Triathlon for Daisy

A teacher and two pupils at Swaffham's Sacred Heath Convent School have raised £600 for charity in memory of a schoolgirl who died after collapsing in a swimming pool.

Clair Foster, head of PE at the school, joined Serena Smith (14) and Rachel Mumford (12) in doing a sponsored junior triathlon in September on Rachel's parents' farm at Gooderstone.

And this week they sent off £300 cheques to the Children of St Mary's Intensive Care (COSMIC) and Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) charities because of the help 11-year-old Daisy Stonach received at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington.

Sporle girl Daisy suffered a heart attack during a swimming lesson at the Swaffham school in July 2006. She was treated at the London hospital's paediatric intensive care unit, where she died four days later.

Miss Foster said: "I was teaching the lesson when Daisy's heart failed and it's a very personal thing to me. CRY is trying to raise awareness of these undiagnosed heart conditions because eight young people a week died from them.

"Daisy was one of Serena's best friends and she and Rachel wanted to raise money for the two charities in memory of her. They are both keen athletes and Rachel is the independent schools' cross-country champion."

They intended to do a five-kilometre run – but decided that was not challenging enough and instead went for the triathlon, involving cycling ten kilometres, running two-and-a-half kilometres and swimming 375 metres.

It took them just under an hour to complete the triathlon, even though they had not done any specialist training.