A schoolgirl who
is a member of Deal Tri Squad and Dover Lifeguard Club is
celebrating after achieving her ambition of swimming the English
Channel.

Abby Taylor-Baptie completed the
swim just nine days after becoming 16, which is the minimum age for
those who want to make solo swims. She is likely to be the youngest
successful Channel swimmer this year.

She set off from Shakespeare Beach
at Dover late on Tuesday night, September 28, and arrived on the
French coast 15 hours 43 minutes later. But it was far from plain
sailing. After about 12 hours she didn’t appear to be making any
progress and thought she was going around in circles.

An appeal was made via the internet
for her friends to send messages of support and encouragement via
e-mail and text and these were relayed to her in the water. She
persevered and finally reached her goal.

Many of her friends and family were waiting on the quayside
with balloons and flowers for her when she returned to Dover.

Abby, who is a pupil at Barton
Court Grammar School in Canterbury, lives at Woolage between Dover
and Canterbury and is a member of the City of Canterbury Swimming
Club as well as Deal Tri and Dover Lifeguards. She took part
in a relay Channel swim two years ago and has been training for her
solo swim since then.

She was raising money for Demelza House children's hospice.

To support Abby's fundraising effort go to www.justgiving.com/Abby-Taylor---Baptie