Kayaker targets British coast record to honour mother

Mike Lambert said preparing for the challenge helped him through a difficult period

A kayaker from Surrey hopes to break a world record by paddling 2,000 miles around Britain in 39 days in memory of his late mother.

Mike Lambert, from Walton-on-Thames, expects to face “waves a big as a house” but said it will be “really nice” to avoid the General Election campaign.

The 32-year-old is taking on the challenge after the end of a five-year relationship and the death of his mother.

Setting off from West Wittering, in Sussex, in June, he expects to travel an average distance of 51 miles a day.

Mr Lambert said he is eager to champion men’s mental health after his relationship broke down a week before his mother’s funeral.

“For me, self-care has been getting out early in the cold, in the dark, in the wet and breaking myself down physically to help regain my mental health,” he said.

Mr Lambert is a former GB under-23 canoe sprinter

His mother, who was a district nurse for the NHS, collapsed at a gym from an acute Type A aortic dissection, which is when the main blood vessel from the heart tears.

“I want people to be aware that aortic dissections exist and that there are clinical pathways that are there that can support them,” Mr Lambert said.

After leaving West Wittering, he will kayak along the South Coast towards Penzance before crossing the Irish Sea, skirting along the coast of Ireland and Northern Ireland, around Scotland and back down to Sussex.

High waves

The current record is held by Dougal Glaisher, who kayaked around Britain in 40 days in 2023.

Mr Lambert, a physiotherapist, said waves of up to 30ft (9.14m) in height are forecast for his journey.

His land support has pulled out due to a sponsor change, meaning he must now carry a tent on his kayak and sleep on beaches.

He will be raising money for the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust, Aortic Dissection Awareness UK & Ireland and the RNLI, after he was assisted in stormy condition during 2019.