American cancer survivor sets English Channel swimming record

An American woman swam across the English Channel four times in a row, setting a new world record. What makes the accomplishment all the more remarkable is that Sarah Thomas, 37, is a breast cancer survivor who completed her treatment a year ago. 

Thomas, a Colorado resident who is an open-water ultra-marathon swimmer, began her swim in the early hours of Sunday morning and finished on Tuesday, 54 hours later. She expected to swim a total of 80 miles, but the strong tidal pulls in the English Channel increased the distance and made her feat end up being closer to 130 miles. 

“I just can’t believe we did it,” Thomas told the BBC once she came ashore in Dover. “I’m really just pretty numb. There was a lot of people on the beach to meet me and wish me well and it was really nice of them, but I feel just mostly stunned.”

According to the BBC, before Thomas completed her record-breaking fourth leg, only four swimmers had ever swum three legs across the Channel without stopping. Thomas followed Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation Rules as she wore only a swim cap, goggles, and bathing suit. During her 54-hour swim, she ate only a protein mixed drink made with caffeine and electrolytes. She persisted despite being stung in the face by a jellyfish. 

Lewis Pugh, a British-South African distance swimmer, took to Twitter on Tuesday to congratulate Thomas. He called her feat “superhuman!!” 

Thomas completed her record-breaking swim across the English Channel to raise awareness for breast cancer. She dedicated her swim to other survivors. When she arrived on land, Thomas ate M&M’s and took a sip of champagne, though she said it was difficult to swallow because all of the salt water had affected her mouth. 

The BBC reports Thomas is an experienced open-water swimmer who completed her first event in 2007. She first swam across the Channel in 2012 and once more in 2016.