Lewis Pugh to train in Lewis for Antarctic lake swim

Lewis Pugh is an endurance swimmer and UN Patron of the Oceans

An environmental campaigner is to prepare for swim in Antarctica with an 11-day training camp in Lewis.

Lewis Pugh, an endurance swimmer and UN Patron of the Oceans, will start his training in the Western Isles on 29 December.

He has invited wild swimming enthusiasts to join him on his training swims in sea off Lewis.

Mr Pugh, from Plymouth, Devon, will attempt his 1km swim of a lake of melting Antarctic ice next month.

He is doing the swim to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on polar regions, and also to call for a network of marine protected areas in Antarctica.

Mr Pugh will swim in one of an estimated 65,000 supra-glacial lakes formed by melting ice on the surface of the region's ice sheets.

The environmental campaigner has challenged other swimmers to join him at his training camp

Last year, the 50-year-old completed a challenge to swim the length of the English Channel in support of cleaning up the oceans.

He finished the 560km (348 mile) swim from Land's End in Cornwall to Dover in Kent in 49 days.

Mr Pugh said he was "hugely excited" about his next venture.

He said: "My immediate focus is my upcoming training camp in Scotland and today I announce that I am looking for training partners.

"I won't be wearing a wetsuit, but I don't mind if my training partners do."

He said applicants to his training camp would need to be prepared to "work hard", adding: "There will be no tea breaks and no Hogmanay - not even if you're Scottish."