Rower Andrew Jones is lucky to be alive after a 124ft catamaran crashed into his old-fashioned wooden cutter boat on the river Thames.

Mr Jones, from Carshalton, was training for a 480-mile London-to-Paris charity rowing challenge, when a catamaran ferry chopped his boat in half leaving him swimming for his life near the London Eye.

The 51-year-old chartered architect, and six other crew members, were rescued by officers of a passing Metropolitan police launch who watched the accident unfold in September last year. An RNLI lifeboat was also launched and reached the scene in minutes.

But Mr Jones and the crew were not put off by the accident – they quickly got a new boat and resumed their gruelling training schedule.

Mr Jones, who runs his own business in Carshalton Beeches, said: “It was all over in three or four minutes but it was still pretty frightening.

“It hasn’t put me off rowing. One of the guys hurt his leg and he was out for a few months but the rest of us went straight back into it.”

The rowers, known as The Reivers12, even have the support of famous people including Sir Steve Redgrave, Roger Black and television presenter Andrew Castle.

The Reivers12 will race from Big Ben, along the River Thames, across the English Channel and up the Seine to the Eiffel tower.

They hope to raise £100,000 to be shared between CHASE hospice and charities for children with leukaemia.

Mr Jones, who has been training every weekend, said: “I'm looking forward to the event, it should be fun.”

The 2010 London 2 Paris Rowing Challenge will start on Sunday, May 9 and should finish on Saturday, May 15. To make a donation, visit reivers12.co.uk and follow the links.

Port of London Authority is now carrying out an investigation into the incident.