Firstly and most importantly, we hope you are safe and well. We want to reach out with a little update on how things stand regarding our programmes in light of Coronavirus restrictions.

We are gutted that we have had to postpone our projects until travel restrictions are lifted but we know it is the right thing to do.

Building Resilience of Fishing Livelihoods

Caballito means “little horse” in Spanish; “Totora” is a South American plant. Archaeological evidence suggests that this ancient watercraft is the world’s first surfboard.

A Caballito de Totora is a small, woven reed vessel with an elongated design that is used by Peruvian fishermen for more than 4,000 years.

2019 has brought an exciting and challenging year for SwimTayka, and they say the first two years of any organisation is the make or break time. As a Charity, we have made it through the first two years, and this is thanks to our trustees pulling together and working as a strong team.

Our children from SwimTayka Peru visited the Peruvian Sea Institute (IMARPE) in Huanchaco and we talk with a Marine Biologist. The children learned about the types of animals that live in the ocean from the shore to the depths, they were also able to observe dissected animals such as sharks, penguins, swordfish, gulls and a baby dolphin.

We are working in partnership with Sea & Stream to save your old swim hats and goggles from landfill.  In return for sending your gear to Sea & Stream, you can receive 10% off your next purchase with them. 

What a fabulous group of swimmers at COWS (Cotswold Open Water Swimmers) – a fantastic £600 raised at our Annual Boxing Day Dip and some fabulous fancy dress outfits too. A bit of a drizzly morning but we all turned out – thank you. This will go with the Halloween dip funds of £815 – the total of £1,415 will be split between Wiltshire Air Ambulance and SwimTayka.

A massive thank you to the COWS organisers team to bring this together and to Thameswey Canoe Club for there volunteers on safety cover.

Looking forward to 2020 with you all dipping and swimming accordingly.

How in the world, in a country composed of over 700 islands, can fewer than 20 per cent of the children know how to swim? It’s not as though I’m talking about inhospitable, cold waters but rather the warm, amazingly clear and blue waters of the Bahamas.

Drowning deaths in the Bahamas are the second leading cause of accidental death, with only traffic accidents causing more. The rate of drowning per 100,000 inhabitants is six times greater than in the United States, and an astounding 17 times higher than in the United Kingdom.

World Conference on Drowning Prevention in October 2019, Durban, South Africa

Back in 2017, Bryan and Dena attended the conference in Vancouver when SwimTayka was still a young emerging brand in the world of Charities and NGOs, and we were still finding our feet.

So attending this conference 2 years later, we were more focused on what we wanted to get from the event and the people we wanted to meet.

By Kieran Smyth – Channel Relay Swimmer

The team assembled in the car park at Dover Harbour between 9-10 pm on Thursday 1st August, we were all buzzing with nervous anticipation! We boarded Anastasia and met the pilot Eddie and his crew as well as our CS&PF observer Geoff. We stowed our belongings and set off for Samphire Hoe where our challenge would officially begin. Once at Samphire Hoe, Alan jumped in and swam to the beach and, at the sound of the claxon, he re-entered the water and our relay was officially underway! The time was 11:23 pm.