Roy Barry has raised nearly £10,000 for Seashell with his incredible Triple Crown Three Lakes Swim challenge, swimming 24 miles in total across three lakes in the Lake District.
No stranger to swimming, Roy attempted Ullswater last year and had to be pulled out at mile five. Instead of giving up, he challenged himself to come back again the following year – swimming two more lakes and raising money for Seashell in memory of his late niece Sophia.
“I thought why do it by halves, it needed to be a sufficiently enormous challenge to warrant fundraising for the Seashell Trust,” said Roy. “I barely crawled over the finish line at Ullswater, but I made it!”
Roy swam the length of Coniston in July, which was 5.2 miles, Ullswater in July, which was 7.5 miles, and finally Windermere in September, which was 11.5 miles. The 24-mile epic swimming challenge saw Roy finish 41st out of 1,548 in his age category, and 28th out of 741 in his gender category.
“I’m very touched and humbled, it’s something I’ll never forget,” said Roy. “It’s been a privilege to fundraise for the Seashell Trust.”
“A kaleidoscope of emotions hit me when I’d recovered, and the enormity of it sank in and what it meant to me personally,” said Roy. “It was unlike anything I’ve ever felt.
We invited Roy back to our campus to say a huge thank you and unveil our new plaque in the Margaret Mason Hall, dedicated to Sophia. We awarded Roy with one of our special “Seashell Superhero” medals and a thank you card made by our Fundraising and Engagement Ambassador, Mollie. Roy was touched to see the plaque, reading “Making a splash with Sophia Barry”, in honour of his challenge.
“Having finished it, the relief was overwhelming, it was a bucket list thing to do, and it’s been a brilliant, amazing journey.”
Although Roy’s initial target was £500, he’s far surpassed that, thanks to the kind generosity of friends, family, colleagues and other supporters. “I just want to say thank you to everyone who has donated, everyone who has encouraged me or even liked my Facebook posts in support,” said Roy.
His total for the challenge amounted to an incredible £9,748, and we’re absolutely blown away by the success of Roy’s challenge.
“The relief was overwhelming and it’s been an amazing journey. Somewhere along the way I realised it’s really helped me to process everything.”
Thank you so much Roy for sharing your story and taking on this monumental challenge to support us. Watch Roy’s video below to hear it in his own words:
