Local marathon swimmer sets sights on English Channel

Kristin Roe, whose family has a cottage at Augustine Cove, is busy preparing for the biggest challenge of her life. In July, Roe will attempt a solo crossing of the English Channel to raise $100,000 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Nova Scotia Gambia Association.

"The work of both the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Nova Scotia-Gambia Association is tremendously inspiring and both are making a genuine difference in tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa," says Roe, now a Halifax resident. "It's why I'm deeply and passionately involved with both organizations and the reason that I'm training everyday to prepare for the biggest challenge of my life."

Roe, a graduate student with St. Francis Xavier University's Coady International Institute and an employee of the IWK Health Centre, is well prepared to take on the English Channel. In July 2008, she swam the treacherous Northumberland Strait twice - a distance of over 30 kilometres. She successfully used her swim to raise $80,000 to support the Stephen Lewis Foundation and Farmers Helping Farmers.

Stephen Lewis is incredibly supportive of Roe's efforts. "Many people take up the banner against a disease once or twice. Many do it in inventive ways," says Lewis. "But Kristin takes the banner from one extraordinary and imaginative challenge to the next, never pausing in her quest to bring justice to Africa."

Roe's attempt to cross the English Channel this summer will be her most grueling physical challenge to date. Considered to be the Mount Everest of marathon swimming, the Channel presents swimmers with numerous challenges including cold water temperatures, strong currents and unpredictable weather in a major European shipping lane. Roe is currently training for her English Channel qualifying swim, which will see her once again tackle a six-hour continuous swim across the Northumberland Strait in June.

To learn more about Kristin's Channeling Hope campaign and the charities she is supporting, or to make a tax refundable donation, visit: www.channelinghope.com .