A FORMER Ellesmere Titans swimmer has broken a world record after becoming the first British Swimmer to complete a 25,000-metre open water swim with a sub five-hour time.

Hetor Pardoe, who also used to swim at Whitchurch Wasps in north Shropshire, was competing at the French National Open Championships, held at the Ile des Loisirs, Jabelines, when he set the new record.

The 19-year-old Olympic hopeful recorded a time of four hours, 59 minutes and three seconds, beating the previous record-holder by more than five minutes.

His new British record also handed him second place at the event, finishing behind reigning double world champion Axel Reymond.

Hector insists it was a proud moment to set a new record, but said it did not come easy.

He said: “I felt pretty good throughout the race, but having only been back in training for three weeks, following an extended three week holiday, the last lap most definitely took its toll on me”.

The previous best time recorded by a British Swimmer was at the 2005 Montreal World Championships, when Alan Bircher came 10th in a time of 5:04.16.

Although Hector had led for parts of the race, he found himself four seconds behind Axel in the final lap of 15, but was unable to close the gap.

Next to finish behind Hector was Dutch swimmer Marcel Schouten.

The Wrexham-born swimmer hopes continued good performances will put him in good stead for a place in the Great Britain squad for the Tokyo Olympic Games which have been postponed until 2021.

The 25,000m event is the longest competition distance in open water and represents more than 15.5 miles.

Hector is currently blogging his training up to the Olympics on his Twitter account.

Visit www.twitter.com/hector_pardoe?s=20 to keep up with his performances.