Tessa McLean, a resident of Phocle Green, near Ross-on-Wye is delighted that the Aspire charity team she is part of has managed to conquer the Channel in 13 hours and 26 minutes.

Tessa and the Aspire Piranhas left Samphire Hoe at 11.10pm on Wednesday, August 17th and swam through the night until reaching a beach south of Wissant, 13 hours and 26 minutes later.

The point to point distance is only 22.5 miles but the swimmers are pushed north and then south as the tides in the channel force the route. This meant that the actual swim was 34.5 miles.

Tessa is delighted with the time they achieved since she had, conservatively, estimated the swim to take over 16 hours but the team outperformed their own expectations. Sweepstake winners have been notified.

The team members all suffered in different ways, although everyone suffered from sleep deprivation after swimming through the night, the rest of the team also had to contend with; sea sickness, jellyfish stings, mild hypothermia. This made their sense of achievement so much the greater and Tessa assured the Ross Gazette that this was also huge fun.

The team swam in strict rotation for an hour at a time, following strict rules which are observed and recorded on the boat by the Channel Swimming and Pilot Federation. Tessa was lucky enough to be the swimmer to officially land the team in France and has brought home a rock from the beach as a souvenir.

After the swim the team had to go to the pub, not just to celebrate but there is a tradition that every solo or relay swimmer signs their name on the wall of The White Horse in Dover. The walls are covered with years of signatures and Tessa’s name is now part of that history too.

If anyone is inspired by this and wants to understand how they too could take part in a Channel Swimming Team for Aspire, contact [email protected].

So far Tessa has raised over £6,000 and the team together has raised over £15,000 for Aspire Spinal Injuries Charity.

Donations can be made to her Just Giving Page www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Tessa-McLean6