FIFTY two miles of open ocean is looming for four determined men from a Marlow gym who are set to take on the 26 hour challenge to swim the English Channel this weekend.

The epic feat is being taken on by Peter Frost and Simon Backer, who work at The Marlow Club in Fieldhouse Lane and members Peter Maule, Joe Middleton. They are bidding to raise £15,000 for Male Cancer Awareness Campaign.

At the time of going to press, the swim was set to begin at some point this weekend.

Mr Backer 30, Deputy General Manager at The Marlow Club, said: "I'm incredibly excited and raring to go.

"With pledges and online donations we are running at around the £10k-£11k mark and we would be ecstatic to smash the £15K target. Training has been great the last two weeks, with some very fast swims and now I am the fastest, fittest and strongest I have ever been."

The friends will be doing 24 hours of non-stop swimming on a rotation basis.

A one way swim is about 26 miles - the same distance as a marathon - depending on the tide and takes an average of 13 hours. The foursome will swim to France and back again - a combined total of 52 miles.

Only 811 people have swum the Channel since 1875 and there is only a 10 per cent success rate. By comparison, Mount Everest has been climbed 2,049 time.

Mr Maule said: "I'm feeling excited and apprehensive about how my 60 year old body will cope with the cold and fatigue over a 30 hour period. "The biggest challenge will be the cold and fatigue especially on the return leg at night."

The temperature will be around 18 degrees Celsius and wetsuits are not allowed.

The team have named themselves the Near Naked Men. Each member's trunks have been made specially by sponsors Swim Tag and bear the charity's name.

To sponsor the team visit: www.justgiving.com/nearnakedmen