David targets world records for Alliance of Sport
David Adams aims to set four world records in four days and raise money for the Alliance of Sport in an epic paddleboarding adventure.
Former prison resident David aims to set records for the quickest times paddleboarding across the biggest lakes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (a combined total of 100km) in the space of four gruelling days.
Starting with traversing Loch Awe in the Scottish Highlands, David will then head south and sleep on the banks of Lake Windermere in the Lake District, before paddling across it the following day.
He will then head down the M6 to Liverpool and cross the Irish Sea before pitching tent next to Northern Ireland’s Lough Neagh (the largest lake in the UK at 151 square miles).
The following morning, after crossing that vast expanse of water, David and his support crew will then hop back across on the ferry from Belfast to Liverpool and travel to Wales to finish with Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid) in Snowdonia.
As well as raising money to fund the Alliance of Sport’s work promoting the power of sport in criminal justice, the other aim of David’s ‘Paddling 4 Change‘ quest is to raise awareness of prison reform and rehabilitation.
The chance to repair and rebuild your life after incarceration is a particular passion of David’s, having been inspired by working with Penal Reform Solutions while serving his second prison sentence at HMP Guys Marsh. He was released in April 2020.
David says: “Whilst I was inside, I dreamt about that moment when I’ll have finished the final lake and am off the water, completely drained. That’s what kept me going.
“I’m using this challenge as an opportunity to grow as an individual, learn about who I am, test my boundaries and hit limits that I’ve never hit before.
“When I’m in that ‘zone’ on the water, that’s when you really realise your depth of grit and perseverance and find out who you really are.
“Hopefully I can encourage more people to get out there and have an adventure of their own, however big or small, and grow and change as an individual.”
David, from Bournemouth, has a strict running and fitness regime through the week which he fits around his job as a solar engineer. His weekends are devoted to paddleboarding (with help from his sponsors FatStick) and he is also planning an expedition to Everest in 2023.
You can sponsor David’s ‘Paddling 4 Change’ challenge on his JustGiving page. He is donating all proceeds to the Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice.