David Walliams raises £1.1mn for charity after completing 140-mile Thames swim

London: British comedian David Walliams has finally completed his epic charity swim along 140 miles of the River Thames despite battling illness and stormy weather all the way, and raised more than one million pounds.

The 40-year-old ‘Little Britain’ star was greeted on Westminster Bridge by his wife Lara Stone, celebrity friends, relatives and hundreds of fans. The comedian had raised more than 1.1million pounds for Sport Relief. Exhausted and achy, the comedian said he was ‘OK, a bit tired’ after his challenging journey over the past eight days. “I feel incredible relief. I’m a bit over swimming... I feel like I’ve done enough for a lifetime,” The Daily Mail quoted him as talking to The One Show about 45 minutes after his ascent from the river. Walliams, however, played down his achievement, saying: “It was just swimming. It was just putting one arm in front of the other... just swimming.” Despite battling a bout of ‘Thames Tummy’, a painful rash where his wetsuit rubbed and aching muscles, Walliams hasn’t let anything stop him completing the challenge, which saw him swimming over 110,000 strokes. “There was a lot against me at the beginning and the water was a lot colder because the summer was so bad. Being sick was a low point. I lost my mojo but I thought if I try I can keep going,” he said. He also paid tribute to all those who have been so generous to him with their time and money. IANS