Sheffield man’s first sea swim sets world record and raises £3k for charity despite "worst conditions ever"

Lee Edwards swam the 7.5 mile stretch from Sealand to the Suffolk Coast faster than anyone else before him, in a record breaking time of 3 hours and 24 minutes, despite horrendous weather conditions.

The 39-year-old trained by doing two 10k (6.2 mile) swims at Lake Windermere and Loch Lomond with friend and fellow swimmer David Rascoe, but had never completed a sea swim before.

Lee and Dave got out to Sealand, an old sea fort, on Tuesday morning, September 26, having been warned the chances of being able to go ahead were 50/50.

Lee, from Mosborough, said: "The guide was not looking happy. He said it was the worst conditions he had ever seen for a swim, and asked me what I wanted to do. 

"I said ‘well, I’m here now, so if you’re happy for me to start, then I’ll start.'"

The conditions did not get any worse throughout the next hours, and at the end of the swim, Lee got back on the boat without anyone knowing the time.

"The guide said he thought it could be a record, and it turned out it was. He had also never let someone he didn't know do the swim - it was a lot of firsts!"

Lee wore a Yorkshire open water swim hat for his swim, as many others did at a memorial swim in Sheffield for adventurer Naomi Crowder.

"I never met her, but I thought I’d wear the hat too, and it turned out her funeral was the same day as the swim. Dave said that when the sun broke, he was thinking of her as well."

Dave, from Boston, did his swim on Wednesday, September 27, with a couple of extra obstacles including the guide boat cutting out and a jellyfish sting.

The pair have raised £3,158 for Aspire, a charity supporting people with spinal cord injuries.

Lee added: "I think since the ‘world record’ is getting around, that’s got the donations coming in!

"The guide says we have to swim the channel. It is something I want to do but you have to be in the sea every day, which obviously doesn’t really work in Sheffield."

Ahead of his 40th birthday next year, Lee is planning to do an Ironman Triathlon: A 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a marathon.