British athlete becomes first to swim around Palm.

Byline: KEVIN SCOTT, staff reporter

Dubai A British athlete has become the first person to swim around Palm Jumeirah.

Jamie Atherton, 32, a key account manager with AME Info, completed the charity challenge in five hours and 29 minutes in memory of his friend John Ratcliffe, who died from bowel cancer earlier this year.

He was welcomed back to shore by hundreds of friends, family and curious holidaymakers gathered on the beach at the One & Only Royal Mirage hotel. His wife Karen, 32, was the first to congratulate him on his unique achievement. Also present on the occasion was their five-and-a-half-month-old daughter Mila.

Jamie's efforts have already raised over u4,000 (Dh24,540) for Bowel Cancer UK but he is hoping more people will donate so he can reach his target of u10,000.

Donations can still be made at www.justgiving.com/palm-jumeirah-swim.

Jamie, originally from Lancashire in England, said: "I'm about as happy as can be. I couldn't have hoped for a better swim; the conditions were superb. It feels fabulous to be the first person to swim around Palm Jumeirah. But this swim is not about me. It's about my friend John, the charity and raising money for Bowel Cancer UK. Hopefully this will raise awareness and be seen as a nice fitting tribute. I think John will be smiling down on me today and I'm definitely smiling because I've done this for him."

Jamie swam anti-clockwise around the entire perimeter of the iconic Dubai landmark. The initial route measured a distance of 16.2km but a last minute positional change meant it ended up being a slightly longer swim at 17.1km.

Finding the tide

Jamie added: "For the first 3km or so I really fought the tide; it was the Mike Tyson of tides. I was really up against it but the tide soon began to change and it actually started to help me along. By the time I got to Atlantis I was really into my rhythm. The other really difficult spell I faced was around 3-4km from home when it began to get really choppy again.

"I was expecting to encounter a lot of jellyfish beforehand but I only saw one and I swear it winked at me! There were some beautiful fish out there."

Pullout qoute

said Jamie Atherton, who became the first person to swim around Palm Jumeirah.

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