Kate’s Channel Challenge

Mum of three Kate Hartwright (51), of Didcot, Oxfordshire, had always dreamed of swimming to France. Could she do it?

- FIONA DUFFY

Delirious with exhaustion, and seeing double, I emerged from the sea and staggered, wobbly-legged, up the beach. Some people clapped. Others stared incredulously.

My tongue was so swollen I struggled to speak but managed to call out, "Is this France?" before punching the air with delight.

After almost 20 hours of swimming, and a lifetime of dreaming, I'd done it. Other women celebrate their 50th birthday with a spa visit or weekend away. I'd swum the Channel.

I'll never tire of seeing that footage from September 2020.

I've never been a swimming champion or gym bunny. In fact, I'm the Eddie the Eagle of Channel swimming... an ordinary mum who swims, eats cake and dreamed of swimming the 21 miles to France in a "nana" costume.

I loved swimming as a child and, aged just nine, completed my first mile. Everyone said, "Ooh, you could be the youngest person to swim the Channel," but back then I was terrified of fish! Over the years, as a single mum to three wonderful children - Eoin (now 24), Nico (12) and Lola (11), my life revolved solely around them.

Finally, I was swimming again at my local pool in Didcot and I began open water swimming in 2018.

I hated wearing a restrictive wetsuit. But peeling it off to swim in just my costume was a revelation. I'd never felt more alive.

My new partner, Ben, cheered me on at the Henley Mile in Oxford. He encouraged me to revive my dream.