David Walliams sets off on Thames swim

The Little Britain star will swim the 140 miles from Lechlade in Gloucestershire to Big Ben in London

COMEDIAN David Walliams will be swimming past Goring, Pangbourne and Whitchurch on his way to London as he attempts to swim the length of the Thames in just eight days for Sport Relief.

The Little Britain star will swim the 140 miles from Lechlade in Gloucestershire to Big Ben in London, starting this morning (Monday).

He is due to reach Goring and Streatley on day four of his challenge (Thursday) and will then swim through Whitchurch and onto Reading throughout the course of the day.

The bid is part of the Big Splash campaign to get the nation swimming and Walliams is no stranger to the water himself having completed a swim across the English Channel in 2006, raising £1m for Sport Relief. He later received a special award at the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year for completing the 21-mile distance.

The 40-year-old also swam the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco for Sport Relief in 2008, and last year cycled from John O'Groats to Land's End.

He said: "Most people in the UK know the Thames, and most people think the idea of swimming in it is horrifying and it is.

“It'll be relentless. It's a huge distance so I'll need all the support I can get."

To sponsor Walliams, who will be swimming for about eight hours a day, and to check the comedian's progress, visit the Sport Relief website, which can be accessed by clicking the link below.