Olympic athlete Tom Daley has been pictured rowing under Tower Bridge as he embarked on the first part of a gruelling four-day challenge to raise funds for Red Nose Day.
The diver, 27, is taking on an epic endurance challenge as he rows, cycles, swims and runs his way from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford to his hometown of Plymouth.
The Olympic gold medallist said: “Lots of people would think after an Olympic Games and being successful at the Olympics, you would want a little break and put your feet up and not do any exercise for a little bit, but not me.
“I’m always up for a new challenge, always up for trying something new, and when this opportunity came up, the thought of being able to do this with Comic Relief, to try and raise money.”
Red Nose Day is a campaign that aims to end child poverty by raising funding for programmes that support kids from under-privileged backgrounds.
Daley began his journey rowing six miles from the Aquatics Centre in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where he won his first Olympic medal in 2012. He then picked up his bike at the Tower of London to cycle westward to the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake, Team GB Rowing’s training ground.
His Comic Relief challenge will be captured and shared in a documentary for the BBC.
The documentary, titled Tom Daley’s Hell of A Homecoming, will air on BBC One in March.
Daley added: “Supporting Comic Relief is something really important to me because, on so many different levels, the organisation and charity helps so many people, in so many different walks of life and different areas, and I think that’s something that’s really important.”
Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day returns on March 18.
