Mark Ransom, 38, who swam competitively as a teenager, finished his 26-mile fund-raising challenge in 12 hours and 23 mins on July 14, beating his target time of 14 hours.

Along the way, he raised at least £1,000 for East Anglia's Children's Hospices, although he says the final total will not be known until all his sponsorship forms have been collected.

Mark, of Oakes Road, Bury St Edmunds, had to wait two weeks to finally undertake the challenge after the swim – originally scheduled for June 21 – was put off because of bad weather.

"It did get quite rough on the way," he said.

"It got to the point where, if it had been that rough to start with, they wouldn't have let it go ahead.

"I was really pleased with my time. When I got there, there was a group of people taking photos

"You only get five minutes on French soil before you have to return, but somehow one lady managed to track me down and send me her photographs."

And Mark, who underwent hypnotherapy before the swim to overcome a phobia of sharks, said he would not rule out taking on a similar challenge in the future.

"I enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to. I thought it was going to be a real task, but I can't imagine not doing something like that again," he said.

To support Mark's fund-raising efforts, he can be sponsored online at www.justgiving.com/ markransomswim

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