A BEACON Hill man has swum the equivalent of two marathons to raise money for Phyllis Tuckwell in memory of a friend and neighbour who died of cancer and was cared for by the hospice in his last few weeks.

David Cooper – known as Buff – who handed over a cheque for more than £1,300 to the hospice at Haslemere Leisure Centre last week, was inspired to get fit and raise money in memory of father-of- two Barry Taylor who died in February 2013.

Buff said: “Barry was the same age as me and had two young children the same age as my youngest two – now nine and seven – and in his final weeks before he died he told a few home truths.

“He told me I was lucky to have such a lovely family and I needed to get fit before I dropped dead.”

The 49-year-old junior rugby coach was overweight and needed to get fit for the coming season, so he set himself the challenge to swim 52 and a half miles or the equivalent of Haslemere to Portsmouth and back.

To complete the double marathon, Buff took to the water four or five times a week, swimming between 64 and 128 lengths each time. It took 41 swims – 3,382 lengths of the pool over 12 weeks with a total swim time of 53 hours 43 minutes.

Buff said: “I covered the first marathon in 25 swims and the second marathon I managed to complete in 16 swims.

When I first started I thought I would never finish but I managed to break through the psychological barrier.

“I suppose the most gruelling part was the final swim of 240 lengths which took me three hours and 55 minutes.”

Phyllis Tuckwell’s community fundraiser Charli Quay-Barnham said: “We are so grateful to Buff for taking on this fantastic challenge – a double swim marathon is anything but easy and probably a little tedious at times.

He should be really proud of his achievement and we are really thankful all the money and awareness he has raised for Phyllis Tuckwell in memory of his friend Barry.”

Buff added: “Hopefully I have kept my promise to Barry and I will keep swimming and try a bit of cycling too.

“The great thing about Phyllis Tuckwell is the way they support the whole family. They do an amazing job and although the £1,300 is a drop in the ocean, if everybody took that attitude these places would not stay open.”

You can still donate to Buff’s double marathon swim at his Justgiving page

Go to www.justgiving. com/fundraising/double marathonswim.