Darren Grech enters UK Great North Swim

Local marathon swimmer, Darren Grech, took second place in his age group at the recently held Great North Swim in the UK.

Mr Grech completed a course of over 10km in 16 degree waters in just seconds over four hours.

He described the swim as “tough”. While the temperature wasn’t too bad he found the wind in the third and fourth laps a challenge as it meant his float, which carried his powerade and energy bars, kept tugging.

In addition, he had to battle with a diagonal current.

The fifth and sixth laps were better as the wind had died down.

One aspect that worked in his favour was the fact he was the last swimmer to enter the water and passing others on the course gave him a psychological boost.