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Walliams vs The Thames Daily Diary and Video Clips | Images | Press Releases | NTA
On the morning of February 4th 2011, David Walliams announced that he will be undergoing his next big challenge in aid of Sport Relief. David Walliams is to swim 140 miles - along the length of the London River Thames. In comparison, David swam the English Channel in 2006 for Sport Relief, which was 22 miles, plus, a 14-mile Straight of Gibraltar swim. David revealed the mammoth journey as he spoke to Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2. "The river is around 215 miles long although it is not possible to swim the entire length of the route." He joked: "You've got to walk the first part or run or jog - that's probably what I'll do, I'll jog. I'll jog when the cameras are on me and when they're off me I'll start walking." Environmental campaigner Lewis Pugh completed the trip in 2006, but his start began with a 19-mile run because the river was barely a trickle. He completed the journey in 21 days. On July 16th 2011, Walliams' trainer, Professor Greg Whyte, confirmed the challenge had got the go ahead: "It's official: The Thames swim is on for David Walliams. Launch in style he [David] finished 13th at today's Marlow Swim: Awesome." On August 17th 2011, Greg Whyte and David Walliams arrived at "swim camp" in France, where they both went through vigorous training; "11km, 3hours 45min - 1 hour recovery including lunch and we are back in for a 7km - no rest for the wicked!" followed by a second day of training; "Swim session 2 complete, 5 hours done, 2 hours to go." On the morning of September 5th 2011, David Walliams and the support team began the epic challenge. David swam from Lechlade in Gloucestershire to Westminster in London. Walliams passed through several major towns en route, including Oxford, Reading, Henley, Maidenhead, Windsor, Kingston and Richmond. Katherine Baxter illustrates the route here. We also have a day-to-day diary of events, right here. On September 12th 2011 at 6.20pm, David Walliams arrived at Westminster, London. He was greeted by thousands of supporters, the media and some well-known faces, including friend Barbara Windsor, his wife, Lara Stone, and his mother, Kathleen. Live coverage was shown on BBC News, ITV News and Sky News for the nation to see such an incredible achievement. Not only did David swim 140 miles of the Thames in just eight days, he did it in unusually cold, windy and rainy conditions, enduring a serious stomach upset and severe exhaustion en route. He even found time to rescue a drowning Labrador! All in all, it was a truly stunning feat, it’s your amazing support that kept him going and it’s not too late to sponsor him. Your money really will help to transform lives. At the end of the eight day swim, David had raised an astonishing £1,194,258 for Sport Relief. Total number of strokes: 111,118 / Total calories burnt: 68,044 The entire journey has been filmed for a documentary, which is to be shown on BBC1 at 9pm on 8th March 2012.
Professor Greg Whyte: "I love www.littlebritainfans.com. As a close friend of David Walliams and having trained him for his English Channel and Gibraltar Straits crossing and the million pound cycle ride, the website keeps you up to date with news events and pictures: www.littlebritainfans.com is a must for your favourites bar. Keep watching for this years big challenge. Greg" Sport Relief: "Thanks so much for your support, we really do appreciate it!"
Click the images below to expand - Images copyright to their right owners.
David Walliams takes on Sport Relief Thames swim challenge - BBC News David Walliams to don his wetsuit in bid to swim 140miles of the Thames - Metro David Walliams: I’ll swim the Thames for street kids like Phillip - The Sun David Walliams Tackling Charity Swim For Tragic African Orphan - ContactMusic David Walliams to swim the Thames for Sports Relief - OK! David Walliams to swim the Thames for Sport Relief - Guardian David Walliams set for 140-mile Thames swim - Swimming.org David Walliams sets off on charity Thames swim - Telegraph David Walliams begins River Thames Sport Relief swim - BBC News David Walliams begins Thames swim for charity - Guardian David Walliams scoffs 8000 calories a day as he battles torrential rain and gale winds - Daily Mail David Walliams begins day two of River Thames Sport Relief swim - BBC News David Walliams hit with serious stomach bug during Thames swim - Metro David Walliams back swimming in Thames despite stomach bug - BBC News Brave David Walliams pushes through the pain to continue Thames swim - Daily Mail 'If I can put one arm over the other, I'll carry on!' - Daily Mail David Walliams gets his appetite back as he stops to refuel with the One Show's Matt Baker - Daily Mail David Walliams makes one bride's day on Reading pitstop as he hits halfway mark - Daily Mail Swimming Walliams half way home - The Press Association David Walliams reaches River Thames milestone - BBC Sport David Walliams' suffering with Thames tummy prompts donation surge - The Independent David Walliams' next obstacle in Thames swim: raw sewage - The Independent Walliams saves a dog from drowning as he continues with Thames swim - Daily Mail David Walliams given River Thames sewage warning - BBC News Day 6: David Walliams River Thames swim continues - BBC News Walliams vows to continue Thames swim - What's On TV David Walliams is cheered like a hero on the penultimate day of his Thames Swim - Daily Mail Walliams surprised by swim support - Belfast Telegraph It will take a super-sewer to get London out of this mess - The Telegraph David Walliams completes epic Thames swim - The Sun Million Pound Man: Exhausted David Walliams completes Thames swim - Daily Mail David Walliams completes marathon Thames swim - Reuters David Walliams Completes Epic Charity Swim - Sky News I thought I might give up on Sport Relief River Thames swim - MetroDavid Walliams' Thames swim: why time and tide don’t wait - The Telegraph Walliams reflects on epic 140-mile Thames charity swim - BBC News
Walliams Scoops NTA for Sport Relief Swim TV personality and Sport Relief Hero, David Walliams beamed with pride as he scooped a National Television Award last night. The award was given in recognition of his enormous achievement in swimming the length of the Thames to raise cash for Sport Relief last autumn. Presented with the award by Dermot O’Leary, an overwhelmed David struggled to speak over the roaring crowd at the 02 centre in London, where they whole audience erupted into rapturous applause and gave him a standing-ovation. Eventually, David was able to say,‘‘It was the best and worst week of my life. The worst because I had to swim 140 miles and the best because all of you came out to support me and most importantly donated your money to Sport Relief.’ He then joked, ‘I’ve got a bit of an exclusive now though because I was talking to Alan Carr and he said he’s going to do it this year in a thong!’ The BT Sport Relief Challenge: Walliams Vs The Thames saw the 40 year old comedy actor complete the most physically gruelling challenge of his life. It even left him with a serious medical condition called Giardiasis, an infection of the small intestine, which took weeks to shake off. Throughout the eight day ordeal, as David front crawled his way through 140 miles of sewage filled water, he faced the serious risk of hypothermia, dehydration and suffered a serious bout of ‘Thames Tummy’, which nearly threatened to end the challenge three days in. But he ploughed on through and even managed to save a Labrador puppy called Vinnie along the way. David was cheered on by thousands of members of the public, who came out in force to line the river bank as he swam, as well as many celebrity supporters including Jimmy Carr, Miranda Hart and Rob Brydon. The TV funny man powered through 107,062 strokes, burned 65574 calories, and suffered eight long days of pain before finally making it to Westminster. The National Television Award was given to David in acknowledgment of his incredible effort to raise much-needed cash and change lives. |
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