Norfolk pub landlady swims the length of Loch Ness

Dani Cameron, who runs the Shoulder of Mutton in Strumpshaw, swam the entire length of Loch Ness at the weekend.

The 52-year-old is now one of less than 100 people who have completed the challenge, a feat which took 15 hours and 50 minutes in cold and windy conditions.

Dani said: "I started the swim at 6am, just before the sun rose. 

Dani (right) with Leon and Joe, who piloted the supervising boat (Image: Dani Cameron)

"The water was around 10C and the air was 6C.

"I started to vomit after 11 hours. I dragged myself through the back end. My mind was gone by the end of it.

"All the time I kept getting these shudders and losing track. I was singing Gloria Estefan in my head!

"I started the 23 mile swim in the dark and finished under shooting stars and the Milky Way. 

"I'm glad I've done it - less than 100 people have and I'll be 53 next month so it's not bad for an old woman!

"I had no run-ins with Nessie either."

Last year, Dani swam the English Channel, in which she had to navigate through swarms of jellyfish.

Dani started in very cold and foggy weather (Image: Dani Cameron)

However, the Loch Ness swim proved a much harder challenge for the pub landlady.

She said: "I was really worried about frostbite and I didn't want to get hypothermia.

"I was just wearing a swimming costume rather than a wet suit.

Dani braved the waters in just a wetsuit (Image: Dani Cameron)

"It was unseasonably warm when I swam the Channel and I enjoyed that much more.

"It just took me hours to warm up after being in Loch Ness, with water temperatures moving between 10C and 14C throughout the day.

"There was a lot of headwind which was really hard to swim through."

Dani trained for the cold water by spending hours in a plunge pool in the pub cellar (Image: Dani Cameron)

Dani prepared for the challenge by putting a cold plunge pool in the cellar of the Shoulder of Mutton, which she spent hours sitting in.

The pub landlady faced the challenge to raise money for Little Lifts, a breast cancer charity based in Norwich, and has raised more than £3,000 so far. 

"It was the hardest swim I have ever done, but feels like a real achievement and I'm really proud that I have done it," she said.

"I just kept thinking about people with breast cancer and told myself to stop whining."

This is not the end of Dani's swimming challenges, with plans already in place for the landlady to swim the North Channel - between Northern Ireland and Scotland - as part of a relay in June 2025.