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Help For Heroes: Divers wet suits to get an iron
Paul Morgan and Glen Laurie with other members of the Barrascuba Diving School wondering where they could plug the iron in when they do their underwater ironing stunt. Picture: Kit Mallin
A team of scuba divers may need some help getting rid of their own wrinkles after they take part in a 24-hour underwater ironing event.
More than 50 diving enthusiasts will be grabbing their laundry and an ironing board and making a seam-less transition underwater at Gildenburgh Water near Whittlesey, Peterborough on April 9 to help raise money for Help For Heroes.
The iron-men and women in buddy pairs of divers from Barrascuba Diving School will spend around half-an-hour underwater at a time and then change over to keep the ironing going for the whole 24 hours in the cold depths of the lakes, which are at former brickworks which shut down in 1945.
Paul Morgan, from the school based in Northampton but who spend most of their free time diving near Peterborough, said people could bet their shirts on them completing the challenge.
He said: “We try to do charity events every year and we thought this year we would choose this worthwhile cause.
”We have done stunts before such as underwater pool competitions but the ironing one should be a tough one.
“The cold temperatures mean divers will have to swap over every half hour as they will get extremely cold, but we have about 50 members taking part so it should make it a fun event.
”And don’t worry, the irons won’t be plugged into the mains.”
The lakes have varying depths of between one metre and 22 metres and it is considered by many divers to be the best diving centre in the country.
The team are planning to iron at about six to eight metres deep and start at 9am on April 9 and work until 9am on April 10.
The divers will be raising money for Help For Heroes which provides practical direct support to servicemen and women and their families who are wounded in the line of duty.
Paul added: “We would also welcome any support during the event, whether it be cups of tea or just to cheer us on, so please come along. “Gildenburgh is the last turn on the right as you exit Whittlesey on the road to March.”
To support the divers or to just watch their fund-raising attempt visit www.justgiving.com/user/23383805 or visit their website www.barrascuba.co.uk
Pool in the pool
UNDERWATER stunts for charity have become increasingly popular in recent years.
Noughts and crosses, chess, pool, snooker, cycling and spinning are all sports that have had the underwater treatment.
In 2009, the world record of 158 simultaneous scuba diving Santas was broken.
The current record for an underwater radio broadcast stands at more than three-and-a-half hours and the longest time anyone has juggled three objects underwater is one minute and 20 seconds.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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