He will be joined by his friend from university days, Steven Duncan.

They will take part in the open-swimming challenge on Saturday 15th July with a maximum of 150 swimmers in what has become an annual event since its inception in  2011. The Torne river is free-flowing water with temperatures between 16 and 19 degrees celsius. There will be safety craft following the participants.

Tom and Steven will wear wetsuits, caps and goggles as well as wetsuit socks, gloves and have tow floats. They will start swimming the three kilometres of open water just after midnight (a Nordic summer night is always light) from the Finish shore and if they complete the swim to Sweden in less that 55 minutes they will arrive the day before they left, due to the time zone change!

The teacher, who has been in training for six months, decided to take on the challenge to support the Ipswich School Bursary Fund. The fund helps any pupil, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances, to attend the School. Presently, five Ukrainian students are at Ipswich School supported by the Founding Futures Bursary Fund.

Tom commented, “Being able to swim between two countries, across the Arctic Circle Line, and in the middle of the night is too good a chance to miss!  A knee injury means running has not been possible for many months, so training for this has been a great way to keep active whilst raising money for a great cause.”

To donate please go to https://www.justgiving.com/page/tom-faiers-1685885420870?utm_source=Sharethis&utm_medium=one_page&utm_content=page/tom-faiers-1685885420870&utm_campaign=pfp-email&utm_term=9e28d8c253334d3d96ae0efbba7f9aa1