Long distance swimmer Greg Woodward completed a casual training swim from Paynesville to Lakes Entrance last Saturday in his lead up to swimming across the English Channel in July.
Greg grew up in Lakes Entrance and now resides at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast. He is the son of Kim and Denise Woodward and is in town to celebrate his father’s 70th birthday. They will travel to England to witness his swim.
The English Channel swim, which leaves England from Shakespeare’s Cliff or Samphire Hoe, Dover, and finishes at Cap Gris-Nez in France, is 33 kilometres in length and can take anywhere between seven and 27 hours.
Greg has completed many long distance swims around the country including Magnetic Island to Townsville, Tasmania, Perth and Brisbane.
He started his swim from Paynesville at 6.50am and touched the Lakes Entrance footbridge at 1.15pm, approximately 25 kilometres.
He had a strong support crew by his side during the swim including Paul King in the kayak, Brendan Van Dam and Bruce Woodward from Surf Life Saving Lakes Entrance and brother Murray Woodward on the Gippsland Ports boat along with Jane Ireland as an official observer.
Greg will keep up his training with shorter distance swims before tackling the big one.
