We’ve been following open water swimmer and ANZA member Callum Eade’s progress since he conquered the English Channel in 2019. A remarkable swim that raised $175,000 for children’s brain cancer research.
Since then, he’s set his sights on raising a further $300,000 to support the advancement of lung cancer research in a triple crossing of the channel. “That means we start in England, swim to France, back to the UK, and then finally back to France,” says Callum. “The swim will be over 100km, and if I can complete it, I’ll set a world record as the oldest ever person to complete the triple crossing.”
Callum’s wife Sarah Eade is facing a health challenge as she supports Callum’s epic swim. “I am a cancer survivor myself. I was diagnosed with testicular cancer 10 years ago,” says Callum. “Sadly, my wife Sarah was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer four months ago. We are in the midst of a treatment plan for her right now. A battle we are determined to win. She’s doing okay. One day at a time. We are incredibly thankful to be in Singapore. The level of expertise here is second to none.”
COVID-19 also presented Callum with a series of obstacles and set-backs in his swimming preparation. “Lock down was a nightmare,” says Callum. “That said, Singapore’s focus on managing the situation domestically has seen life resume to relative normality.”
Training for the swim is now a round-the-clock affair, with Callum spending many hours churning up and down the lanes. “Training is practically a full time job! I swim 7 times a week over 6 days, with 3 dry-land gym sessions and a weekly sports massage. This equates to around 18-20 hours a week. I have recruited a key team that’s helping with my preparation. This includes swimming coaching from Marsden Swim School, as well as the brilliant team from UFIT. They provide diet, physiology and personal training.”
Plans to conquer seven iconic channel swims around the world were also sidelined during the pandemic. “COVID-19 has created obvious challenges, we were scheduled to be halfway through the Oceans 7 swims by now. Like so many things globally, that all went on hold, but the path to the triple is firmly on track and currently scheduled for October.”
Callum’s goals for this year are “first to ensure we continue to win the battle to keep Sarah healthy and second to that is to get to Dover in October. We also want to work to increase public awareness of the importance of early cancer detection. Lung cancer or cancer in general does not discriminate. My wife is a fit and healthy, non-smoking active woman, lung cancer doesn’t have any obvious symptoms until it has spread, please make sure you and your loved ones get regular health checks!”
Look out for Callum and Sarah with their son Charlie on the ANZA Soccer pitch. “Charlie is an ANZA Soccer fanatic,” says Callum. “He goes twice a week and if he had a say in it, he would be there every day!”
Support Sarah and Callum’s Cause:
“We would love your support. Please feel free to donate even the smallest amount to channelingacause.com. We are targeting $300k in the build up to the triple. Keep an eye out for many fundraising initiatives along the way… hopefully things will open up so we can have a large charity evening.”
