THREE brothers are taking on a world first challenge by swimming the entire 145km length of the River Eden.

It may have been the brainchild of former Eden man Calum Hudson, but the 25-year-old sales manager's siblings have jumped on board to tackle the Cumbrian waters together as a family.

Swimming in aid of Eden Rivers Trust, the trio have a target of £2,000 which they hope to surpass by the time they complete their watery10-day odyssey.

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The team is made up of Calum and brothers Robbie, 27, an artist now living in Berlin and Newcastle-based writer Jack, 23, all of whom are no strangers to the outdoors.

"We grew up enjoying the Lake District - walking, climbing and fell running," said Calum, who now lives in London. "Last year I did the Ironman Triathlon and after that I was looking for something to do that no-one has done before.

"I opened up the globe and my imagination was running away with itself and then thought 'this is unrealistic'".

Having grown up in Langwathby, near Penrith, Calum settled on something a little more familiar and closer to home.

"The River Eden used to flow at the bottom of our garden so I set about researching it," he added. "We know the river quite well and used to swim in it."

When Calum broached the subject with his brothers, he first asked them to support him in a kayak but they decided to join him instead.

Now he has roped in some willing friends to go by boat alongside - vying for a world first for both swimming and kayaking the Eden.

"They will look out for logs or trees in the water and anything that could be dangerous," said Calum.

The group will face 10 gruelling days of 14.5km swims taking around seven hours at a time - through rapids and even a waterfall.

Setting off on August 8, the brothers will start at Hell Gill, south of Ravenstonedale, and make their way up via Nateby and Appleby, further north to Warwick Bridge and Carlisle, eventually reaching the Solway Firth on August 17.

For now the team is hard at work training separately, swimming around five times a week and forgoing warm showers to get used to the chilling cold.

To support or donate find Swim the Eden on Facebook or on Twitter at @EdenSwim