Friends To Swim To France And Back For Veterans Charity

Two swimmers are aiming to become the fastest two person team to make the double English Channel crossing.

John Myatt and Mark Leighton are raising money for Rugby for Heroes, a charity that supports military personnel making the transition to civilian life.

The pair is 'passionate about military personnel and the services they provide':

"Both of us have friends and family that have served or are currently serving in the forces and are keen to raise awareness of some of the difficulties they face when making the transition back to civilian life."

The two will be swimming separately in one-hour stints and are hoping to smash the current record of 31 hours and 28 minutes. 

John and Mark are childhood friends and used to compete against each other in the pool.

They successfully swam the channel one way in 2015, completing it in 11 hours and 37 minutes.