From Albania to Corfu - one of the less familiar routes enquired about at your local travel agents.

But that journey was no problem for Rhian Thompson of Carnhedryn, St. Davids, and Sally Ann Lewis, formally of Solva,

On August 31st the pair were among 61 other swimmers that completed the difficult challenge.

Although the distance is only three kilometers the very strong currents took many swimmers off course - and really added to the extreme difficulty.

But Rhian, 62, and Sally, 61, completed the swim in a very respectable time of 1 hour 29 minutes.

And to the relief of the competition organisers, all entrants completed the swim safely.

Sally actually now lives on Corfu and owns and runs Trailriders Horse Trekking on the island and Rhian, who spends a lot of time there, trained for the event by swimming 24 kilometers along the eastern coast.

And most importantly, two worthy charities were beneficiaries of the day.

Swimmers were supporting the Smile of a Child and Ionian Environment Foundation groups, with Rhian and Sally creditably raising almost 1000 euros.