A HOLMES Chapel man is making a splash at Cottons Hotel Spa in Knutsford after taking a swimming challenge to unprecedented lengths.

Patrick Barratt embraced Cottons' challenge to swim 3,000 lengths of their pool by topping the 100,000 mark.

And the 39-year-old, who created his own business Dublcheck Cleaning, believes it is proving a great way of keeping him fit.

“I am fortunate to have flexibility in my working hours,” said Patrick, who runs the mobile car valeting and chaffeur service.

“I have been swimming quite a long time and it’s better than going in the gym as you use all off your muscles in the pool.

“I rose to the challenge and had completed 27,000 lengths by the end of February. These challenges from Cottons continued throughout the year and I met every one.

“By the time I completed 36,000 lengths my nearest rival had achieved 4,000. I then raised the bar for myself to complete 100,000 by the end of 2013, which I duly did.”

And Patrick’s extreme swimming habits have caught the eye of pool users, such as friend and actor Steven Williamson.

“I got quite friendly with Patrick as he was always in the pool,” said Steven. “It’s a great achievement as the challenge was originally 3,000 lengths over the month.

“He’s gone so much further and he has now done a total of 100,000 in a little over eight months, he definitely deserves some recognition.”