Pub talk leads strangers to row across English Channel (From Enfield Independent)

Pub talk leads strangers to row across English Channel for charity

3:22pm Tuesday 14th August 2012 in News By Hermione Wright

Four friends who met in a pub will row across the English Channel this Autumn to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

Kieran Lynch, who lives in St Johns Terrace in Clay Hill, will take on the challenge with fellow Londoners Jim O’Malley, George Adams and Liam Ronan to raise cash for Cancer Research UK and the Douglas Macmillan Hospice.

Graphic designer Mr Lynch was drinking with his work colleague Mr O’Malley in a Holburn pub a year ago when they got talking to the other two men.

Although none of the men had ever rowed before, they decided to take on the 350-mile journey to France to raise cash for a good cause.

Mr Lynch, 35, said: “We were having a drink and talked about it, it was really just a case of adults being childish but we thought it would be a good challenge.

“Because we all enjoy it and it is totally different to what we are all used to, I think we will all continue with it.

"We have got a really good team bond and that is what is going to help us finish it.”

The team have already raised more than £1,000 through donations and a charity pub quiz but are aiming to hit the £4,000 mark.

The father-of-one said Great Britain’s success in the Olympics has given the group a “second wind” and they have been “spurred on” to raise as much cash as possible for the charities.

The newly-found friends learnt how to row at Lea Rowing Club in Hackney, where they continue to train every Sunday.

They also practise on the canal in Clapton and on the sea in Shoreham, near Brighton, to get ready for their challenge.  

Mr Lynch, who aims to reach France within six hours, added: “There isn’t any real worry about the challenge because we are all dedicated – we are not the greatest rowers but we have got the drive to do it.

“I suppose my biggest worry is getting lost at sea!”

Although the date is yet to be confirmed, the men are gearing up to row across the channel at the end of September or the beginning of October.

The group are still searching for an experienced cox to help coordinate them on their charity mission to France.