Photos found on seabed in Australia finally reunited with owner

Rory Fitzgerald (left) met Lyndon Lee Lisheng to reunite the memory card he found with its owner

A British ice swimmer has reunited hundreds of family photos with their owner seven years after finding a memory card on the seabed in Australia.

Rory Fitzgerald spotted a camera while swimming in Balmoral Bay, Sydney, in 2015 and tried to find the owner of its memory card containing 3.5GB of photos.

He thought his efforts had failed until receiving a message in 2020 from the camera's owner who lives in Singapore.

Mr Fitzgerald, from Hampshire, was able to finally meet Mr Lisheng last week.

When Mr Fitzgerald, who has lived in Romsey and Bishop's Waltham, realised the camera itself was unsalvageable he removed the memory card.

Mr Lisheng and his partner Audrey Lim (left) visited Mr Fitzgerald on their way to a wedding

Among the hundreds of photos, he found an image of a driver's licence and someone wearing a T-shirt for Singapore's 21km Marina Run from 2011.

"I've been swimming across the globe and you find a lot of things, most often golf balls," he told the BBC.

"I like to do the right thing and return objects to where they belong," he said.

Tracking the Marina running group down on Facebook, he posted a message to see whether anyone could connect him with a Lyndon Lee Lisheng in Singapore and attached the photo.

Mr Lisheng, who had long believed he would never see his cherished photos again, spotted his name in the Facebook post five years later after searching for himself online.

He then added Mr Fitzgerald on the social media platform and explained the camera was his - although the photo was of a friend.

"It's a reminder that whatever you put on social media stays there," Mr Fitzgerald said. "I had forgotten about the post until I heard from Lyndon."

Mr Lisheng did not want the memory card sent in the post in case it was lost and he believed there were too many to send by email, so the photos were only returned when Mr Lisheng visited the UK for a friend's wedding.

"My partner and I have travelled across the world for swimming events and we have made friends along the way," said Mr Fitzgerald.

Mr Lisheng now counts as one of those, he said, and Mr Fitzgerald says he is looking forward to making the return trip to Singapore.