Open water swimming star, Tom Roberts of Halton Swimming Club, travelled to the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham at the weekend, to take part in the Blueseventy Big Swim 5km event.

Always one to set new challenges for himself, Tom was part of a large field of 700 swimmers, ranging from aged 11 upwards, taking part in this race which is held annually to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.

With the race starting at 12 noon Tom went through his race strategy in the morning and executed his plan expertly throughout the race. Using his experience from previous swims, Thomas battled his way to the front of the pack straight from the start, surging past the sprinters at the 200m mark.

With the end of the first lap in sight and the 100m sprint in transition looming, Thomas was in second place with one lap to go. After another great dive into the water, Tom managed to maintain his position and the good pace he had set on the first 2.5km and finished the race in 1 hour 2 minutes and 28 seconds claiming the silver medal. A delighted Thomas said: “It was a great experience swimming with a large field of swimmers for the first time” but he was not so happy with the chaffing from the wetsuit he had worn throughout the 5km race.

This was not the only race that Tom took part in at the weekend, as he had been asked to take part in the Outlaw Triathlon on the Sunday. Tom had been spotted by Triathlete legend Duncan Shea-Simmons and his wife Claire (both KONA WORLD TRI finishers) earlier on in the year when he produced two superb performances in the 5k and 10k Egyptian open coming first and second respectively. They asked Tom to be part of a relay team called KGF RACETIME TEAM, who were raising money for the Karen Green Foundation, which was set up in memory of Nottingham bicycle shop owner Mick Green’s wife who died of leukaemia in 2011

So after a well-earned rest on Saturday evening, Tom had to be up at 3am Sunday morning to get to Nottingham for 4:45am to register for the race due to the large amount of entrants and the amount of time it takes to complete the iron distance event.

About 1250 elite and amateur athletes had entered to take part in one of the country’s most gruelling triathlons, hoping to push their bodies to the limits to complete the 140 miles of swimming, cycling and running in driving rain.

The route, which stretched across Nottinghamshire and included Southwell, the River Trent path, Wilford Suspension Bridge and Victoria Embankment, was lined with hundreds of people, carrying umbrellas, wearing coats and ponchos, hoping to cheer on the competitors as they raced past.

Prior to the race, Tom and Duncan had discussed their race strategy and the importance of handing over the timing chip without any mishaps and everything fell into place once the starter had blown the hooter and the swimming was under way. Thomas produced a fantastic swim, managing to stay out of the way of the large number of swimmers, surging to the front and completing the course in 47.06 minutes, exiting in third place.

After the handover of the chip, the relay team found themselves in a good solid second place.

With Duncan completing the 112 mile road bike race in 5hrs and 2 minutes and Rodger, the 26 mile marathon in 2.53.03 the relay team finished in third place with a total time of 8 hours and 44 minutes, a fantastic achievement and a great weekend overall for Tom.