Two men are defying the Bermudian stereotype by swimming in the frigidly cold waters of the English Channel.

John Tomlinson and Jeff Conyers are preparing for the charity relay swim with two other team-mates — former Bermuda resident Peter Weedon and British open-water swimmer Chris Pitman. Sitting in tanks of icy water and going for swims in the open ocean will be standard practice in the run-up to the swim, which takes place in July.

The team is called All in Your Mind and each team member will spend one hour in the water followed by three hours in a safety boat. They will have to swim ten kilometres each in open water that is expected to be no warmer than 60F. What’s more, no wetsuits can be worn.

They will start in Dover, on the south-east coast of England, and end up “somewhere in France” depending on the conditions. Money raised from the challenge will go towards the prevention of child sex abuse and to support the charity Scars (Saving Children And Revealing Secrets), and KatKids, which supports fundraising activities in Nepal as well as the Adara Group and YouthNet.

The channel swim was the brainchild of Mr Tomlinson, who was one of a team of seven that swam 13km across open water from North Rock to Fort St Catherine in 2013 to raise money for the son of murder victim Haile Outerbridge.

“One of the people I swim with every morning had done the channel before and it raised the accessibility of doing it,” Mr Tomlinson told The Royal Gazette. “You have to hire the safety boat a year in advance, so I hired the boat thinking I would have a strong contingent to join me. All without exception gave me an immediate ‘no’.”

Mr Conyers, after a hearty laugh, said: “He vastly overestimated the enthusiasm of Bermudians for cold water.”

However, Mr Tomlinson approached Mr Conyers, who, “in a moment of weakness”, said yes and he soon managed to get the other two team members on board. Both men have completed the Round the Sound 10km swim and are looking forward to a new challenge.

It is to be expected that a portion of the swim will be done during the night. Mr Tomlinson added: “The English Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with approximately 600 vessels moving up and down them every day, plus the ferries, sea cats and jetfoils crossing between England and France at very regular intervals.”

The shortest distance across the Channel is from Shakespeare Beach, Dover, to Cap Gris Nez, France, at approximately 21 land miles, but challenging tides and currents could add an extra seven miles to the journey.

“Aside from the danger of being run over by other boats, the water is cold, dark and home to numerous large, stinging jellyfish,” Mr Tomlinson said. “Mental attitude is critical to a successful crossing, hence the name of the team All in Your Mind. Our aim is just to finish it; old-timers like us aren’t going to be breaking any records.”

Mr Conyers added: “We would like to do it within 12 to 14 hours, but there are so many variables. You can set a goal but it’s not realistic because anything can happen — a steamer could go by and you would have to wait for it to pass.”

Asked about their charities of choice, Mr Tomlinson said: “Children should be protected and looked after. I’ve been to Nepal, my son is going to Nepal — I was always committed to it as an interesting place. I chose KatKids before the earthquake, but now it is very topical as well.”

Mr Tomlinson said he hoped that by doing the swim, others would be encouraged and inspired.

“The problem here is acclimatisation,” he said.

“When you hit that cold water, it really does take it out of you. We want to encourage others to do it in the future and show it is accessible. I remember seeing these guys swim across the Channel when I was younger and thinking that it’s amazing, but now I realise I can be a part of it and other Bermudians can, too.”

• Anyone wishing to support All in Your Mind can do so via www.premierticketsglobal.com by clicking on “Events” and selecting the English Channel swim event in the listings.