DESPITE constant pain from jellyfish stings, long-distance swimmer Derek Griffiths battled his way across Morecambe Bay to establish a new record from Morecambe to Barrow.
The 44-year-old Barrovian plunged into the water at Battery Point, Morecambe on Saturday and seven hours 43 minutes later touched the tower at East Hawes Point, for a remarkable record.
The straight-line distance was 12 miles, but the racing tides of the bay forced him to swim an extra two miles.
For 30 minutes during his swim he was actually going nowhere, swimming a fast crawl, but staying in exactly the same position because of the current, his accompanying safety canoeists told him.
Derek, who works for Cumbria Wildlife Trust, pioneered the new route because the old long-distance crossing from Grange to Morecambe is no longer used because of silting up and the growth of Spartina Anglica grass at Grange.
He saw thousands of jellyfish en route and was bady stung several times, but fortunately saw nothing of the killer whales and basking sharks, which have been sighted in the area lately.
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