There was heartache for Maltese athlete Nicky Farrugia early today when he had to be pulled out of the English Channel within a mile of completing his swim between Dover and Calais.

The decision was taken for safety reasons.

Nicky, who has swam the Channel before, is attempting to break the Enduroman Arch to Arc world record by running, swimming and cycling between Marble Arch in London and the Arch de Triomphe in Paris in under 81 hours, five minutes.

He completed his run from Marble Arch to Dover, a distance of 140km, in 21hrs, 28mins and 23sec. He had seven hours of rest before he started the swim from Shakespeare Beach in Dover at 9.19 a.m. (UK time).

Half way through the swim Nicky fell sick and was feeling cold but picked up pace soon after. At 10.30pm (UK time) the decision was taken to take Nicky out of the water for safety reasons.

Nicky was only a mile away from the French coast.

"Nicky is determined to continue the event and he should start cycling within the next few hours," a member of his supporting team said.

Eddie Ette, one of the Enduroman officials, told the team that if Nicky finished the last cycle stage he would still be recognised as an Enduroman, but with a note that he had to stop swimming during the last mile for safety reasons.

However, if Nicky finishes the event before the current record, this will not be recognised.

He is expected to cover the distance of 290km from Calais to Paris in approximately 15 hours.

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

Nicky is raising funds for Dar Ta-l Providenza and Inspire (Eden & Razzett Foundation).

The public can support the World Record Attempt via: Donation Account Number : HSBC 068-079821-050