Last week, we read the inspiring news about a 20-year-old Malaysian, Lennard Lee, who swam across the 33.6km wide English Channel.

To most people, it was nothing extraordinary since it was done earlier last year by another Malaysian. But wait. Let's look at the facts of the feat that was made by Lennard and that of Datuk Abdul Malik Mydin who achieved the same last year.

Lennard did it without much fanfare and publicity whereas Abdul Malik received wide coverage from our media, possibly for being the first Malaysian to attempt the crossing. Even former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was seen together with him on his return.

Lennard said his attempt was to raise funds for a cancer hospital in Manchester and to build a new swimming pool for his university (he is a medical student at Cambridge) while Abdul Malik swam in order to get his name into the Malaysian Guinness Book of Records (he was later conferred a Datukship).

Lennard swam across the Channel within nine hours and 45 minutes while Abdul Malik did it in 17 hours and 35 minutes. Lennard cut the time by almost half.

So, is anyone recommending Lennard for a Datukship, too?