Adventurer completes Three Lakes, Three Peaks endurance challenge

John Myatt (far right) and the team at the end of the challenge at Lake Bala in Wales

A Gloucester man is part of a four-strong team who have successfully swum the three longest lakes and climbed the three highest peaks in Great Britain.

John Myatt, and his fellow adventurers, swam during the day and hiked at night to complete the Three Lakes, Three Peaks challenge in just over 31 hours.

Despite "treacherous weather", he said the end was "really euphoric".

The team climbed Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell Pike and swam Loch Awe, Lake Bala and Lake Windermere.

Many people have climbed the three peaks in quick succession, but this feat is not usually followed by also swimming the three lakes one after the other in a relay.

The team - which included Laura Nesbitt from Bristol, Caroline Saxon from Birmingham and Lars Mack from Germany - took 31 hours and 6 minutes to complete the challenge.

Mr Myatt said: "These guys have been through a lot of adversity during some of those climbs, and some of the most treacherous weather we have ever encountered up on the peaks. That will forever live in my mind that they were able to push themselves to this level."

He said it was so wet at Scafell Pike he slipped and rolled down steps six times.

But at Snowdon, he said he experienced the worst weather conditions: "Water was cascading off the rocks like waterfalls."

The team took on the challenge to raise awareness of mental health issues

The team was raising awareness of mental health issues.

My Myatt said: "I went through a period in my late thirties of depression - sitting down drinking, feeling sorry for myself, and then I just felt the need to do something.

"I came across the swim to swim across the Solent. By just training for this one event, I found it absolutely amazing - the connection to nature and being outdoors, being with this group of people. It just grew from there."

Mr Myatt has since swum to France and back and got into ice swimming, something all the participants are proficient in.

John Myatt (far right) said team spirit and camaraderie helped him through the tough times

Mr Myatt said the great bond between everyone got them through: "When you take on a challenge like the three Peaks and three Lakes, you need to put your trust in people.

"You don't want quitters on the team. You want people that are going to surpass themselves and push themselves, when it comes to the crunch."

The team is already planning its next challenge in San Francisco and hopes to swim the Bristol Channel from Penarth to Clevedon in June 2022.

Mr Myatt said: "I'm always thinking of the next thing. I always think bigger and better and longer and higher. It's part of my chimp brain."