A 14-year-old double English Channel relay swimmer has capped off his 'best year to date' with national recognition.

Alexander Sixsmith from Macclesfield attended the Aspire Swim Celebration Dinner in London on Saturday, November 7.

During the event, he was recognised as the youngest person ever to swim for Aspire, the national spinal cord injury charity.

It comes after he swam the final leg of Team Hyena's crossing from England to France in July, with Alexander landing on French soil after battling tough conditions as all other teams cancelled their attempts that day.

The Beech Hall School pupil said: "This has been my best year to date and I'm already excited for my 2027 swims!

"Thank you to everyone who sponsored me this year.

"Your money has made a real difference to the people living with spinal injuries."

READ MORE: 14-year-old Macclesfield schoolboy completes second cross-Channel swim

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It was a hugely successful year for Aspire.

Eleven relay teams and two solo swimmers successfully completed their crossings, raising £379,408 for the charity.

This brings the total raised for Aspire through open water swimming to £4,296,549.

Helping to celebrate this achievement was British canoeist Jonny Young.

Jonny told those in attendance how Aspire had supported him after he broke his back in a skiing accident in 2012.

Thanks to the charity's support, he would go on to become world champion in 2017, also picking up European medals in 2022 and 2025.