SWIMMING through hundreds of jellyfish, enduring unimaginable physical pain and tackling six feet high waves - that is what Wayne Soutter went through to become the first person ever to swim from the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland to the north Antrim coast in Northern Ireland.
Soutter, managing director of Bracknell company SkillWise, defied the odds to complete the 20km swim in August and has now been nominated for the World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.
The swim is on one of the most treacherous and volatile stretches of water in the world and despite several attempts, no-one had managed to complete it until this summer.
It is an astounding achievement for the 42-year-old, who could not even swim the length of a swimming pool three years ago.
Soutter told the News: "It's quite surreal to have done something like that.
"There's no other swim in the world this year where anyone has been the first person to do it." * FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW PICK UP THIS WEEK'S NEWS To vote for Soutter visit http://www.worldopenwaterswimmingassociation.com/2012-wowsa-man-of-the-year-nominees/ Voting closes on December 31 and winners are announced on January 1, 2013.
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