Shropshire farm's oats to fuel Ben's Atlantic swim

In December Ben Hooper plans to set off from Dakar in West Africa and hopes to reach Natal, northern Brazil, in 120 days – swimming a total of 1,763 miles.

Ben, 35, a former policeman from Cheltenham, will swim for about eight or nine hours every day for four months.

He currently swims up to 18k a day during training but once he sets off across the Atlantic he will swim up to 24k a day.

Produce from the award-winning Pimhill Organic Farm at Harmer Hill near Shrewsbury will help fuel Ben's swim.

The owners of family-run Pimhill farm, Ginny Mayall and her husband Ian Anderson, have donated 14 of their 5kg bags of organic jumbo oats to ensure Ben has sufficient nutritious oats to see himself and his crew across the Atlantic.

Breakfast for Ben has to be substantial and that includes a bowl of porridge made with at least 120g dry Jumbo porridge oats mixed with water.

The high amount of complex carbohydrates oats contain are digested at a slow pace, giving Ben lasting energy.

He adds a banana, glass of orange juice, two boiled eggs, four slices of wholemeal toast and sometimes a plate of pasta to his breakfast to get him swimming.

During his trans-Atlantic swim a further bowl of porridge will be eaten when he refuels during the day between staged swims, each lasting up to six hours.

He has to eat at least 8,000 calories a day during training, which will increase to 12,000 calories a day during the actual swim. Ben said: "To have Ginny and Ian's support is fantastic. We are trying to get sponsorship for the final items of food we need for the expedition which in total will cost £12,500 for the crew and I over the four-month period.

"At least now we know we will have an enjoyable breakfast, even though it will be made with desalinated water.

"Pimhill Farm has been extremely generous in supporting our Swim The Big Blue expedition and it was wonderful to come up to Shropshire to meet with them."

When approached with the request to support the Swim The Big Blue expedition, Ian and Ginny were amazed at the challenge Ben is taking on.

They were very happy to support this global first. Ginny said: "We wish Ben all the very best and hope that our Pimhill Jumbo oats will effectively fuel him on his incredible journey."

Ben is hoping to start his expedition by the end of next month. The Swim The Big Blue expedition is hoping to set off by the end of December 2015.

He is deadly serious, spending the past two years training in the warm waters off the Florida Keys, while assembling a support team, including doctors and academics who will monitor his progress as well as marine wildlife and debris in the middle of the ocean.

He has raised more than £100,000 of the required £150,000 funding through sponsorship. During his swim he will be tackling physical, mental and emotional challenges, enduring sharks and other predators, storms, currents, heat and discomfort.

His 120-day Atlantic swim and all that is associated with it, will be filmed for Global online and TV audiences across Europe, the USA and is to be verified by the Guinness Book of World Records.

His expedition also has world class research in Psychology of Performance, Endurance Nutrition and Health, Marine Biology and Environmental impact studies being conducted.

Ben is also hoping to raise over £1 million for four charities: Addaction, County Community Projects, Maggie's Cancer Relief and SOS Children's Villages.

To find out more about Ben's Atlantic swim to become the first man to swim every single mile across the Atlantic Ocean, go to www.bensmiles.co.uk

For more information about Pimhill Farm go to www.pimhill.co.uk