Intrepid swimmers David Slater and his brother John swum a full 20 yards towards France on Sunday as part of a challenge laid down at a celebration weekend.

A total of 64 members, partners and friends of the Rotary Club of Leatherhead attended the weekend at the Churchill Hotel in Dover - including 17 representatives from the club's two "twin" clubs, Lens-Henin-Beaumont in France and Hannut-Waremme in Belgium.

The cross-channel challenge was laid down during a black-tie dinner dance on the Saturday night, when the fearless Slater brothers suggested that they could swim to France on the following day quicker than the French or Belgian club members could return there using more traditional transportation.

Unfortunately, the attempt had to be abandoned more than 21 miles short of the French coast when David and John discovered that the English Channel in March is slightly colder than the indoor pool at Leatherhead Leisure Centre.

Their courageous display of British grit was curtailed by the revelation the Churchill Hotel was out of goose grease - having only a pound of lard in its kitchen fridge.

Without this vital ingredient to keep out the cold the twins were thwarted in their attempts to show their European counterparts what they were really made of.

Admitting defeat, David Slater conceded they had done very little training in the 12 hours leading up to the challenge, adding: "We will, however, be in better shape when the three clubs meet again at our club's Family Weekend in Leatherhead in early June and anticipate a much closer result in the follow-up attempt to swim across the River Mole."