Madi Armstrong Swims the English Channel in Honour of Her Dad

Madi first set up her fundraiser back in March 2025, while her dad was still fighting stage 4 cancer. She wrote then that his optimism and composure never wavered, and that watching him navigate the disease was what made her understand just how critical cancer research really is. The plan was for him to be there in the boat beside her when she finally took on the Channel. 

In August 2025, Steve passed away. Madi kept going. 

"We planned and talked about doing this together, him right there in the boat beside me," she later wrote. "But I know he will still be right there with me, every stroke of the way." 

Before the swim, Madi shared what it meant to her: 

"It's so much more than just another ultramarathon. I am swimming for a cure for cancer. There's so many people who have their own cancer story, whether it is a parent or a sibling or a friend. I'm swimming for all of us. If we can find a way to fund more research, more breakthroughs, more clinical trials, then other girls' dads might have a chance. Other people's siblings, friends, whoever it is, might have a better chance than my dad did." 

Once she'd reached France, Madi reflected on what the swim took out of her, and what it meant: 

"Honestly, it was the toughest swim I have ever done," Madi said. "There truly is nothing comparable to the challenge of the English Channel. The chop, the currents, the tide, the darkness, I really had to dig deep. But in those moments I thought about why I was there. I was swimming for something so much bigger than myself, for Dad, and for every family that has been affected by cancer.

"Dad's plan and mine was always that he'd be there on the boat beside me, and there were so many moments out there where I wished I could look up and see him," she said. "I wish more than anything that Dad could have been there to see me touch France, but I know he was there in his own way." 

"I'm so proud to be able to say that I have swum from England to France, but I'm even more proud of what this swim represents," Madi said. "Dad's story is the reason I care so deeply about cancer research, and if this can help give another family more time together, then it means everything." 

This isn't Madi's only fundraiser for Cure Cancer. Earlier this year, she led a Swim for a CURE community event at Palm Beach Parklands with JAYD Swimwear, raising over $51,000 for cancer research. She's also put together a documentary telling her and Steve's story, following his cancer journey, the role he played in her swimming career, and how she's now channelling that loss into something that can help other families. 

Madi is no stranger to pushing her limits in open water. She's represented Australia at FINA Marathon Swim World Series events and holds podium finishes in some of the toughest ultra marathon swims in the world, including the 32km Traversée du Lac St-Jean in Canada, the 36km Capri to Napoli Marathon in Italy, and the 57km Santa Fe Coronda in Argentina. But of everything she's taken on, this swim carried a different kind of weight. 

Every dollar raised through Madi's Channel swim goes directly to Cure Cancer, helping fund the emerging researchers whose bold, early ideas rarely get backed anywhere else, the same kind of research that could mean more time, or a better outcome, for the next family facing a diagnosis like Steve's. 

Madi is still just over halfway to her $25,000 goal, having raised over $15,000 from 139 donors so far. If her swim moved you, even a small donation helps her close that gap and turns nine and a half hours in cold, open water into real support for cancer research. 

Because that's what a leap of imagination looks like: one determined swimmer, one incredible distance, and a whole community of people asking the same question. What if we cure cancer?