Southsea woman takes a dip a day in October to support Surfers Against Sewage

Chantelle Wyatt, from Southsea, decided to swim once a day throughout the month of October and take part in the Surfers Against Sewage campaign, raising awareness for ocean health.

Chantelle, who lives minutes away from the seafront, has made it her mission take a dip a day and been widely supported by friends who have taken it in turns to join her – or watch from the shore and throw her a towel post swim.

Chantelle said: ‘Living by the sea is glorious. I spend a huge amount of time roaming up and down the seafront, in and out of the water, all year round and it is a very special and important place to me.

‘I want to do everything I can to help preserve and protect it and that is why I am swimming. I am swimming because I want change,’ she added.

Chantelle hopes to bring more attention to the state of our seas and she, like many others, is calling for an end to sewage pollution to guarantee safe seas all year round and ensure the health and wellbeing of the public.

Her challenge comes after protestors from Stop the Sewage: Southsea, a group fighting for cleaner seas, gathered this month to put pressure on Southern Water dumping sewage into the Solent following a summer of discharges into Langstone Harbour.

Chantelle has been a scuba diving instructor for years and her enthusiasm to push for cleaner seas is motivated by a desire to continue having a safe environment to teach in.

The dip a day challenge, Chantelle stresses, is about engaging with wild swimming and taking a few minutes a day to connect with nature, benefitting not only physical health but also your mental wellbeing.

‘We are so lucky in Portsmouth because we have a lively and thriving community of people who love the sea as much as I do,’ she said.

‘Kayakers, kite surfers, paddle boarders, divers as well as swimmers all want the same thing. We have some very special advocates who work tirelessly to fight for us and as a team we get our message out and our voice heard.’