Portsmouth man ‘ecstatic’ after swimming to the Isle of Wight for charity
A PORTSMOUTH man is ‘ecstatic’ after realising his dream of swimming across the Solent and raising vital funds for a spinal cord charity.
Estate agent Marcus Yarrow, 48, swam from Stokes Bay in Gosport to Ryde on the Isle of Wight in just over two hours on Saturday, September 18.
Accompanied by 10 other swimmers, Marcus has so far raised more than £1,800 in sponsorship for Aspire, which supports people gain their independence after suffering a spinal cord injury.
He said: ‘I am absolutely ecstatic, I’m still buzzing from Saturday.
‘I’ve been training for this since April when the gyms reopened. Swimming the Solent is something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time – it was such a mental and physical challenge.’
His target for Aspire is to raise £2,000.
‘It’s amazing how much we’ve raised – we’re so close to the target,’ he said.
‘Aspire is such a worthwhile cause. I think their focus on getting people from injury to independence is so important.
‘I hope to raise as much money as possible to help as many people as possible.’
Following Saturday Marcus has been trying to rest.
The dad-of-three added: ‘I’ve got really bad pain on the backs of my legs.
‘It was the one part of my I didn’t cover in Vaseline so now they feel like they’ve been whipped or something.
‘But through the whole swim I was just thinking about the end goal. The pain isn’t important and it was all worth it.’
To donate visit bit.ly/3mLx5BV.