Published: Thursday, 22nd March, 2007 12:00pm

Andrea"s making a splash for her 50th

by Sportsdesk

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Pic by: Dunfermline Press

GOING for a six-hour swim in the sea off Malta isn"t everybody"s ideal way to celebrate their 50th birthday.

But then British open water swimming queen Andrea Gellan isn"t like everyone else.

The tech scientist and mum-of-three, from Dunfermline"s Comely Park, is hoping to become only the 18th Scot to swim the English Channel in the summer.

But first she must attend an open water training camp on the sunshine island and complete a six-hour qualifying swim, scheduled for 17th April – the day she turns 50.

'I love swimming and I enjoy outdoor swimming so to swim outdoors in gorgeous conditions on my birthday, I can"t think of any better way to celebrate,' Andrea told Press Sport.

'I think it"s really marvellous that I can do something I love.'

Andrea will take the plunge in the Med for between six to eight hours as she swims from the island of Gozo to the mainland. Water temperature off Malta next month will be similar to that she"ll experience in the Channel this summer.

'My husband"s coming to Malta with me but he"s going sightseeing,' she laughed.

Plucky Andrea entered the record books in 2004 when, as part of a relay team, she broke the world record for a two-way Channel crossing and established a new three-way record.

But now she fancies a solo attempt, which will also see her raise money for the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

'I have always thought about it but never thought I would manage to do it,' she explained. 'A couple of years ago one of my friends said I should do it for my 50th.

'She persuaded me to do a double Windermere, which is the same distance, and once I did that, I knew I could do the Channel so I"ve been training towards it for the last two years.'

Comedian David Walliams recently completed a high profile crossing for Sport Relief but one in every three swimmers who attempt the feat don"t make it.

Andrea"s in good shape, however, after picking up the veteran grand prix winner"s award at the recent British Long Distance Swimming Association awards ceremony.

She beat allcomers – including the blokes – over three races at Rivington Reservoir, near Bolton, over two miles, Torbay (four miles) and the Coniston veterans event (three-and-a-half miles) and smiled,

'I"ve been second for three years in a row, beaten by a man all three times, so this year it was really good to win.'