Dedicating her swim to cancer survivors, 37-year-old Sarah Thomas became the first person ever to swim the English Channel four times straight.
Thomas conquered the swim on Tuesday morning after 54 hours and 10 minutes of straight swimming. A breast cancer survivor herself, Thomas dedicated the swim to “all the Survivors out there,” in a Facebook post before starting the swim. People.com reports that Thomas was diagnosed with “an aggressive form of breast cancer” back in 2017 and went through chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.
Thomas is from Denver, Colorado and was a record-setting marathon swimmer before her cancer diagnosis. In 2016, she completed a 56-hour swim of Lake Powell in Arizona. You can see a video of that swim here.
The English Channel, one of the world’s best-known open water swims, is roughly 20.7 miles across at its narrowest point. Thomas’s swim was at least 84 miles, per the People story. You can see a great diagram of her swim route in the tweet below, from @RicksSwim on Twitter:
Come on Sarah . #fourwaychanneswim @Sarahswims04 pic.twitter.com/UTm0FjBY1U
— Big Ricks Swim Team (@RicksSwim) September 16, 2019
Per that Twitter account, which gave periodic updates, photos and maps of the swim, Thomas started her swim at 12:07 A.M. on the morning of Sunday, September 15. You can see video of her finish below:
History taking place.Sarah Thomas landing this morning on Shakespeare Beach in Dover after 54 hours and ten minutes of swimming to complete her 4 way swim of the English Channel.1st EVER OUTSTANDING. #WOW #fourwaychannelswim @emkhowley @Sarahswims04 @outdoor_swimmer pic.twitter.com/S4Q3TncmPl
— Big Ricks Swim Team (@RicksSwim) September 17, 2019
Sarah Thomas dedicated her swim to "all the survivors out there"after completing treatment for breast cancer a year ago
this morning Sarah became the first person to swim the English Channel 4 times non-stop#channelswimmer #nevergiveup #sarahthomas @Sarahswims04 @AnastasiaSwim pic.twitter.com/lZfGWBbNpJ— Big Ricks Swim Team (@RicksSwim) September 17, 2019
More photos and updates from the swim are here, on the @RicksSwim Twitter page.
Congratulations Ms. Thomas. Your swim quadruple crossing of the
English Channel is truly one of the most incredible athletic achievements
ever!!!
Deep respect from a survivor.
Wow! That’s super tough!!
I get the part about achieving a personal challenge, but what does exactly swimming 54 miles do for cancer survivors? Is she raising money or awareness or something?
probably both ….otherwise its only for her she swam that .
Why lol… But that’s awesome!!
Why not…
Congratulations to Sarah.
thts true grit & Selfless service : never heard of those soul qualities ?
Total respect and admiration for Sarah. Challenges from life and challenges of accomplishments, both completed. Beating cancer and meeting your swimming goals are steps along the way. So much more ahead for you can’t wait to see what’s next!
“I just swam for 54 hours. I think I’ll have a glass of champagne.”
– Sarah Thomas, probably
**blurp**
Wow
Sarah was a D-1 swimmer at UConn, class of 2004. She is a fantastic ambassador for swimming and one of the greatest people you could ever hope to know. Congrats Sarah! Superhuman achievement!