Walliams completes Super Swim warm-up

David celebrates passing his gruelling eight-hour test in Croatia

Little Britain star David Walliams is a step closer to realising his ambition to swim the Channel for Sport Relief after completing his 'qualifier' swim.

Walliams had to complete the eight-hour swim in Croatia before the Channel Swimming Association would let him try to cross the 21-mile English Channel.

"Swimming for eight hours has made me realise this is a serious business.

"It's hard to feel confident about it because it's just such a difficult thing to do," he said.

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Walliams, 34, will brave freezing waters for up to 16 hours, dodge tankers and plough through seaweed on his Super Swim across the English Channel.

Even with just 15 minutes to go I was counting the seconds until it was over David Walliams on his Croatia test

The Croatian waters provided the perfect preparation, with sea temperatures approximately the same as they will be in the Channel in early July.

"To be honest it was harder than I thought, in fact it was utter misery," said Walliams.

"You get to the point where you feel an awful lot of pain, your arms have been pounding the water for hours on end and they hurt a lot.

"I didn't figure on the level of fatigue - even with just 15 minutes to go I was counting the seconds until it was over.

"It was hard to find the energy to get out at the end."

Sponsor David in his epic attempt at

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The story of David's undertaking will be documented in a one-hour programme, Little Britain's Big Swim, on July 14th.

Get your own very special picture of David, dressed as a lady in a bathing costume, as above, sent to your mobile by texting SWIM DAVID to 82125.

Texts cost £1 plus standard operator charge. At least 70p from each text will go towards David's total.

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