An Epsom swimmer will be taking on three of Europe’s toughest swims this summer to raise money for charity and honour his dead friend.

Mickey Helps, 50, of Longdown Lane North, will be swimming the Gibraltar Straits between Europe and Africa (eight miles), the British Channel (21 miles) and the Dardanelles Straits between Europe and Asia (three miles) to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation.

A keen swimmer since childhood, Mr Helps has tackled the British Channel before, as well as two lengths of Lake Windermere (21 miles), the full length of Lake Zurich (17 miles) as well as swimming 40 miles around the Channel Island of Jersey.

He was also a keen water polo player, and it is for his former captain and long-time friend Mark Shepherd, 53, who died from a heart attack in January, that he is swimming for.

Mr Helps explained: “We grew up together through water polo.

“When I heard in January he had suddenly passed away it was a huge shock but I knew I wanted to do something for the British Heart Foundation.

“It is a big challenge and he was a big guy, a big presence.”

Mr Helps has been tailoring his training for the three swims since October by shunning land-based sports such as running and cycling and preparing for swimming in the cold.

He has been doing the majority of his swimming at Epsom District Swimming Club in Victoria Place, and plans to swim in Shepperton Lake near Staines later this month.

His job as a planning project manager will also take him to Brighton, where he plans to swim in the sea to acclimatise to temperatures he says can bring swimmers “to the edge of hypothermia”.

Mr Helps said: “There is a lot to do and a long way to go yet, but I have a training plan so nothing will come as a shock.

“The average (time for swimming the channel) is about 14-and-a-half hours, so you have to get used to the boredom.

“It’s really about getting positive and knowing and reminding yourself what you’re doing it for.”

Mr Helps has raised more than £3,000 for the British Heart Foundation so far, and hopes to raise even more.

He said: “It’s so extreme that people look into it twice. To take on the Channel, the Gibraltar Straits and go across to Asia as well, people realise it has to be worth a bit.”

For more information, or to donate, visit www.thehelps.co.uk