Three Oxford swimmers have smashed the British record for swimming from Europe to Africa.

Friends Lennard Lee, Harry Fisher and Nicholas Berry crossed the 22km-wide Gibraltar Strait in three hours and 38 minutes yesterday, 58 minutes faster than celebrity duo David Walliams and James Cracknell managed in March.

The trio, who are all students at Oxford University, had to contend with killer whales and strong currents as they completed their marathon effort in aid of the Variety Club of Great Britain.