food leaves him in agony and the very fact he is still alive is a triumph over improbable odds.

But such drawbacks will not stop the 48-year-old former Warwick Academy physical education teacher and British international swimmer competing for Bermuda in the Latin Caribbean Swimming Championships next week.

Newby will fly out to Florida on Saturday as part of an Island team of 18 Masters (over-25s) to swim for the Island at the Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale.

An operation to cut out cancerous tissue last year left Newby with virtually no stomach and consequently his intestines digest what he eats.

Despite the effects of the disease, the operation and months of debilitating chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Newby still finds the energy to make two ocean swims and three pool training sessions per week.

An Englishman who moved to Bermuda nine years ago, Newby learned he had cancer of the stomach and oesophagus on January 26, 1998, a date etched on his memory.

"I found out I had a two in 100 chance of surviving six months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment up to the operation,'' said Newby.

"And then I had a two in 100 chance of surviving six months after the operation. But I decided I was going to make it and I have.'' Newby was treated in what is regarded as the world's top cancer treatment centre, the Sloane Kettering Hospital in New York. The excruciating chemo and radiation therapy lasted from January to August last year.

"It was awful,'' recalled Newby. "Chemo could make me feel sick at the smell of a cup of tea.'' Newby defies the odds But he survived through to the operation, when, in his own words, `they cut out most of my insides'. "My stomach is here now,'' said Newby pointing to the left side of his chest. "My intestines have to do the digesting. I never feel like eating, it always makes me feel sick.

"Most times after I eat, my body goes to sleep. If I don't sleep, I can be in agony for hours.'' Newby believes he would not have lasted this long without the support of his wife Marie, a teacher at CedarBridge.

"I don't believe anybody could survive what I've been through without someone to support them. Marie was with me thorugh it all in New York. She gets me up and brings me breakfast in bed. She makes me sandwiches and makes sure I keep eating. And her moral support has been phenomenal. I call her `The Angel'.'' Doctors have warned Newby that the cancer is in his blood and will return.

Newby accepts that one day the disease will kill him.

"I just take it day-to-day and it doesn't really hit home that I'm not going to make it,'' said Newby.

"The doctors ask me what it feels like to know you have limited time. Some people in that situation say they'd like to travel the world, but that's not happening with me.

"I just take one day at a time and try to keep fit. The longer I can keep fit, the longer I can stave it off.'' Newby swam in world championships for Britain and only an untimely broken ankle robbed him of an appearance in the Olympic Games. It is only the knowledge gleaned during his top-level career which has allowed him to continue swimming today.

"I can lose three or four pounds in one training session. I cannot breathe hard, because they cut out part of my diaphragm in the operation,'' said Newby. "I can only swim as fast I can while still breathing normally -- I can't go into oxygen debt. But I can still swim at quite a good level while breathing normally because of my technique.

"It takes a massive effort for me to get up in the morning, never mind swim.

But after I've swum, I feel so good.

"The great thing about swimming is that anybody can do it -- even people with cancer, old people, deaf people, fat people, mentally retarded people.

Everybody should swim.'' Newby hails from Cornwall in the far south-west of England and used to work as a lifeguard on the county's beaches. But he has also lived in Hong Kong, Singapore, Cyprus and France.

Shortly after returning from Florida, Newby will jet off to England to take up an invitation from Bishop's Stortford College to chair a fund-raising committee for a new swimming pool.

For all the 10 years Newby was swimming coach there, the college reigned as British public schools swimming champions. One of his pupils at the time, Mark Peters, now 33, will accompany Newby in the Bermuda Masters swimming team next week. Newby now works for Victor Ruberry's company Healthtec. His work includes personal training at the Bodytec gym at the Southampton Princess Hotel and giving health lectures.

While some would feel bitter at facing the prospect of a life cut short so cruelly, Newby is anything but. "If I died tomorrow, I'd be happy with my life,'' he said.

Photos by Tony Cordeiro Courageous smile: Swimmer Duncan Newby, preparing to compete for the Bermuda Masters team in the Latin Caribbean Championships in Florida next week, despite the debilitating effects of his fight against cancer.

So brave: Duncan Newby HEALTH HTH