THE health and safety manager at Penbode Vets is taking a well earned rest after swimming ‘to’ and ‘from’ France over the course of just one month [October] in aid of two charities.

Hats off to Kate Smith (aka Smudge) who has completed the equivalent of a cross channel swim, there and back again, in just one month, in spite of a cold and a shoulder injury.

Kate swam two miles at 6am each work day at the Bude Leisure Centre and then topped these up with single miles at The W Club nearby. She swam her very last mile — number 42, or her 2,688th swimming pool length — at the 1610 Holsworthy Leisure Centre swimming pool on October 31 and celebrated with a cup of tea, spaghetti and meatballs.

But she wasn’t doing this just for fun. Kate is an ex RAF medic and police officer and was raising funds for Help for Heroes along with The MS Society in support of co-worker Louise Cowling who has multiple sclerosis and is a nurse at Penbode Pet Vets.

Kate told the Post: “I had some difficulty in the first week as I had a horrendous cold.

“I aimed to do two miles per day before work and have rest days at the weekend — I didn’t end up having many rest days though and I ended up with an injury to my right shoulder. This made the second half difficult as I was swimming with an injury and I had to get a sports massage, which helped.

“Last Wednesday I could only do a mile because my shoulder was hurting so much, which left me a mile behind.

“My challenge was to complete 42 miles by October 31 and although my colleagues said it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I did the extra mile on the Friday [November 1] I said I didn’t want to do that because my challenge was to complete it by October 31, it wouldn’t have been right to go over by a day.”

On finishing her marathon swim Kate said: “I’m looking forward to lighting my fire and not getting up before 6am tomorrow for the first time in weeks!”

If anyone would like to donate to her two good causes, her Virgin Giving page link is uk.virginmoneygiving.com/KateSmith94