East Preston man’s epic swim bid thwarted by tide

Steve White – who is better known as the Swimming Gardener – had hoped to tackle a 15-mile swim down the River Arun, from Greatham Bridge, near Pulborough, to Littlehampton harbour, with friend Keith Mulholland, from Hertfordshire.

However, chilly waters and challenging currents proved too much for the duo, who had to call off their exhausting charity event, after a gruelling five-hours.

For father-of-two Steve, it was a bittersweet end to the day, as he was little more than two miles from his goal.

“We managed to get just under 13 miles before the current at Littlehampton started to turn, so for safety’s sake we had to end at Ford.

“Generally, the swim for both of us was without incident, although about an hour into it Keith was nearly taken out by a swan taking off, which narrowly missed him.

“We averaged 2.7 mph and reached Ford at 3.25pm, just 20 minutes too late to push on to Littlehampton, as we would have met the incoming tide,” Steve said.

They managed to raise almost £800, which will be split between their respective charities, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust (CFT) and The Piers Simon Appeal.

Steve added he would like to tackle the challenge again and admitted that the blustery weather had slowed him.

This was his fifth event in his Eight Swims of Hell for the CFT, which will eventually culminate in a 10Km open-water race through the Hudson River, in New York, later this year.