A Loch Ness paddleboard challenge raised £2,400 to support a group of young people taking part in a world martial arts championship.
Derek Steele covered 33 miles of the lake on a paddleboard in eight and a half hours.
The money raised will help a group of Inverness Highland Top Team youths travel to the Elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Junior World Championships in Wolverhampton in July.
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Steele went swimming at Loch End at 6:30 a.m. and arrived at Fort Augustus at 3 p.m., with his cousin Susan McRae also kayaking.
“The conditions for the first two hours were pretty foggy and foggy,” said Steele, LifeScan's operations engineer.
“We couldn’t see much of anything until we got to Urquhart Bay.
“But the water conditions were almost perfect. The lake was flat like a mirror.
“The last few miles were pretty tough. My legs and arms were hurting a lot, but I managed to get through it. I was more mentally tired.”
There was also a funny moment when a friend who was with a group of tourists spotted him in the fog and started waving to him. This caused great excitement among them, and another group of tourists thought it was the Loch Ness Monster, but before they were told what it was, it was a 'sighting'.
Mr Steele's children have been training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Highland Top Team's Aiden McKenzie for just over two years.
Last year he and his daughter Cody climbed Ben Nevis to raise money for a youth team competing in the Elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Junior World Championships in Wolverhampton.
This year he decided to take up paddleboarding as a fundraiser to help young people compete on the world stage on July 13th and 14th.
He set a target of £2,000 on his Justgiving page and has already raised £2,400.
He also received support from Bluefin SUP.
In his fundraising appeal, he said: “This is a great opportunity to sponsor children's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the Highlands and bring it the recognition it deserves in our world.
“Maybe we can help fund future world champions.”
