OVER 100 cheery swimmers, including an Olympic medallist braved the autumn storms of the Atlantic coast on Saturday to swim 22 miles — the distance of the English Channel — in a team relay event at Bude Sea Pool.

The 10 teams — locals Bude Surf Life Savers, Friends of Bude Sea Pool (FoBSP), FJ-RATS, Lundy and Hammond H20 joined by five others from across the country started at 7am sharp, swimming, throughout the day, in sunshine, showers and a small thunderstorm.

For the full report, and a round up of the area news and sport, see this week's edition of the 'Post'.