Ipswich businessman Daniel Coughlan is set to take the plunge on the cross-channel Arch2Arc Enduroman challenge.
Ipswich businessman Daniel Coughlan is waiting to take the plunge on a cross-channel endurance challenge.
Setting off from the Marble Arch in London, he has to get to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris under his own muscle power.
Daniel, aged 35, will run from London to Dover, swim the Channel then cycle to Paris.
He has spent hundreds of hours training, and is now on stand by, waiting for the right weather conditions to tackle the challenge in aid of blood cancer charity Bloodwise.
The dry land elements are tough in themselves but swimming the English Channel, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, is a feat beyond all but the best swimmers.
It is 21 miles across at its shortest point, to Cap Gris Nez near Calais, but strong tides and winds can make the actual distance much longer.
Other potential hazards include shipping, with hundreds of tankers and container ships passing through the Channel each day.
Daniel said: "Although it is 21 miles you do swim further, in a sort of S-shape. It is not so much about the distance as the time you take.
"I have been training 18 months for it. I have done the Iron Man Wales three times, which is a 24-mile swim, 112-mile cycle and 26.2-miles (marathon) run.
"I swam the Cabrera Channel in Majorca, which is a six-hour swim. I have been down to Dover to train there and regularly swim at Felixstowe."
Daniel, who is marketing manager for Ipswich tech company Digital Wholesale Solutions, said: "I work full-time but the training has been like having another job.
"The main reason I am doing it is because I can. When you are young and healthy, and know some people don't have a chance, it is good to challenge yourself. My little boy will have something to look back on and say 'my dad did that'."
He has sponsorship from Briarbank Brewery and his dad Aidan Coughlan, the owner of Isaacs on Ipswich Waterfront, and his brother will be his support team.
Waiting at home will be wife Lyndsay, who is pregnant with their second child.
Daniel said: "She has been great and put up with a lot, looking after our son Niall when I have been out training."
Daniel is doing the challenge in aid of Bloodwise, formerly Leukemia and Lymphoma Research.
To donate, go to 'Daniel's Enduroman Arch to Arc' page at www.justgiving.com
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