When John Mitchell, YuDiving dive centre owner in Manchester UK, asked his team if they were up for a Finathon challenge to help raise funds for sharks, they unanimously said yes. They had a moment of hesitation though when he announced that they would have to swim the English Channel. Well, the distance of the English Channel in the pool to be more precise.

The date was set for July 4th at the Manchester Aquatics Centre. Making the most of the two hour slot they had in this FINtastic swimming facility, the enthusiastic team jumped in the pool with one goal: swim as far as they could to ensure that the distance swam by each individual swimmers would add up to or exceed the distance of the English Channel.

With their best fins on and motivated by their passion for sharks, the team swam a FINtastic 34 km: 1360 lengths of the pool!

"If you are lucky enough to be a scuba diver then you will appreciate how beautiful and fragile the underwater world is" says John Mitchell, YuDiving Dive Centre Owner. "YuDiving is determined to raise awareness of the plight of sharks and the ocean, and help encourage responsible diving".

To encourage all their friends and customers to participate, YuDiving generously offered a free try dive to non-divers and a free Project AWARE Specialty course for those raising £40 or more.

To date YuDiving fundraising efforts in support of shark conservation have raised a whopping £1,273 and the donation page is still open for more donations!

If like YuDiving you are FINatical about sharks, join the race to save them. Create your fundraising page and download the Finathon Action Kit for tips, tools and resources to help you get started with your Finathon challenge.