Henley swimmer set for Manhattan Island night swim

Laura Reineke (R) is set to swim the 48.5km (30 mile) night swim in New York on Friday with her swimming partner, Lee Saudan (L)

An open water swimmer and river campaigner is set to swim overnight non-stop around Manhattan to raise money for charity.

Laura Reineke, a professional violinist and founder of the open water swimming group, the Henley Mermaids, is taking on the 48.5km (30 mile) 20 Bridges Swim.

She said: "We go round the whole of New York swimming through the night, it will all be lit up, so it will be amazing."

Due to start on Friday, the swim is expected to take about nine hours.

Ms Reineke, from Henley-on-Thames, said: "Swimming 48km would normally take a lot longer than nine hours but it is tide-assisted so you are taken around a little bit.

"I'll be swimming in tandem with Lee Saudan, my bestie, and fellow channel swimmer. We will both be doing the full distance solo, but swimming side-by-side."

During the swim she will be accompanied by a kayaker who will throw liquid feeds to her on a line.

"My favourite thing is a ginger squash... you might have a little bit of a biscuit or a cake but usually when you are swimming it turns to dust in your mouth," she said.

The pair training ahead of the gruelling swim which is expected to take about nine hours to complete

The gruelling swim, in aid of WildFish, a charity that campaigns to protect fish and their waters, starts on Friday from Lower Manhattan, West Side at 19:30 New York time (00:30 BST).

Ms Reineke said she hoped "to increase awareness of the crisis facing rivers and freshwater species which are disappearing at five times the rate of those on land".

The swim takes in all 20 bridges that link Manhattan island to the mainland.

It is part of the triple crown of open water swimming - a marathon swimming challenge which includes the English Channel completed by the pair last year.

The third is the Catalina Channel swim, a 20-mile crossing in California which Ms Reineke said she hopes to swim next year.