The Great North Swim

The Great North Swim has been a huge boost for tourism numbers around Windermere, organisers say. Around ten thousand people took to part in this year's Great North Swim at Windermere in the Lake District.

It's one of the biggest swimming events in the world and brought hundreds of thousands of pounds into the local economy.

A 54 year old swimmer had to be rescued from the water at Windermere and airlifted to hospital with a suspected heart attack during the Great North Swim.

The woman from Worcester was taken to Hospital in Blackpool for specialist treatment.

She had been treated at scene by the on site medical team on Saturday afternoon after taking ill during her swim and is reported to be in a serious condition in hospital.

Around 10,000 people have been taking part in this year's Great North Swim in Windermere.

It's one of the biggest swimming events in the world.

Watch Matthew Taylor's report here:

Gold medal winning Paralympian, Josef Craig, who is a London 2012 and world record holder in the 400m freestyle, was at the start of the swim to encourage those taking part in Windermere.

The Great North Swim is the UK's biggest open water swimming race and it's underway in Windermere. 10,000 swimmers take to the lake over three days.

Last year, two of the days were cancelled due to high winds, but there are contingency plans in place this year to make sure everything goes swimmingly!