Woman from Godmanchester completes Channel swim using only her arms

A woman from Godmanchester has completed a solo English Channel swim, powered by her arms alone.

Sophie Etheridge took up the challenge to raise the profile of a Swimming Teachers Association campaign to support swimmers with disabilities.

Sophie has had fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndrome for over ten years.

Ms Etheridge, from Godmanchester, completed the challenge at 05:26 this morning - after more than 29 hours of swimming.  It is believed to be the longest duration of a successful Channel swim on record.

Sophie's swimming coach Loretta Cox said:

"Sophie worked so hard and this was the icing on the cake, plus a little bit more,  

"To watch someone go through all of that... it was just incredible, really incredible.

"What has got her through this particular swim is her mindset."

Sophie has been a competitive swimmer since childhood and enjoyed triathlons until she was hit by a car in 2011.

This left her in permanent pain and with limited mobility, and is now largely wheelchair dependent. 

She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body, and complex regional pain syndrome, "a poorly understood condition where a person experiences persistent, severe and debilitating pain".

Speaking ahead of her challenge, Sophie said

"The big one is controlling and managing my pain while I'm swimming".

"Being in the water hurts, being thrown around by the waves hurts even more. You have huge ferries and tankers going past you and I have been learning how to swim controlling that level of pain - it's as much mental as physical," she said.

Ms Etheridge used her solo Channel swim to fundraise to offer free training for teachers to be disabled swimming specialists, and for teachers with disabilities to get into open water coaching.