Olympic heroes inspire thousands at Great North Swim
Olympic medallists Cassie Patten swam to victory in the UK's largest open water event - the inaugural Great North Swim.
The one-mile course on Lake Windermere attracted a field of over 2,200 swimmers of all ages, standards and experiences, including celebrities and Government ministers, but it was the Beijing heroes that took top honours.
In the Women's race Cassie Patten and Keri-Anne Payne lead the field home with Patten touching in 18:21.49 in a close finish from Payne in 18:21.83. Jennifer Jackson claimed third spot, Jodie Swallow was fourth in 18:24.34 and Germany's Stefanie Biller was fifth in 18:58.19.
"These swimmers were cheered on and supported all the way by a crowd of around 10,000 people at the venue and it frankly brought the roads leading to Windermere to a standstill. I was really impressed."
The Great North Swim is the latest event to be launched as part of the Take To The Streets - a national initiative designed to fight spiralling inactivity and obesity rates, while raising money for charity in the process.
Using scientific proof that the motivation of training for an event is the key factor to increasing fitness, it offers people the chance to take up the challenge of a mass participation event from a collection of hundreds within a national framework.
Inspired by the BUPA Great North Run, the world's biggest half marathon, the Great North Swim, will be the first event to be offered as part of the campaign's exciting new swimming category.
