DORSET'S long-distance swimming legend Marc Newman is aiming to set a new Channel record – by becoming the first person to swim to France from Dungeness.

The 47-year-old from Poole is already a veteran of five successful Channel swims in the 1980s and early ’90s.

But they were all swum using the traditional route between Dover and Cap Gris Nez.

To mark the 30th anniversary of his first Channel swim in 1985, the Dorset policeman plans to attempt the new route on the weekend of August 29 – weather permitting.

“A couple of people have attempted it but unsuccessfully,” says Marc, a member of East Dorset Open Water SC and Poole SC.

“In a straight line it’s 26 miles as opposed to 21 miles from Dover. But we’re planning to go on a spring tide.”

The swim will also be a reunion with Marc’s old coach, Tom Watch, from Weymouth, and veteran pilot Freddie Mardle, who piloted his first Channel crossing in 1985.

Tom, now 86, has been coaching Channel swimmers since 1950.

“An old boatman that Tom knew said that the right swimmer on the right tide could swim to France from Dungeness quicker than from Dover,” said Marc, who is raising money for Julia’s House children’s hospice at Corfe Mullen.

When he first swam the Channel 30 years ago, the then 17-year-old was on course to break the record for the fastest crossing – only to be thwarted by French coastguards, who delayed his landing by two hours.

He went on to become an international long-distance swimmer, representing Great Britain in the first 25km at a World Championships in Australia in 1991 and twice winning the World Cup 25km swims in Lake Windermere and Lake Geneva.

He retired from open water swimming in 1993 although he has swum Channel relays since then including one with an international team that included Olympic gold medallists David Wilkie and Adrian Moorhouse.

“They couldn’t get their heads around the fact that I swam it faster on my own than we did as a team,” says Marc, whose training has included six-hour swims in Weymouth Bay.

“Last year I did a four-person two-way Channel relay and I got the bug again.

“I thought I would like to have a go at another solo swim and do something that hasn’t been done before.

“Given the right tides, it could be swum quick.”

To sponsor Marc, visit: justgiving.com/Marc-Newman