Swimming across the English Channel—the 21-mile-long channel between southern England and northern France— is not an easy thing. Besides the strong ocean currents(洋流), swimmers also have to face temperatures that can change from 18℃ to 6℃. However, don't tell that to Sarah Thomas. The 37-year-old American woman recently became the first person ever to swim the English Channel four times without stop.
What makes Thomas even greater is that just a year ago, in 2018, she survived （幸存）serious illness. She said that fighting the strong currents was hard. "But even worse is dealing with the saltwater … it really hurts your throat(咽喉), your mouth and your tongue," she said.
Thomas's journey began just past midnight on Sunday, September 15, 2019. The swim was about 80 miles at the beginning. However, strong currents add the total distance by about 50 miles. When Thomas came out from the water at 6: 30 am local time on Tuesday, September 17, 2019, she was in the water for 54 hours and 13 minutes and swam a total of 133 miles!
There was a ship with GPS and computers to record wind, tides and currents with Thomas all the time. It guided her through the water. Her mother and husband were on the ship. During her swimming, Thomas took a rest every 30 to 60 minutes.
