Celebs to swim Irish Sea for cancer research

Five celebrities were bracing themselves yesterday for a gruelling swim across the Irish Sea – starting a day ahead of schedule.

The team, led by pop star Ronan Keating, includes TV presenter Jenny Frost, clinical psychologist and Strictly Come Dancing star Pamela Stephenson, gadget guru Jason Bradbury and Olympic medallist Steve Parry. They will brave treacherous currents, ferries and even sharks in an effort to raise £1 million for Cancer Research UK.

The relay challenge will see them swim 56 nautical miles (65 land miles) from Holyhead, in Anglesey, North Wales, to Dublin, Ireland. They had been due to set off at around lunchtime tomorrow, but changing weather conditions mean they could depart as early as 7pm tonight.

The celebrities will be joined by five “super swimmers”, who are experienced in open water swimming.

Each member will take turns swimming for an hour until the arduous task is complete, after an estimated 40 hours.

As well as swimming long hours through the night, they will have to dodge wind farms and cope with tidal variations, which mean they could end up covering a distance of up to 70 nautical miles.

Keating, 34, came up with the idea with Sir Richard Branson, who was also due to take part but pulled out at the weekend after his Caribbean home burned to the ground.

The Boyzone star said: “It’s a massive challenge, daunting and scary.

“Some amazing people have given their time and trained hard for this. If we succeed, it will be monumental.”