said my farewells ???? to my friends in Manchester & then grabbed a manual car to continue on my journey.

????????I hit a small speed bump… Luckily, Cate was on hand to save the day, reminding me I needed a foot on the brake AND clutch to start!

I drove down to Outdoor Swimmer’s (the magazine) Henley-on-Thames event which was lots of fun! It had a doggie-friendly ????, community feel with colourful stalls ⛺ and a joyous supportive atmosphere…

…and a picture-book-perfect flowing river set within gorgeous rolling grass, hills and trees for as far as the eye could see (gotta love the green English country side!). ????????????

I had a fun chat to Ben Croucher from ???? BBC who was emceeing for the day and finally met some open water swimmers in person for the first time including @swimcathswim (Ice swimmer, Merthyr Mermaid & Doco Superstar!), @kerianne_payne (Olympic silver medalist!), @jonnyhcrowie (Outdoor Swimmer editor), Lindsey Cole (@Stompycole – promoting clean waterways with her kids book!)

From there I slipped back into my car and headed to the Guards Polo Club and watched my first polo event. I am not sure the name of the tournament but it was very interesting. ????????

I even got to meet the indisputable world’s best polo player Adolfo Cambiaso who is affectionately known as an 11 player! He is actually ranked as 10, when competing, which is the highest ranking. ????

I met most of the Scone team who recently won the USA Polo Championships! David Paradice, who owns and plays in the Scone Polo team (named after the small country town where he grew up) kindly invited me. We watched the prize giving ceremony and I got to see the Queen up close! ????????

From there I made my way to the heavenly region of Kent known as the ‘Garden of England’. ????????????????

I have spent the last few days settling into a small lovely area outside Dover and I am staying with a lovely couple who have kindly welcomed me into their home, their doggy has been welcoming too! I have a new English home base for my campaign. Yay!????????????

I have had a few questions about sharing my English Channel swim schedule and when my next swim is… continued in messages below….➡️

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