21st April 2009 UK
'Took me about 50 lengths to settle into a steady stroke pattern and I completed the first 100 in little more than an hour; fortunately the pool was less busy than it might have been. Then it went into a bit of a blur until about 150 lengths, when fatigue started kicking in a bit, but I just kept plodding and focused on not letting my stroke go to pieces. With 100m to go, my left Big Toe and right Calf muscle decided to cramp up, so the final 4 lengths were something of a trial - its like having the brakes on when you can't point your toes.

Had a stretch and final warm-down of 100m, so actually completed 204 x lengths. My mum sat in the spectator stands and kept count for me.

So in total I completed 5,100 metres yesterday, or 5.1km, or 3,168 miles in the pool on behalf of The Kingfisher Trust, working in local communities & schools in the West African state of The Gambia. I've done a few sponsored events for them. From one effort, they managed to build an entire centre for the Blind, as I think I mentioned to you before. The money goes a LONG way out there.

This was me dipping my toe into the water of distance swimming and I've recently joined the British Long Distance Swimming Association. I hope to participate in an English Channel Relay swim in the future and depending on how that goes, possibly a solo attempt on the English Channel (a staggering 20 miles further than yesterday's swim, at sea). However, considering I only took up swimming 8 months ago, I'm fairly content with my progress to date.'