A mum-of-two is preparing to become the first woman to swim to shore from two iconic World War Two forts.
Rebekah Kefford plans to take on the eight-mile (12.8km) challenge in August.
The 53-year-old is raising money for Aspire, a charity that supports people who have been paralysed by spinal cord injury.
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She will be battling wind and tidal currents and hopes to complete the swim from the Red Sands forts off the coast Whitstable, Kent in about six hours.
Although she has previously done a relay across the English Channel in a team of five, this would be her longest cold water swim.
“I will be the first woman to do it if I make it,” Rebekah told What’s The Jam.
“I’ve been out to the forts, and they are incredible and eerie.
“I will have a support boat that will help navigate safely because there are very strong currents there.
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“I’m not a proper swimmer – I’m self-taught and have not had any lessons, and this will be the longest swim I’ve ever done.”
The 60ft (18m) fort towers were part of the Maunsell Forts, built to defend the country from air raids during World War Two.
In August 2024, Whitstable resident Dan Brown became the first person to swim from the forts to shore in a time of five hours and six minutes.
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Rebekah has been training in the sea near her home in Birchington, Kent.
She said: “The temperature at the moment is about 10 degrees.
In August, it could be around 18 degrees.
“If you compare that to a public pool, which is around 26 degrees, it’s still chilly.
“I’ll be stopping to eat and drink every hour or so because I’ll be burning up lots of energy.“
Rebekah said she will follow strict Channel-swim rules with no wetsuit, no neoprene, no flotation devices and no touching the boat.
She said: “You get brain freeze and you can feel your heart go but once you break through that barrier, within a few minutes you really start to feel an energy about yourself.
“There’s an endorphin that just rushes round your body, it’s absolutely amazing.
“You get a sense of being really in control, but then the cold will start to come in, you start to feel your hands go, your feet go.
“You need to listen to yourself and know when it’s time to get out.”
Rebekah has currently raised over £3,000 of her £5,000 total.
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