Charity supporters swam a total of 4,296 lengths in 24 hours to start a national swimming challenge.

The 35 staff and volunteers of the Aspire charity took to the pool for the swimathon yesterday morning and finished at 9am today.

The team swam the equivalent of 67 miles at the Aspire National Training Centre (ANTC) in Wood Lane, Stanmore.

Aspire is a national charity and provides help to people who have been paralysed by spinal cord injury.

The event kick stated the annual Aspire Channel Swim which challenges people across the country to swim the 22-mile length of the English Channel in their local pool to raise money for the charity over a 12 week period.

Last year Last year 2,700 swimmers raised over £260,000 for the charity which is encouraging others to sign up.

The challenge starts from September 8 to December 1 and is open to anyone of any age with those interested in signing up able to do so by clicking here.

And those interested in donating to the charity after the teams 24-hour swim can do so by clicking here.