A MAN overcame hypothermia to swim the five-mile length of a lake in his late grandmother’s memory.

Phil Evitt, 28, from Darlington, took up open-water swimming when he joined a local triathlon club – just before his grandmother, Esther, of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, had died in February.

After seeing the amount of care she received from the medical assessment unit at the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, he decided to raise money for them by swimming the length of Coniston Water.

However, Mr Evitt ran into difficulty. He said: “In the week before I got to the Lakes, it rained solidly, pushing the temperature down to about 8C.

“As I was swimming, the water was really choppy and it was hard to wade through the waves. Then my head began feeling really cold. It felt like I didn’t have a wet suit on. It was at that point I decided to look for the nearest piece of shore and head straight for it.”

A support team of friends in kayaks had followed Mr Evitt throughout the swim and came to his aid straight away to get him back to a warmer temperature.

Not wanting to give up, he started the challenge again the next day, from the same point he stopped.

He said: “After plenty of isotonic drinks and warmth I felt I could do it. I wanted to finish what I started.”

The 5.5 mile swim was completed in three hours and 55 minutes and this week, Mr Evitt presented a cheque of £511 to the hospital.