Tooting: Four local ladies set to swim channel TONIGHT

After a year of gruelling training, four women will set off for their English Channel swim tonight.

From the South London Swimming Club, Lisa Peake, Lorraine Jeffcoate, Vanessa Cowie and Sue Rentoul will finally put their hard work to the test as they attempt the channel relay this evening (July 21).

The four, dubbed as the Channel Crackers, will set off from Dover at 8.30pm tonight and hope to reach France sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Nub News wrote a story on the swimmers a few weeks ago, where Lorraine told us all about their journey to get to this point.

The swim will be 21 miles as the crow flies, however, the tide means it can almost be twice that amount.

Each swimmer will swim for an hour before rotating with another member who will be on the boat running alongside the swimmer. During the swim, they are not allowed to touch the boat or another team member.

You can follow their swim live by tracking the boat. The team will be travelling in the Suva boat - so make sure you keep an eye on that.

It's not only the South London Swimming Team and local people who have been sharing their support for the relay team. Zoe Ball even gave them a shoutout on BBC Radio 2 this morning, saying: "Go on ladies!".

The team are doing the swim on behalf of three charities - all of which have a personal link to the group: Mind UK, Diabetes UK and the National Brain Appeal's Rare Dementia Support Centre Fund.

So far (as of July 21) they have raised a whopping £7171.48, which will be split between the three charities.

To donate, you can do so by going to their Money Giving page.

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