AN OKEHAMPTON woman has recently completed half of her mammoth swimming challenge to raise money for charity.

Fiona Dearden is swimming a total of 88 miles at Parklands Leisure Centre to raise money for Aspire, a charity that helps people with spinal cord injuries. This is the equivalent of swimming the English Channel four times over.

Her challenge is an extreme take on the Aspire Channel Swim, a three-month event inviting fundraisers to swim the distance of the channel from September to December 2012.

Fiona started her own challenge in September and reached the halfway point on October 16. She is continuing to work towards her total, trying to swim eleven miles a week to reach her fundraising target of £2,500. This money would pay for a lightweight made-to-measure wheelchair for a person paralysed by spinal injury.

She said: 'It is really hard work and is so time-consuming, it feels like it is taking over my life. I am a stubborn donkey though, and I have no desire to quit.

'Initially I was exhausted every day, and grumpy too. I am swimming every weekday and often a few lengths at the weekend too. Some days every stroke is hard work.

'Until now I have been watching my waistline gradually expanding, worrying I was on the slippery slope to obesity and feeling I lacked the strength to reverse this process. Now I am watching the weight slip off day by day. So far I have lost three inches off my waist in six weeks.'

Her efforts have inspired her so much she is planning to swim the Padstow to Rock Mile in 2013, and is also considering the Dawlish triathlon next autumn.

Fiona's partner, Rob Dunn, is also taking part, swimming 22 miles, the equivalent of the channel, to support her efforts and help raise as much money as possible. He has now also reached over half his own personal target.