Celebrated former Australian paralympian, Gerrard Gosens OAM, is striving to be the first totally blind man to swim the English Channel, and in recent training swam 20km along the Noosa coastline.
Gerrard has pledged to do the Channel swim, which is 34km from Dover, UK to Calais, France in 2024 to raise $340,000 for a charity, the Great Dreams program, which is a division of the GRT Foundation.
He will be battling strong currents, freezing waters and jellyfish, while wearing only bathers, goggles, and a swimming cap.
Remarkably, more people have scaled Mount Everest than swum across the English Channel.
The Great Dream program supports young people aged 10-18, with financial assistance and mentorship, to achieve their dreams.
Great Dreams co-founder and director Eliza Vassallo said it’s not every day someone offers to raise a lot of money for a charity close to your heart.
“Gerrard is the perfect person to be aligned with the Great Dreams program, as he not only demonstrates all the values of the Great Dreams program, but he exceeds everyone’s expectations in his constant strive for achievement and his total openness to new opportunities and adventure,” Eliza said.
“Despite Gerrard’s complete lack of sight, he has achieved a monumental amount of greatness in his life, and he is not stopping anytime soon.
“We are beyond grateful to Gerrard and his amazing team for choosing to support our charity in the English Channel swim in August 2024.”
Gerrard said the swim in Noosa was an example of the extraordinary teamwork that is necessary to complete any major accomplishment for a person who has absolutely no sight and for which trust is the basis of success.
“We all experienced what can only be described as a collective joy which only comes from working closely together to achieve a long-term goal,” he said.
“The swim was fantastic. The conditions however, were very challenging with two storms passing us by, heavy rains, wind squalls, and a very choppy ocean.”
He said it was the perfect training session; preparing the group for tougher times to come.
“The more that Mother Nature throws at us during these particular swim training events, the more prepared we become for what could lie ahead, next year during our final swim event,” Gerrard said.
“The Noosa event allowed us to trial some equipment we needed to test and the relay strategies my swim guides took as they steered me in the right direction over the 20km course which took approximately eight hours to complete.
“Each of my six swim guides used their different and individual strengths to navigate the challenging ocean conditions, and it was an important accomplishment in our preparation to swim the English Channel in August next year.
“I felt fully supported and safe as I navigated through this challenging training session. That is why the swim was fantastic.”
The inspiration for the challenge came after Gerrard retired from international sport last year after representing Australia in the triathlon at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“I had a function to thank my family, friends, and supporters for their help over the many years of representing Australia at three Paralympic Games, multiple World Championships, and the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“I was told during the function that the English Channel had never been swum by a totally blind person. I decided it would be a great opportunity to represent Australia and aim to swim across the English Channel. However, I believe it’s important to give to the community while my ego self reaches for the extraordinary goal’s I know I will go for. I wanted someone else to benefit from my efforts too.”
He was already mentoring young Joshua Woods who is a talented golfer and who happens to be vision impaired.
“Therefore, I already had a deep understanding and connection with Great Dreams. So, after much reflection, I decided to see if I could help this fundraising foundation as much as possible through my journey towards swimming the English Channel,” Gerrard said.
The Great Dreams program was set up by Eliza and her husband Glenn Vassallo, to support young people in pursuit of their dreams.
“The program offers scholarships to young people who have specific extracurricular goals for their future, along with demonstrating the motivation, discipline, and commitment to making their dreams into a future reality,” Eliza said.
“We work very closely with these young people, pairing them with willing mentors, who can help them to keep on track toward achieving their goals, whilst also offering them industry insights and connections along the way.
“This year, we successfully supported six wonderful scholarship recipients, who have all continued to flourish in their chosen field. Applications for a 2024 intake are now open.”
Gerrard’s progress towards the Channel swim next year is being filmed by filmmaker Anthony Gordon.
Apply online for the Great Dreams 2024 scholarships at greatdreams.com.au
To support Gerrard on his journey visit greatdreams.com.au/channelling-the-great-dream
