Fundraising Pentland Firth swimmer due to set off this afternoon

A man from Fraserburgh will be setting out to swim the Pentland Firth this afternoon, in memory of an Orkney woman.

Mark “Scratch” Cameron, an offshore worker and seven-time Scottish surfing champion, is planning to take to the water at Burwick, South Ronaldsay at 4pm today.

Mr Cameron decided to take on the seven-mile swim in memory of his girlfriend Ena Brown, who died suddenly earlier this year. Money raised through the challenge will be going to the Kirkwall Maternity Ward, where Ena had worked.

Accompanied by a support boat, Mr Cameron, 40, estimates the challenge should take him around three hours. He had been due to attempt the swim earlier this summer, with another swimmer, but they had to cancel due to poor weather conditions.

Speaking this morning he said: “As a surfer, I never thought I would be so glad to see flat-calm sea conditions. I’m feeling nervous, excited and emotional — being here in Orkney and thinking of Ena is pulling at my heartstrings a bit. I had never swum this sort of distance before I took up training for this in the last few months but I know I can swim for four hours non-stop, so it all just depends on the conditions.”

A fundraising web page for the swim is available here.