Sheffield man's first ever sea swim to be 7.5 "gruelling" miles from world's smallest nation to Suffolk coast

Lee Edwards, from Mosborough, Sheffield, will be swimming the 7.5 mile stretch from Sealand to the Suffolk Coast, a route which was completed for the first time just five years ago, for a spinal cord injury charity.

Aspire provides help to people who have been paralysed by a spinal cord injury, supporting them "from injury to independence". The charity, which helps organise fundraising, calls the route "gruelling".

As of March this year, fewer than 20 people had completed it, but this has not deterred Lee from committing to it as his first ever sea swim on Tuesday, September 26.

Lee, aged 39, said: “I used to swim for City of Sheffield Swim Squad, but that was a long time ago, when I was 16. Dave hasn’t even done that, he just really fancied it.”

David Rascoe, a friend of Lee’s from Boston, came across the route in a documentary called Escape from Sealand, where Richard Royal became the first to complete the route.

The Principality of Sealand is an old sea fort which proclaimed independence in 1967. It holds a Guinness World Record for being the smallest area to lay claim to nation status.

Lee added: “Now it's starting to get real. The money is coming in and I haven’t had the best preparation so far! But, usually when you are nervous, good things happen. That’s what I’m thinking.”

So far their GoFundMe page has raised £1,370 of their target £2,000. One person left a comment, attached to a £100 donation, saying, “you two are mental”.

The pair have completed two 10k (6.2 mile) practice swims, the first at Lake Windermere in the summer, and the second at Loch Lomond on September 2.

Lee, an electrician, who does not have a personal connection to the charity, said: “I really like the idea of charity work. I have done marathons, I like these challenges, and they are wasted just doing them for myself. They should be trying to raise money.”

Lee and David will be swimming on September 26 and 27 respectively, due to health and safety considerations.