WATCH: Meet The 100-Year-Old Isle Of Wight Swimmer Making A Splash To Raise NHS Cash

Saturday, 5 June 2021 06:00

By Oliver Dyer @olidyer

Swimming 100 metres on his 100th birthday - that's the challenge an Isle of Wight man is taking on in aid of the NHS today (Saturday).

Bill Smith, who lives at Cowes' Briary Court, is making a splash in the residential complex's pool.

He plans on raising as much money as possible for the health service, and has even pledged to donate £100 himself, for every year of his life.

Bill's family are also making the journey to the Island from Wales to watch him complete the feat.

Bill and Firstport development manager, Cherry Kingdom

A retired teacher and chef, Bill moved to the Island with his wife in 1970.

He grew up in Wales and left home at the age of 15. After that, he went on to spend time in Weston-Super-Mare and London - surviving the Blitz.

He was called up to the forces and spent six years in India, eventually returning to the country as a sous chef at a hotel.

It was there he met a receptionist, who later became his wife.

Bill has always been an avid swimmer, and credits exercise and beer for his long, happy and healthy life.

He told Isle of Wight Radio:

"I would say my condition is due to what my mother made of me and after that, and still is, the NHS. They fill me with tablets! And now I'm living on tablets! But no, I do exercises every morning and always have done ever since I was seven or eight years-old.

"I did about five or six mini press-ups. So I thought I'll see if I can get any more, up to 10. I'll see if I can get 20, 100! I got up to 100 then I thought can I get up to 200 and then eventually I got up to 300. At the moment I don't think I could get up to 300!

"I believe [exercise] is the secret to good living, happy living.

"I lived on the fat of the land. In the kitchen you perspire a lot. Water gets a bit tedious after a while so I drank a lot - beer! There was always a great big saucepan of beer for us to help ourselves to. I could drink maybe at least 10, 15 and sometimes even 20 pints a day!"

Bill says it's been a tough year because of the pandemic, and he's hoping to beat Captain Sir Tom Moore's fundraising target.

After today's challenge, he also has his eyes set on another - planting 100 trees for every year of his life.

Isle of Wight Radio paid him a visit before he took to the pool...

Bill will take to the pool at the FirstPort-managed Cowes site at 8am this morning.

Upon finishing, he also hopes to sing a song for his Granddaughter. Check out a sneak peek in the above video!

A fundraiser has been set up for Islanders to contribute to the cause. It has so far raised £547.

You can donate to it here - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/billsmith100.

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WATCH: Meet The 100-Year-Old Isle Of Wight Swimmer Making A Splash To Raise NHS Cash

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