York soldier takes the plunge in Channel charity swim

Warrant Officer Class 2 Lee Sawyer joined the only Army team to swim the arduous 22 miles across the Channel this year. The 35-year-old, from the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, led the six-strong team, which completed one of the world’s toughest endurance events in 13 hours 55 minutes.

W/O Sawyer said: “From concept to completion this swim was always aimed at raising awareness of the Army Benevolent Fund, which has helped many friends and colleagues, and the Special Care Baby Unit at Harrogate Hospital, where my daughter was born last November.”

A veteran of operational tours in the Balkans, Northern Ireland and Cyprus, the former York Sixth Form College pupil has dreamed of swimming the Channel since childhood. “I first thought about it as a young boy, but I never imagined I would actually live that dream years later,” he said.

Team training began in February and included swimming in ice cold water in lakes, rivers, Scottish lochs and the North and Irish Seas to simulate Channel conditions.

Last month 70-year-old Roger Allsopp became the oldest person to swim the Channel.