A former GB triathlete will swim the length of the White Cliffs on Saturday to highlight the environmental crisis.

Sarah Philpott, 42, will begin the eight mile endeavour at 6am from Dover where she lives, passing St Margarets at 7am , Kingsdown at 8am, Walmer Castle at 8.30am and Deal Pier at 9am.

She is inviting others to join her to spread their own message on climate issues, particularly sewerage in the ocean.

She says people can help by taking a picture of themselves by the waterway and posting it on social media using #EndSewagePollution.

She said: "As COP26 closes, the baton in the race to save the earth and our oceans is being passed to every single one of us.

"We all need to hold ourselves accountable and each other. We all need to act.

"We just want to flood social media with environmental issues we care about so we can start to have joined up conversations."

Ms Philpott represented Great Britain on six occasions from 1999 to 2002 at one Europeans and five World Championships, competing across Canada, Australia, Mexico, France and Germany.

The former Sir Roger Manwood's pupil was forced to retire from triathlon due to a knee injury caused by running so switched to mountain biking and annual pilgrimages to get her kicks.

Having not been in the water competitively for a decade and a half, she decided to use the pandemic to jump back in, and in 2020 completed her first Channel swim.

On Saturday, she will be accompanied by a safety boat carrying messages such as 'Climate Crisis on a Cliff Edge' and ‘There is no PLANet B’

She said: "The water is really cold at the moment, 13 degrees.

"It will be a tough challenge so it's good that it's a purposeful one, as that will keep me going."

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