Mark Westaway with his trophies

Exmouth Swimming and Life Saving Society swimmer Mark Westaway recently broke a 48-year old British Long Distance Association record for swimming the seven-mile length of Ulswater breaststroke.

Westaway turned to long distance breaststroke events having completed freestyle events all over the country before successfully swimming the Channel in 2008.

Ulswater is the second longest lake in the Lake District and is one of the highest and coldest lakes; the temperature of around 13-degrees celsius proved a challenge for him as the lower stroke rate required to swim breaststroke did not enable him to maintain his body temperature as well as swimming freestyle would have done.

Westaway’s kayaker Kevin Brown called over the safety team a number of times during the swim to discuss his condition and the distance to the finish.

Once within sight of the finish having rounded the lake’s final bend Westaway dug in to beat the cold and complete the course in the new record time of 4:25:01, breaking the 48-year old record by a full six minutes and 15 seconds.

As well as winning the Men’s breaststroke championship trophy Westaway was also awarded the Taylor Trophy for endeavour to mark his feat of endurance and determination in completing the course.

For more information on swimming in Exmouth visit www.exmouthswimming.org