CRAIG Clarke has swum the English Channel, realising a dream he has held since childhood.

Clarke swam from Dover and touched French soil after 12 hours and 29 minutes.

MORE TO COME.

UPDATE

MEREWETHER's Craig Clarke has begun his attempt to swim the English Channel.

Clarke began around 11.20am after being concerned that the increasing winds would prevent his swim once again after prior delays in his start time.

However, he began after his team assessed conditions and determined it was safe to proceed.

A crew member said Clarke was well rested and excited to begin.

He is now swimming alongside the Pathfinder and has previously estimated it may take him between 11 and 15 hours to tackle the Dover to Calais swim, considered the holy grail of ocean swimming.

EARLIER

CRAIG Clarke is poised to begin his epic attempt to swim the English Channel this morning.

An update on his Facebook page Craigs English Channel Swim said Clarke was heading to Dover, with the swim scheduled to begin about 11.15am AEST (2.15am in England).

"However, the pilot is watching conditions, with a forecast for increasing wind, and will not proceed if he deems the wind to be to strong. Craig was feeling strong, well-rested and confident during the day and is keen to go if conditions allow. We'll keep you posted!" the post said.

IN THE NEWS:

On Monday, Clarke emailed the Herald to say he was "99.5% certain" he would start swimming towards France around midday on Tuesday.

"The weather conditions at the moment for my swim and light winds 10-20kph moving from the north to the south which are good conditions and very happy to swim in those. If what I actually get is less friendly on the day I will be ready to deal with it," he wrote.

"I will be swimming into the sunrise after about 90 minutes which will be very nice. The swimmer on my pilot boat today that I was waiting for was pulled out after 12 hours swimming which is very unfortunate for her. At the pace she was going she probably had another 4 hours ahead of her to get to France. So far this year 10 solo swimmers have attempted to swim the Channel with only 4 being successful and only one of those swimming less than 14 hours."

Clarke said he was "feeling really good and excited about what lies ahead of me tonight and looking to enjoy my time swimming between England and France."

MORE TO COME

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