Kent mum prepares for sea forts swim challenge

The decommissioned forts are eight miles from the shore

A mother of two is aiming to become the first woman to swim to shore from decommissioned sea forts off the Kent coast.

Rebekah Kefford, from Birchington, plans to take on the eight mile (12.8km) challenge from the Red Sands forts in August.

She is raising money for Aspire, a charity which supports people who have been paralysed by spinal cord injury, and says she is hoping to complete the swim in about six hours.

Although she has previously done a relay across the English Channel in a team of five, this would be her longest cold water swim.

Rebekah Kefford says she feels she needs to push herself

"If I was in my 20s, I'd be like 'you're kidding, I'm not doing that'," 53-year-old Mrs Kefford said.

"As I've got older, I found that I want to push myself a little bit more."

The 60ft (18m) forts towers were part of the Maunsell Forts, built to defend the country from air raids during World War Two.

In August 2024, Whitstable resident Dan Brown became the first person to swim from the forts to the Kent coast, in a time of five hours and six minutes, according to Aspire .

Project Redsands, a preservation group hoping to restore the towers, said it was proud to support Mrs Kefford in her swim.

She was on the boat when Mr Brown completed his swim, and describes the 60ft (18m) forts as "like something out of War of the Worlds".

'Nerve wracking'

"The charity means a lot to me, because if I can make a difference to some people's lives, and I've met these people, then great," Mrs Kefford said.

"It is nerve wracking, but I just want to do it."

Mrs Kefford, who will be accompanied by a boat, said she will follow strict Channel-swim rules with no wetsuit, no neoprene, no flotation devices, no touching the boat.

She hopes to land on a beach in Whitstable or Herne Bay depending on the tides.

Mrs Kefford is hoping to complete the swim in about six hours

Paul Parrish, Aspire's director of fundraising and marketing, said he was "in awe" of Mrs Kefford.

"It takes nerves of steel to jump off a vessel in the middle of the sea knowing you have to swim the many miles to shore.

"The sea becomes one of the loneliest places in the world and only a very special person can deal with that."