A group of children from Peel Clothworkers’ School are swimming the equivalent of the TT course for charity.

The group aged seven and eight had planned to keep to a target of 12 weeks, but between them, they’ve already smashed that target..

Having completed 2,416 lengths of the Western swimming pool in just six weeks, the pupils of Sarah Greensmith and Marie Whitmore’s class 3GW have decided to do it all again.

The reason behind this is the Mountain Course Challenge which challenges people to complete either 2,416 lengths of a pool or the triathlon event of the lengths plus 75.5 miles of cycling and running.

The inspiration for the children came from one f the parents, Fiona Gell, who said: ’I did the triathlon challenge last year with two laps of the TT course equivalent on the bike and one lap running over 12 weeks and my son really wanted to do the swim this year.

’It works out that you have to do about 200 lengths in the pool a week which is too much for a seven-year-old so I suggested entering a team.

’We threw it open to his class and did not expect the massive response that we got.’

The kids have been completing the challenge during their school lessons, in the evenings and at weekends.

Their school swimming teacher Heather Melvin said: ’They turn up desperate to get their lengths in, are so enthusiastic and their fitness levels have increased over the past six weeks.’

She is hoping it may inspire other classes to get involved next year and potentially run similar challenges throughout the year.

The kids involved have all paid £5 to enter the challenge with the money going to charity Swim Safe.

Swim Safe focuses on the different dangers and challenges that swimming in lakes, rivers and the sea bring compared to a swimming pool.

The charity offers free outdoor swimming and water safety sessions for children aged between seven and 14, teaching them how to keep safe when swimming outdoors and know what to do if they get into trouble.

Mrs Gell revealed that they were up to 321 on lap 2 and said: ’It is brilliant to see the kids so interested and enthusiastic about swimming, and I admire their commitment to getting the challenge completed. A really great achievement considering their age.’

It was formed as a combined effort between Swim England and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

They are now chasing the target of completing the course twice and are making impressive progress.