BBC Devon to swim 24 miles for Children in Need

Five members of the BBC Radio Devon team - including Lucy Bolt (left) and Charlotte Cory (right) - are taking part in The Thousand Mile Challenge

A team from BBC Radio Devon are diving into swimming pools as part of a 1,000-mile (1,609km) Children in Need challenge.

Caroline Densley, James Vickery, Charlotte Cory, Lucy Bolt and Caroline Adams are taking part in the charity event from 4 to 8 November.

Teams from every BBC local radio station are swimming to raise money for Children in Need, a charity which helps improve the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.

Plymouth Olympic swimmer Ben Proud is backing the BBC Devon team who will swim 24 miles (38.6km) collectively as part of The Thousand Mile Challenge.

The team are due to be live on BBC Radio Devon as they finish their challenge during the daytime show on 8 November, with host Densley and sports presenter Vickery doing the last lengths in a pool in Exeter.

Densley said she felt nervous about the challenge but was excited to be involved.

"Sometimes I'm doing a bit of breaststroke, sometimes I'll do front crawl and then the last five lengths are a little bit like I've had a pina colada and you're taking your time like you're swimming on holiday," she said.

Olympic silver medallist Ben Proud has offered advice to BBC Radio Devon's team

Weekend show producer Adams said she swims regularly, but anticipated the challenge would push her.

She said: "It takes me about 30 minutes to do 40 lengths, so I'm going to try in the next few weeks to add an extra five minutes so it's not such a shock by the time I get to the challenge."

The team has received support from Plymouth's Ben Proud, who won a silver medal in the men's 50m freestyle at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in August.

"It'll be a good week, I think you guys will have some fun and as long as you stick together and help each other out, I think you'll get through it like a breeze," he said.