HELENSBURGH’S champion stone-skimmer Alex Lewis shrugged off an injury to retain his All England Open Stone Skimming Championship title at the weekend – setting a new event record with his winning throw.

Alex’s amazing 98-metre effort smashed the championship record of 95 metres – which he himself had set last year.

And though it wasn’t quite enough to match his own personal best of 111 metres, set at last month’s British championship in Shropshire, Alex, who starred in a BBC documentary ‘Sink or Skim’, about the sport last year, was still pleased with his win and new event record – particularly since it was achieved in spite of a strained elbow.

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Property developer Alex, who trains in the gym to build upper body strength and skims around 100 stones a week, said: “The 98-metre skim was a good one, but it tailed off at the end, just when I was hoping to make it a ‘centurion’ skim.

“I’m pleased with it though and delighted to have set another record.”

Former champion Kevin Waltham finished second with a best throw of 74 metres, ahead of pensioner Ron Long, a former champion affectionately known as ‘The Old Tosser’, who managed 71 metres.

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The event took place at the National Trust’s Fell Foot Park on Windermere and was organised by the South Cumbria Rivers Trust.