YOUNG swimmers covered the equivalent of four trips across the English Channel during a thirty minute session to raise money for a drowning prevention campaign.

A total of 94 members of the Durham City Amateur Swimming Club took part in the “T30 Challenge” – swimming as far as they could in half an hour in aid of the Royal Life Saving Society UK,

They covered a total of 144,347 metres, or 5,773 lengths, and raised £125.45.

As part of the charity’s drowning prevention week members also learned more about water safety and assisting those in difficulty.

A spokesperson for the club: “We spend a great deal of time building confidence in our swimmers, so it seems only right that we manage that confidence by making sure that our swimmers are safe around open water and beyond.”

Squad champions for the challenge were Tom Brumwell, Leia Davison, Lewis Ives, Anna Jobling, Robert Hunt, Hannah Hryniszak, Josh Whiting, Bethany Coulson, Matthew Flanagan, Lucy Haigh, Dylan Bailey, Niamh Livesey, Daniel Moorhouse, Annabel Wade, Oliver Smith, Kezia Dowsett, Jacqueline Taylor, Thomas Taylor, Stuart Illingworth and Amii Turnbull.