Nicky Farrugia starting Channel swim

Athlete Nicky Farrugia is about to dive into the English Channel on the second phase of his triathlon record-breaking attempt from Marble Arch in London to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

He is attempting to break the Enduroman Arch to Arch world record by running, swimming and cycling between the two arches in under 81 hours, five minutes.

He completed his run from Marble Arch to Dover, a distance of 140km, in 21hrs, 28mins and 23sec last night. That left him some seven hours of rest before he was due to start his swim from Shakespeare Beach in Dover at 9.30 a.m.

Steve Haywood, one of the organisers of the Enduroman event praised the athlete

"This was a fantastic effort and he showed real guts to pull himself out of several low points during the run. He finished very strong and didn't seem phased at all about his epic swim in a few hours time."

The weather is cloudy and slightly windy. Nicky is expected to swim the distance of 33km across the Channel in approximately 15 hours.

After the swim he will rest for a few hours before he cycles for another 15 hours to cover the 290km distance from Calais to Paris.

The current record of 81hours 5 minutes was set by Eddie Ette on July 30, 2001 (Run - 20hrs 34 mins, rest, Swim - 17 hrs 30 mins, rest, Cycle - 18hrs 48 mins)

The gruelling test, which has long been Nicky's personal ambition, is also being used to raise funds for Dar Tal-Providenza and Inspire (Eden and Razzett Foundation).

This is the second time that Nicky Farrugia is swimming the Channel, having done so the first time in 1989, swimming from France to England, a year after swimming for the first time between Sicily and Malta.

Nicky Farrugia holds a number of local swimming and triathlon records and has taken part in a large number of international competitions.