A Stoneleigh man has become only the 86th person in history to swim around the island of Jersey. Endurance athlete Mick Helps completed the gruelling 41 mile swim, in 11 hours and 20 minutes on August 11.

Far fewer people have swum around Jersey than have swum the English Channel - something he had already notched-up . The solo swim is particularly dangerous due to changeable weather conditions, strong tides and jagged rocks that pose a hazard to both the swimmer and their support boats.

Just to be allowed to do the swim he had to complete a six hour swim in cold water earlier this year. Mr Helps said: "I am so pleasured to have the opportunity to do this swim. I was confident I could take it on, whatever the conditions thrown at me, but quite rightly there are safeguards in place and with my two lads on the support boat it wouldn’t have been right to take too many risks."

Mr Helps’ crew included his sons, William and Matthew, and the rest of his family who offered moral support, cheering him on from dry land.

Mr Helps has previously completed a range of endurance trials including swimming the length of Lake Zurich in Switzerland and two lengths of Lake Windermere, all in an effort to raise funds and awareness of Prostate Cancer UK. His most recent swim was dedicated to his father-in-law, James Pyle, who passed away from the illness last year.

For more information about this event and Mick’s other challenges visit www.thehelps.co.uk