Former army captain takes on biggest challenge yet - swimming across the Irish Sea

ITV Granada Reports' Paul Crone met Adam Diver at the Nautical Campus, Fleetwood.

A former army captain is taking on his biggest challenge to date - swimming from the North West of England to the Isle of Man in a world's first.

The aptly named Adam Diver, from Fleetwood in Lancashire, will attempt the epic swim across 32 nautical miles of treacherous water in July.

The 45-year-old served tours in Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia, but is now preparing to take on the grueling mental and physical challenge by training at a special wave pool at Fleetwood Nautical Campus where he works.

The route Adam Diver will attempt to swim in July. Credit: Twitter / Adam Diver

"I'm going to be swimming for six hours and resting for five or six hours, so that prolonged swim is going to take it out on the body and the mind as well," Adam explains.

"It's going to be the mental side. Having the mental strength to get back into the water is going to play a massive part."

Adam has been swimming since he was five-year-old, has completed numerous triathlons, and even represented Great Britain at the Europe Triathlon Championship in 2021.

The former army captain during training for the 'Big Swim'. Credit: ITV News

But his support team says the swim across to the Isle of Man is a different kettle of fish.

Mark Sumner, Lecturer, Fleetwood Nautical Campus, said: "We can predict the the tide, in terms of tidal speed and direction of flow, but we can't predict the wind on the day.

"There are hundreds of records of crossings of the English channel to refer back to, but this is new territory for us."The Big Swim, as it is being nicknamed, will also be a chance for vital research to be carried out from the two boats accompanying Adam during his challenge.

Storm Isles, who is a Marine biologist at Blackpool and Fylde College, said: "We going to come on the trip with a plankton counter and we're going to be looking at micro-plastics.

"We're also going to bringing along a marine probe, so we can take things like temperature, salinity, conductivity measurements,

"We're going to be taking collection bottles so we can actually sample the water and have a look at the content in it.

Adam must start his swim exactly on Friday, 22 July, to make the best of the tides, and if all goes well, will reach the Isle of Man on Sunday, 24 July.