Channel swim fulfils lifetime ambition for physiotherapy student

Physiotherapy student, Becky Lewis, has fulfilled a lifelong ambition after swimming the English Channel.

Becky, 23, from Little Urswick in Cumbria, is a third-year student on the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy programme at the University of Teesside.

She completed the channel swim in nine hours and 35 minutes, just outside the British record.

Becky has spent the last year preparing for her channel attempt, completing open water training sessions in Lake Windermere, Coniston Water and Derwent Water in the Lake District.

She said: ‘Swimming the channel is something that I’ve always wanted to do and I’m very proud to achieve it. I worked really hard in training, swimming up to eight miles a day and doing a lot of open water swims.

‘The worst part was when I got stuck in currents with about two miles to go. Even though I was swimming really hard, I wasn’t making much progress. It was soul-destroying. At the start you see the white cliffs of Dover for hours and hours. When I finally caught a glimpse of France it felt like I was stuck in the currents forever.

‘When I’d finished I was absolutely exhausted, it was the longest I’d ever swam for. Unfortunately, there’s no rapturous crowd welcoming you when you arrive in France, so it was a case of putting on some warm clothes, having something to eat and jumping in the boat to head back to England!’

Becky, who is a member of the University’s Elite Athlete Bursary Scheme, raised over £3,000 for MacMillan Nurses by completing the swim.

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