A cancer survivor has became the first person to swim across the English Channel four times in a row. American Sarah Thomas began the challenge in the early hours of Sunday and finished after more than 54 hours.
Thomas was the first person to do it four times several others have done it three times. The journey was expected to be 80 miles but ended up being 130 miles due to strong tides. She ended up completing the challenge at 6.30am BST on September 17th. She had a team who looked after her all the way.
Thomas was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer in November 2017 and went through chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.
Her mother, Becky Baxter, told BBC Radio 4: “I’ve been on a lot of her trips. This was by far the scariest.”
“We were a little worried at the end of the first day as she was not able to hold anything down,” she said.
For nutrition, Thomas relied on a protein recovery drink mixed with electrolytes and a bit of caffeine to help offset sleepiness.
“It is tied to a rope and we get her attention every 30 minutes and throw it to her,” Ms Baxter said.
Her team said the final swim of the channel was “Dark, windy, and choppy”.
Swimmer Lewis Pugh said in a tweet: “Just when we think we’ve reached the limit of human endurance, someone shatters the records.”
Extraordinary, amazing, super-human!!! Just when we think we’ve reached the limit of human endurance, someone shatters the records. Huge congratulations to Sarah Thomas on swimming the English Channel 4x continuously!!! 🏴🏊♀️🇫🇷 🏊♀️🏴🏊♀️🇫🇷🏊♀️🏴 pic.twitter.com/kOa9QlereH
— Lewis Pugh (@LewisPugh) September 17, 2019
