Mika (10) makes a splash with Tay bridges swim
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
A TEN-year-old boy from Wormit is eyeing up a potentially golden future after producing a sporting performance an Olympian would be proud of.
Wormit Primary School pupil Mika Mitchell swam between the Tay road and rail bridges in under half an hour on Tuesday evening — cheered on by a host of family members, friends and other impressed onlookers.
Dad Robert, who travelled alongside Mika in a safety boat, described his son’s efforts as “fantastic”.
CHALLENGE
He said: “Mika loves his open-water swimming and decided he wanted to do the bridge to bridge challenge.
“It’s a 1.2-mile course and we expected him to take about 40 minutes.
“But he did it in 27 minutes and 47 seconds — it was a fantastic swim.”
Robert was joined in the safety boat by Mika’s older brother Sean and uncle Mark.
But their help was never needed as Mika comfortably completed what should have been a gruelling swim in chilly conditions.
Robert said: “The water was cold because we haven’t had much sunshine this summer, but Mika shocked us by how well he did.
“He’s been training three or four times a week and building up the length of time he stays in the water.”
Last year Mika swam from Broughty Ferry to Tayport as a nine-year-old after being inspired to take up the challenge by his dad, who is a keen open-water swimmer himself.
Since then Mika has been training hard as a member of Menzieshill Whitehall Swimming Club in Dundee.
Robert added: “Mika has a great time at the club and they put a lot of effort into all the children.
“We’ve been watching the Olympics on TV for the last two weeks, and Mika has been especially interested in the swimming.
“He’s starting to think ‘maybe if I stick in and train hard I could do something like that one day’.”
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Weather for Kirkcaldy
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 3 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 28 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 29 mph
Wind direction: North
