Two Richmond lecturers have set a world record for canoeing along a section of the River Thames.

Dominic Alessio and Mark Horne, from The American International University in Richmond, made the 125-mile journey in 81 hours and 52 minutes.

This was 38 hours faster than expected and they also raised almost £900 for You Touch Africa, a charity that funds education programmes in Tanzania.

Mr Horne, an assistant professor in Cognitive Neuroscience and his colleague Professor Alessio canoed along the non-tidal Thames from Lechlade in Gloucestershire to Teddington.

Nobody had set this record before and after contacting Guinness World Records a target of 120 hours.

Mr Horne said: “Last year I set a similar record for paddle boarding the same route. I told Dom about it and he said we should try something similar in a canoe. Every morning we woke up at 4:30 am to set off by 6am and we would set up camp at 9.00 pm.

“We camped all three nights. It was difficult and non-stop. The hardest thing for me was the team element. When I paddle boarded the same route I was on my own, so having another person with me was very different.

“We had to get used to each other strengths weaknesses and routines, it was challenging. But it was also great to have someone with me and celebrate with someone!”

The pair have so fair raised £870 for You Touch Africa. The charities vision is to establish ‘direct support to the efforts of the local poor, with 100 percent of money donated to projects’.

Mark has plans to paddle board from one coast of the UK to the other soon, starting in Bristol. He and Dom are also planning a trip to Canada to paddleboard the geomagnetic North Pole, which will involve a 100-mile paddle and a one-mile hike.