You have probably seen this bloke on the news recently as he has been taking the plunge around the UK for charity.

Tim Crossin, a 59-year-old former Royal Marine, was diagnosed with cancer but despite that he decided to raise money for charity by taking a daily plunge into icy cold water.

Last week he reached the Highlands and was planning to get to Ullapool, however the wintry weather defeated him, but he did get to John O’Groats, Spean Bridge and Loch Ness.

Having said that it was appropriate that he got to Spean Bridge, as that is where the Commando Memorial is located, because that was near their early training ground.

I managed to grab a very brief conversation with him on Thursday and managed to turn something around for the next day’s edition of the inverness Courier as well as the Ross-shire journal website.

It also went online over the weekend so click on the links below as well as as the various links to his information and fundraising pages.

A cold dip commando braved freezing temperatures at Dores beach on Wednesday as part of a 2800-mile fundraising challenge around the UK coast.

Tim Crossin (59), a former Royal Marine who has been diagnosed with cancer four times, is taking a series of 31 cold-water swims across the country to raise money for three good causes.

He recently took the plunge at John O’Groats which he described as “dark and rough” but said the Loch Ness setting was “stunning”.

“John O’Groats was emotional because I was on my own,” he said. “Loch Ness was stunning and absolutely amazing.”

Mr Crossin said that members of the Highland branch of the Royal Marines Association had turned up at Dores beach to lend their support.

He added: “Everywhere I go I get wonderful people turning up – the setting was fantastic, it was absolutely stunning.”

He said he had spotted a “couple of creatures” in Loch Ness but was not entirely sure if any of them were the monster, joking they were more likely to have been other Royal Marines. 

As well as John O’Groats and Dores Mr Crossin has also taken the plunge on the Isle of Skye and Spean Bridge in the Highlands.

John O’Groats on Tuesday was the northernmost leg of his fundraising effort where the air temperature was about minus two degrees but felt more like minus 10 due to the wind-chill factor.

“It was dark and it was blowing a bit of a hooley,” he said of that dip. “It was bracing.”

Mr Crossin, from Poole in Dorset, said cold water “takes your mind off your problems” and has been encouraging other intrepid swimmers to join him on his journey.

He was diagnosed for a fourth time last month with lymphomas that had been found in his oesophagus, liver and spleen.

Despite this he is determined to continue his mission to complete 31 cold water plunges around the UK throughout January, and is more than halfway through the challenge.

He is raising funds as he goes for The Royal Marines Charity, Lymphoma Action and Rock 2 Recovery and has already smashed his original target of £10,000 by raising more than £17,000 so far.

• For more information visit the Royal Marines Association website, the Cold Dip Commando website or Just Giving.

• The article on the Inverness Courier website: Tim’s ‘stunning’ dip in Loch Ness at Dores

• As it appeared on the Ross-shire Jounal website: Tim’s Ullapool dip beaten by bad weather

From the Inverness Courier on Friday, January 20, 2023.