A TEENAGER from Urmston is preparing to swim the English Channel to raise money for a learning disability charity.

Lyon Lee, a 16-year-old former Urmston Junior School pupil who was born with ADHD, is raising money for Mencap.

Now attending Beech Hall School in Macclesfield, he is taking on the crossing with a group of schoolmates sometime between August 28 and September 6.

All this despite not liking swimming, preferring instead to play rugby for Trafford MV.

Lyon and rest of the group - who call themselves the Mencap Marvels - started training in September 2020 in Beech Hall School's outdoor swimming pool.

They have been helped by a number of people to have swum the English Channel in the past, including the school's headteacher James Allen and Chorlton swimming instructor Nikki Pope.

They have even been visited by Chloe McCardel, a swimmer from Australia who is on track to earn the impressive title of 'Queen of the English Channel' after 40 crossings of the waterway.

She needs to make four more crossings to overtake the current 'Queen', Alison Streeter.

Training in open water followed for Lyon and the rest of the group, in places like Sale Water Park, Salford Quays, Lake Windermere and, of course, the sea.

As well as the ice cold water, the Mencap Marvels met with other challenges such as jellyfish.

Veronica, Lyon's mother, said: "Many swim, but not many have the commitment to swim the English Channel, because rain or shine, sleet or snow, if there's training scheduled then the swimmers need to be there.

"[Lyon's] determination has earned him a nickname - 'hot boy'. He never lets the chill bite him!"

The Mencap Marvels will swim the English Channel sometime in the 10-day window between August 28 and September 6, depending on weather conditions.

The group have raised more than £9,000 up until now, but are aiming to raise a total of £25,000.

To donate, visit the Mencap Marvels' page on Virgin Money Giving.