After seven and half hours in the water Simon Scott was able to celebrate swimming the length of Lake Coniston - without a wetsuit.
Simon, who lives in Maughold, was one of 605 people who took part in Chillswim Coniston, a swim that covers the full 5.25 miles length of Coniston Water in the Lake District. He decided to take the plunge after a close friend was diagnosed with cancer and wanted to do something to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
During the event the swimmers are supported by canoeists and safety boats in the water and there were four boat-based feed stations along the route that handed out water, sports drinks and jelly babies to the swimmers. And when the swimmers finished there were support swimmers inside the water to help them find their "land legs" after being in the water so long.
Simon, 43, who was the last one to finish, said: "I have never been so pleased to come in last place. My good friend and neighbour Neil Hartley was diagnosed with Cancer and is currently undergoing treatment and it meant a great deal to me that he and his wonderful family were there to cheer for me on the day. Neil works for Barclays on the Island and his wife, Jayne, who works for PDMS as well as my own friends and colleagues have been very supportive and so far I have raised nearly ?2000, so there was no way that I wasn’t going to finish.
“I have never done anything like this before and until earlier this year hadn’t really done much swimming since I left school. I have been given a lot of encouragement and have been training at the NSC, the Northern Swimming Pool in Ramsey and been taking the plunge into Laxey Bay, which is very much colder than Coniston.
“When we set off at 8.30am it was beautiful, the water was very calm and still. The setting and the scenery were incredible and the first mile went very smoothly. But half way through the wind picked up and it felt like I was being pushed backwards, it was incredibly hard work.
"I may have come last but there were only 38 people who took part who didn’t wear a wetsuit and I was in the water for the longest time so I suppose I did win, “The longest time in the water without a wetsuit prize.”
Simon is raising money through the JustGiving website - once a donation has been
made it is sent directly to the charity. To make a donation please visit https://www.justgiving.com/Simon-Scott15.
Photo - Simon Scott.
