Chris completes 5k Swimathon

By Chris Cornford Nov 17, 2020

A disabled Newport man has swum 5,000m in the West Wight Sports and Community Centre’s pool last month to complete the 5k Swimathon 2020 challenge.

Chris Biles, who is blind, has been a keen swimmer since his schooldays in the 1970s, when he first took part in fundraising for the original West Wight pool. He usually swims every week at WWSCC and also joins Sight for Wight’s swimming sessions.

Last year, swimming teacher Jenny Ball encouraged Chris to increase his swimming distances and to enter the Swimathon, a national event.
Chris said: “From October to December last year, I increased my distance from 2.5k to 5k.”

However, the Swimathon was postponed from March to October, when Chris then completed 200 lengths in four sessions.

He added: “Swimming is my favourite exercise. It is the one thing you can do on your own when you are blind. I like that freedom.”