When I received the email saying I had won a place for the Henley Mile I was in Ibiza on a yoga/fitness retreat (with alcohol) and was in bed having decided that I was going to have a lie in and do nothing energetic before breakfast.

I was so excited as I just don’t win things like this. My excitement and high lasted for about 3 days and then I realised what I had done. At this point the fear and uncertainty crept in – could I swim a mile in the River Thames; what about the cold; was I completely mad for agreeing to this?

Once I had got this out of my system and accepted that yes I am a bit crazy then determination began to set in and two voices in my head and heart helped me. One my mum – who passed away last year aged 93 years – was saying “if you don’t try you don’t know and will regret it and you can always achieve something if you want it badly enough”. Then the second voice was my friend, Sharon, who passed away 3 years ago from a rare form of cancer – her mantra in the last year of her life was “Never, never give up”.

So when I swim in July I will have two inspirational women with me – my mum in one ear and Sharon on the other. Hopefully I can then go in to inspire others and show other women “This Girl Can”.