Swimmer forced to cancel distance record attempt

A LONG-DISTANCE swimmer who had been preparing for up to a year for a record-breaking swim from Ireland to Wales this week is instead suffering heartache.

Due to an injury, he has been forced to abandon the 14 hour-long swim.

Twenty-four-year-old Jim Swift was hoping to get into the record books by swimming 54 miles from Ireland to Wales this week. The postgraduate student was forced to pull out though after a groin strain.