Northumberland woman swimming to the end of the Earth to protect Antarctica

The Craster woman is joining an intrepid team of marine conservationists from around the globe in the icy waters of the Antarctic.

They are accompanying world-renowned extreme swimmer Ger Kennedy on an awareness-raising expedition to campaign for greater protection of its precious seas and marine species in support of fellow swimmer Lewis Pugh’s ongoing efforts.

Jane, a volunteer and assistant area coordinator for UK charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), has volunteered to be a part of this inspirational team, and has been undertaking intensive training to prepare for the epic effort since November.

Amazingly, Jane only learned to swim 12 years ago at the age of 41, when she started swimming lessons while her son was also learning and has been making up for lost time ever since.

“I’m not the best swimmer in the world, but I do have determination and stamina” she said.

“When I saw that the campaign was looking for swimmers to take part in an expedition to swim in Antarctica I knew this would be a lifetime experience and I simply had to go for it.

“I’ve watched all the David Attenborough programmes and to me the Antarctic is like the last frontier, real wilderness where man hasn’t taken over.”

The expedition, Antarctica 2020, will be taking place in mid-February, and aims to create worldwide awareness of the incredibly special place the region is for marine habitats and wildlife, with the ultimate goal of creating two new internationally-recognised Marine Protected Areas in its inshore seas.

The event also celebrates endurance swimmer Lynne Cox’s pioneering swim in the same region in 2002 as well as being the 200th anniversary of Antarctica’s original discovery.

Jane’s training regime has been to do a cold water sea swim virtually every day, gradually building up distances and improving times while enduring water temperatures as low as 4 degrees Celsius near her home without a wet or drysuit.

This is to help her prepare for swimming in the almost freezing sea that she and the rest of the team will face when they reach Antarctica.

“The trip stands for everything I believe in.” Jane added.

“It’s an opportunity to highlight what we are doing to the planet and I’d like to educate and ultimately help protect the area.

“I love everything to do with the ocean, I clear my local beach of litter every day when I walk the dog, and I volunteer for BDMLR rescuing marine mammals along this stretch of coast too, and I’ve seen seals entangled and suffering horrific injuries due to pollution, so it only makes sense that I fund-raise for BDMLR alongside this series of swims too.”

Jane travels to Ushuaia on February 13, with the ship setting sail on February 17.

A series of swims then take place over the following 12 days within the Antarctic Circle across a variety of locations.

Jane is an avid supporter of the Discover our Land campaign, led by Northumberland County Council. The campaign is raising the profile of Northumberland as a great place to live, work, visit and invest.

Coun Cath Homer, cabinet member for culture, arts, leisure and tourism at the council, said: “We are supporting Jane every step of the way on this incredibly challenging and worthy expedition and wish her the best of luck in her endeavours.”

Anyone who would like to donate can visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jane-hardy13?utm_id=25

To find out more visit www.antarctica2020swim.com