Spain's long distance swimming world champion, David Meca, plans to swim 5km of the 207km Castile Canal in the last week of August to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the building of the man-made waterway and to draw attention to its value as a tourist attraction.

At a press conference in Palencia today he described the planned swim as 'a fiesta, rather than a challenge' and said that he hoped to remind people of its historic value as well as promote tourism in the area.

The Canal, the largest hydraulic construction to be undertaken in 18th century Europe, was completed at the beginning of the 19th century and is widely considered one of the most important civil engineering works of modern Spain.

The Canal flows through Burgos, Palencia and Valladolid, in Castile and León and was originally built to ease the wheat grain transport from Castile to the northern harbours.  When the more efficient railroads arrived, however, the Canal turned into the spine of a huge irrigation system.

Meca drew attention to the fact that the Canal has been 'conserved to perfection' and encouraged 'everyone to come and visit the canal, not only to appreciate a piece of history, but to enjoy the flora and fauna of the area, whether it be on foot, by bike or on horseback'.

When asked by the public about his achievements so far and his next challenge, David Meca declined to reveal his future plans, but confessed to being very proud of what he had achieved so far, saying that it was 'much more than the five year old in orthopaedic shoes sent to swim on doctor's orders could have ever dreamed of'.