Tony Williams, 68, to swim Windermere in aid of diabetes research (From York Press)

Tony Williams, 68, to swim Windermere in aid of diabetes research

1:29pm Thursday 29th July 2010 in

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THE grandfather of a three-year-old diabetes patient is to swim across Windermere next month as part of a gruelling fundraising programme.

Since starting his challenge on May 9 in the Bristol 10K, 68-year-old Tony Williams has also climbed Ben Nevis, traversed the Trotternish Ridge on Skye and completed two half-triathlons.

Now the plucky Poppleton pensioner is training to compete in the Great North Open Water, a one-mile swim across Windermere in the Lake District.

Mr Williams has already raised more than half of the £6,000 he hopes to donate to research into type one diabetes – the condition which means his young grandson Oliver Wilson needs daily injections of insulin.

“It’s a pretty big commitment,” said Mr Williams of his challenge. “But it’s a pretty big commitment that Oliver and his parents have.

“I’m lucky because I don’t carry a lot of weight and I have stayed reasonably fit but I haven’t done any running for a while so I have had to step it up this summer – that’s for sure. I had to be disciplined and do something each day.

“I go to the pool and I go to Allerton Park near Pocklington to train with the triathlon club.”

Looking forward to his challenge on Windermere in September, Mr Williams admitted he had not yet swum a mile in open water during training.

“This is a bit of a step up and it could be quite cold, but it will get done – there’s no doubt about that.”

Mr Williams has taken up the challenge to raise money for The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s research into an “artificial pancreas” which it is hoped will one day provide a non-evasive glucose monitoring system and an automatic insulin delivery pump.

He said: “Oliver has to have has finger pricked six to eight times a day to monitor his blood glucose and then you have to have an insulin injection.

“He’s philosophical about it and knows he has ‘funny blood’ but most of the time he is just cracking good fun.”

If you would like to sponsor Mr Williams, visit www.justgiving.com/tonywilliamsJDRFsponsorship