Shropshire's Pardoe breaks world record for Windermere swim

Hector Pardoe said the English Channel was next on his list

Hector Pardoe has achieved his aim of swimming the length of Windermere in record time.

The swimmer, who grew up and trained in Shropshire, said his time of three hours, 40 minutes and 28 seconds on Saturday had beaten the world record.

"What a surreal swim! Loved every second of it bar the last 5km," Pardoe said on Instagram.

Ahead of the event, he said his confidence was "reborn" since suffering an eye injury at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 10.5-mile (16.8km) feat was part of the marathon swimmer's training for next year's Games in Paris.

The swimmer was hit by an elbow during the men's 10km marathon swimming event in 2021, which ended his race early.

But he said he now felt "massively motivated".

He had aimed to swim the length of the lake in three hours, 48 minutes and four seconds to beat a 26-year record held by Britain international Justin Palfrey. He beat this by nearly eight minutes.

Pardoe's swim raised money for the Lake District Foundation

Pardoe, who trains at Loughborough University, also completed the swim for the Lake District Foundation, to raise money to improve the water quality of UK lakes.

He said: "I've come off the back of the Paris World Cup being cancelled due to water quality, so what better charity to raise money for is there than a Lake Windermere conservation charity?"

"It will hugely aid the Lake District Foundation and what they are trying to achieve."

After the event, he said his "next bucket list swim" was the English Channel.

The marathon swimmer was nearly eight minutes faster than the record