SIX young men from Bournemouth braved a hazardous swim across the Channel to raise money for children’s charities.

Known as the Cheeky Channel Champs, the team swam 38 miles in often treacherous conditions and completed the challenge in just over 16 hours. To add to their feat, they swam without wetsuits and were faced with swarms of jellyfish and temperatures as low as 15 degrees.

Tom Craven, 29, was the first to take to the water. He said: “The whole thing was amazing, although I never expected us to even start it because of the conditions. We started at 7am and it was pretty horrific first thing in the morning. There was fog, 5ft swells and the sea was in a treacherous state.

“Fortunately, by the third or fourth swimmer it was relatively calm and we got some distance under our belt.”

Although the crossing is normally a 21-mile journey, the boys swam a total of 38 miles due to the tide. They each took it in turns to swim several one hour stints and endured various challenges along the way.

“Several people suffered from sea sickness and as we progressed further into the Channel, we met the jellyfish. You’d open your eyes underwater and see around 10-15 jellyfish of all types every time - we all got stung head to toe.”

As the champs approached the shoreline, a thick band of fog developed meaning the boat accompanying them could go no further. It was at this point the team faced the prospect of not being able to complete their challenge.

“We were all despairing because we’d come all that way and we were half a mile from the shoreline. Our lives were in the crew’s hands and we thought we were going to have to pull out.”

However, thanks to an inflatable dinghy on board, a crew member with a high visibility torch was able to follow the last swimmer to the shore at Calais.

“To get to the finish line was really important. Swimming such a long distance is mentally challenging and it takes so much out of you,” Tom said.

The men have since raised around £9,000 for Life Education Wessex and Gok Wan’s anti-bullying charity, Kidscape.

Tom added: “We’ve got a massive sense of personal achievement after doing this. We never expected to raise that much for charity, so it’s really satisfying.”