Meet Poppy, the water-loving black lab who helped her owner raise hundreds of pounds for charity by participating in sponsored swims.
Poppy, five, and her human Bryan Avery, 54, recently completed their third charity swim together.
She is so adept in the water that she has even passed an Olympic swimmer.
Bryan said, “We’ve had Poppy since she was a puppy. As a family we absolutely love her, she is my best friend and I am very proud of her.
‘I used to sit with her mother Berta and the owners said that if she ever had a bitch with the same temperament, I would like her. Of course I said yes, and now I have this best friend to swim with.
“She used to be really afraid of the water, but when she was a year old we went for a walk and she saw another Labrador jumping in. I’m an ultramarathon swimmer so I thought I’d see what she was like in the water with me.
“We just started with 100/200m distances and she was able to keep up with me, which was so impressive. Now I can’t keep her out of there!
“Everyone loves it so much when Poppy’s swimming time is, so much so that they chant her name. Unfortunately that means she could get off course towards them and I’ll have to send her back.
‘Poppy is absolutely desperate to get in; she starts barking until I let her go and then rushes in like a bull and she’s gone. Normally people don’t realize she’s going swimming, but she makes an entrance.’
Their last charity swim was at the Henley Swim Festival to raise money for SwimTayka, founded by Bryan and whose mascot is Poppy.
The organization helps run programs around the world that teach children to swim, in an effort to combat the alarming annual statistic of 360,000 global drowning deaths.
Bryan said: ‘Poppy did a great job, she managed to complete the race in just 33 minutes and even managed to pass Olympic swimmer Catherine Patterson! She got a lot of praise, everyone attacked her, called her and called her name.
“When she finished, the first thing she did was run because she wouldn’t do it in the water, and then she ran around everyone in the crowd.
“When she had calmed down a bit, we came home, and it all dawned on her, so she slept for the rest of the day. A great sleep with all the sounds and twitching.
‘I’m really so proud of her. This is Poppy’s third time participating and we are grateful to the Henley Swim Festival organizers for letting her in.”
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