THREE 12-year-old girls from Farnham have completed a mammoth swim challenge in support of local charity robbiesrally.

School friends, Eloise Brown, Isabella Canenti and Sophie Regan, year seven pupils at Edgeborough School, swam the equivalent distance of the English Channel from Dover to Calais between them.

Equalling a whopping 35km – 11.8km each, nearly two kilometres more than a standard swim marathon.

Although they did this in the relative calm of Farnham Leisure Centre pool rather than the choppy waters of La Manche, it was a gruelling challenge but the plucky girls completed the swim in just over six hours.

They took on the challenge in memory of their school friend Robbie Keville, who passed away last year from a brain tumour and to raise money for robbiesrally, the charity set up by Robbie’s family to help children with brain tumours.

“It was an ambitious challenge and the girls set themselves an equally ambitious fundraising target of £3,000, They have already smashed that target raising more than £6,000 to date, with donations still coming in,” said Kate Canenti.

“The girls have been completely blown away by the generous support of friends, family and the wider community for their challenge. It most definitely helped them through the tougher moments of the swim.

“The girls were also delighted that so many school friends, teachers, friends and family were able to join them poolside and cheer them on.”