Gareth thomas triathlon wetsuits

Dave Tonge is used to supporting others. The 38-year-old spent years coaching hundreds of triathletes and swimmers in his home city of Cardiff and even mentored rugby legend and tri newbie Gareth Thomas to successfully conquer Ironman Wales in September.

But with his coaching business on pause due to Covid-19, Dave turned his focus to a 21-mile solo test in his own endless pool to raise funds for NHS charities.

Why did you decide on a 21-mile swim in an endless pool?

Part of my swim business is one-to-one coaching in an endless pool, but after the announcement that swimming pools would close, we followed suit and shut down on 20 March.

But I was still swimming in my pool every day, just plodding along, and starting to increase the volume and with all the inspiring stories on the news such as Captain Tom [Moore], [former Welsh rugby star] Shane Williams and [Tour de France winner] Geraint Thomas doing mammoth bike ride