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Michael Renford to swim 34km from New Norfolk to Hobart in his dad’s memory

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Renford has trained up to 50 kilometres per week for the event

Michael ‘Murph’ Renford, the son of legendary open water swimmer Des Renford, is preparing for a challenging 34-kilometre swim along Hobart’s River Derwent this weekend.

The swim holds special significance for Renford as it marks 50 years since his father Des became the first person to complete the swim.

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Renford, now 63, has been training diligently for the event, covering up to 50 kilometres per week and completing several four-hour swims at Bondi and Maroubra.

“I’ve been doing up to 50 kilometres a week and I just worked out in the last five weeks, I’ve done 241 kilometres in preparation,” he told Local Radio earlier this month.

He aims to honour his father, who completed the same swim 50 years ago

“I think I’m [in a] pretty good place to be able to do the swim.”

Renford’s primary motivation is to honor his father, who he describes as Australia’s greatest long-distance swimmer.

Renford has trained up to 50 kilometres per week for the event

“He’s probably primarily known or recognised for being the third Aussie to swim the English Channel, but he did 19 Channel crossings from 19 attempts from 1970 to 1980,” he said.

“I know you hear the stories about people that struggle to be in the limelight of their dad, but to be honest, growing up, my dad was my dad and my best mate and I loved him to death and happy to keep his memory alive all these years later.”

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Renford hopes to surpass his father’s time of 10 hours and 54 minutes, set 50 years ago.

“Lucky I haven’t inherited his slowness in swimming. I’m a little bit quicker than him. I shouldn’t take the mickey out of him, but dad’s favorite word was tenacity. And I’d like to think that maybe I’ve got that in spades as well,” he said.

Renford plans to start at the New Norfolk Bridge swim at a pace of around 4 kilometres per hour. Image / Pulse

He will enter the water at New Norfolk Bridge on Saturday morning, swimming around 4km per hour before crossing the finish line at the Tasman Bridge.

The swim will raise funds for Rainbow Club Australia, a charity that provides swimming opportunities for young people with disabilities.

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Renford has already raised more than $35,000 of his $50,000 target.

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