An adventurer has made history by completing a marathon swim from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Sean Conway, 32, left Cornwall on June 30, swimming along the west coast to the most northerly point of the UK mainland.
Every year thousands of people attempt to walk, cycle or run the journey between Land’s End and John O’Groats, a distance of 874 miles (1,407km) by road.
He completed the final mile of his journey by sea today, making him the first person to swim the length of the UK.
Mr Conway, who was born in Zimbabwe but now lives in the South of England, said he undertook the challenge because people doubted it could be done. He has raised thousands of pounds for the War Child charity in the process.
He swam around 10 miles (16km) a day and slept on a yacht or in accommodation on the shore.
The initial plan was to complete the swim in two months but weather and injuries slowed him down.
He said: “No-one’s ever done it and that sort of got me thinking, considering Land’s End to John O’Groats is such an iconic route. Then, as soon as people told me I was going to die or that is wasn’t possible, I just thought ‘I’m going to prove you wrong’.
“The weather’s been quite tough – big winds and big waves have slowed my progress a bit.
“Getting stung by jellyfish is quite tough. I’ve had to grow a ridiculous beard to shield my face and had to cover up with loads of Vaseline because every now and again I’d take a stroke and get a jellyfish right in the face and I don’t know who gets more of a fright, me or it.
“We’ve lost kayaks at sea, rigs at sea and our boat has taken a bit of a hammering; we all took a bit of a hammering.
“The sea can be a nasty place.”