A Monmouth schoolboy has been praised by the Marie Curie organisation for completing an open water challenge.

Jack Gadd, a sixth form student at Monmouth School for Boys, completed the Padstow to Rock Open Water Challenge (P2R) last month just days before his 17th birthday.

He was one of nearly 350 swimmers who took part in the charity challenge in Cornwall to raise money for the country’s leading end-of-life charity.

Some 102 elite and 245 non-elite swimmers braved unseasonal weather to complete the one mile open water swim in aid of Marie Curie.

The swim starts at the Sea Cadet slipway in Padstow and finishes across the water at Rock.

Jack first took up the challenge across the Camel Estuary for Marie Curie when he was 10 years old as part of the main ‘wave’ of entrants, and raised over £1,400.

The second time he swam was as part of the ‘Elite’ wave - usually experienced competition open water swimmers who are required to swim across to Rock in less than 30 mins.

He not only beat his dad across, but also managed to again exceed his fundraising target.

This year he wanted to beat his time, and ultimately be in the top 20 swimmers to finish, as well as to be a top fundraiser.

So on Sunday 6th August and despite the choppy conditions, Jack smashed his previous time, leaving his dad, Jeremy, for dust and finished as one of the fastest swimmers as well as one of the top fundraisers to take part this year.

Thanks to the generosity of friends and family, Jack managed to raise over £1,035 this year, making his total raised for Marie Curie £3,100.

Jack starts back at Monmouth Boys School this Thursday for his final year, where he hopes to achieve A Level results that will secure him a place at his chosen University to study Marine Biology, and continue with his passion for playing rugby.

Lynda Thomas, on behalf of Marie Curie said: “Everyone at Marie Curie would like to thank Jack for his incredible support in raising a fantastic amount of money for the charity. Jack is an inspiration, not only for his personal achievements in raising money for charitable causes, but also to other young swimmers who may wish to participate in an open water challenge”.