A FORMER Steeton man now serving as a Heathrow Airport police officer has swum the English Channel.

Marc Gledhill undertook the 21-mile solo journey after undertaking the challenge twice in the past as part of a team.

His father David, who still lives in Steeton,described his son as an adrenalin junkie who regularly took part in sporting challenges.

Marc raised more than £9,000 for the Aspire charity which helps people with spinal cord injuries live full and independent lives.

His wife Alaine, who like Marc takes part in variety of sports, works with spinal patients in her role MRI scanning at Imperial College London.

Marc was born in Steeton and attended South Craven School, leaving the village at the age of 23 to train at Hendon Police Academy. He joined the Metropolitan Police and spent a decade serving in Camden Town.

Marc has played hockey for England’s under-18s team and captained the Met Police hockey team. In previous sports challenges he has done a triathlon, cycled from Newcastle to London cycle challenge, andparachuted for the British Heart Foundation.

David said Marc completed the England to France swim last month in 14 hours and 44 minutes.

He said: “Marc funded the cost of the swim himself, including a pilot boat and navigator, so that every penny raised goes to the charity. 

“It was uncertain whether any Channel swims would take place this year due to the coronavirus. However the ban was lifted on the Sunday and Marc received a phone call asking if he was ready to swim the following day.

“He set off at 5.30am. People could feed him but he couldn’t touch the pilot boat. He’d been training for 12 months or more. He’s very sporty, like an adrenaline junkie.”

Writing before his Channel swim, Marc outlined the challenges on his Just Giving page.

He wrote : “The water will be around 16° and it’s horribly salty. So I’ll be swimming in the dark, there is cargo debris, it’s one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, there are likely to be heaps of jellyfish and there are over 40 species of sharks.”

Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/marcosolo2020 to donate to Aspire. Marc has currently raised at least £9,805 towards his £10,000 target.