A FORMER Bolton School pupil has broken the British record for the distance rowed in a 24-hour period as well as raising money for Bolton Hospice.

Lewis Daly plays water polo for Great Britain and left Bolton School in 2015.

He trains at Tideway Scullers School in London, where he is studying dentistry at Kings’ College.

He said: “The rowing training programme consists of a mixture of 'erg' sessions, strength and conditioning in the gym as well as sessions on the open water."

He says the idea to undertake his latest 24-hour row came "out of the blue" but the challenge of potentially improving the distance he achieved in a previous attempt and taking the British record really appealed to him.

In July last year, the 25-year old undertook the same challenge, raising over £3,000 for Bolton Hospice.

But on December 18 this year, he started his second 24-hour row at Agecroft Rowing Club with the target of beating the current record of 277,423m as well as raising money for a fantastic cause

This year’s endeavour will benefit them again. So far £3,450 has been raised.

Lewis said: “I started strongly and was just ahead of the record all the way through to one hour, 13 minutes.

"The night shift proved the toughest part, with fewer supporters and the darkness outside seemingly never ending. My energy levels waned and I started to lose the small lead I had on the British record.

“But by the last hour I was again just ahead of the record and pushed on to surpass the record with 12 minutes to spare – allowing me to break through the old record and set a new one of 280,427m!

“It was fantastic to also be joined by numerous people on the erg next to me – current Bolton School boys and Agecroft rowers as well as current Bolton School staff, Dr Yates and Mr Teasdale.

“I chose Bolton Hospice, specifically the Hospice at Home nurses, as they provided amazing care to my auntie Joy Roscoe, when she was unwell last year.

"The caring and nursing expertise of this amazing service proved invaluable to her and to us as a family, enabling her to stay at home even when she was very poorly."