David Walliams to swim length of Thames for Sport Relief

Thames challenge: David Walliams gears up for swimming the Thames
11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Little Britain star David Walliams is braving raw sewage and deadly diseases to raise money for Sport Relief by swimming the entire length of the Thames.

The comedian and panel show host will be setting off from Lechlade in Gloucestershire and will swim 140 miles over eight days to reach Big Ben in London.

Walliams' epic swim will also see him brave bitingly cold river water, which can cause cramp and involuntary breathing spasms known as a "gasp reflex".

He will battle powerful and unpredictable currents and undertows and will burn the equivalent of 4,400 calories every day.

As well as carefully navigating the busy river traffic, Walliams will have to deal with murky water that harbours a cocktail of bacteria such as E.coli, salmonella and hepatitis.

Walliams will also have to avoid the 39 million cubic metres of raw sewage that finds its way into the Thames every year after heavy rainfall.

The comedian said: "Most people in the UK know the Thames, and most people think the idea of swimming in it is horrifying.

"And it is. It'll be relentless. It's a huge distance so I'll need all the support I can get.

"It's really not a safe environment to swim in - people really mustn't try this, I have an incredible team of experts to help keep me safe.

"If there's a lot of rainfall there'll be a lot of sewage present so I've had to have loads of jabs.

"And aside from anything else, you can't see anything. There's zero visibility in the water - I won't even be able to see the end of my arm."

The BT Sport Relief Challenge: Walliams vs The Thames, which begins on September 5, will be filmed for a documentary to be broadcast in the build up to the Sport Relief Weekend in March next year.

Walliams is no stranger to getting wet for a good cause - in 2006 he swam the Channel, raising £1 million in aid of Sports Relief.

He has also swam the Straits of Gibraltar, and last year cycled from John O'Groats to Land's End, also for Sport Relief.

Walliams is also asking for people to sponsor him at www.sportrelief.com/walliams.

As well as making a donation, he could do with some encouragement and hopes the public will come to the riverside and cheer him on.

People can check out the GPS tracker online and follow the Twitter feed using hash tag £Thamesswim to see where he is.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in