Ex-Gloucestershire lifeguard to swim River Avon for charity

A former lifeguard is aiming to swim 47.1 miles of the River Avon in 20 hours for Cancer Research UK.

Craig Openshaw, from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, will train in the river in April, due to Covid regulations at swimming pools.

His challenge, which he has named Swim the Avon, will begin on 17 July and has already raised £1,640.

Mr Openshaw said: "I wanted to do something that was going to push me right to the edge.

"I've lost a couple of colleagues through cancer and a family member is recovering from breast cancer at the moment. It affects so many people," the 41-year-old added.

Mr Openshaw described the challenge - which works out as more than twice the length of the English Channel - as "uncharted territory" and is hoping if he completes it in 20 hours it will become a world first.

He said: "I've brought up twins and that was the biggest challenge I've ever faced in my whole entire existence, if I'm honest.

"I wanted to do something that had never been done before, something that was going to push me right to the edge and probably beyond and have potential to fail."

The swim will take him from Alveston above Stratford-upon-Avon to Tewkesbury.

Mr Openshaw added: "It's horrible swimming in a river. It's really cold and then you put your head down in the water... you can't see anything. It's like swimming blindfolded."

He is hoping to raise £100 per mile, resulting in £4,700 for Cancer Research UK.

"If I get in the water on the 5 April and it's too cold and I don't fancy it, I can't go back. There's a lot of people expecting me to do this and relying on me to do this and that's going to make it easier for me to get out there and do the training."

Mr Openshaw's support team, which will help him through training and on the day, is made up of close friends, including Rob Stringer, who lost his father to cancer last Christmas after an eight-week diagnosis.

The 42-year-old said: "Craig said to me the other day, 'the last mile mate, when we get there at 46, 47 miles, I'll swim it for your dad.' I can't tell you what that means to me."

The swim will be held on the anniversary of the death of Mr Stringer's wife's stepmother, following a 15-year battle with cancer.

Mr Stringer added: "It's a big worry that it's one of my best mates out there and we have to get him from A to B.

"All four of us think he's A bonkers, and B he's the right man for it."