# First non stop four way swim across English Channel **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 17, 2019, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-non-stop-four-way-swim-across-english-channel/840374 "2019-09-17T13:41:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-non-stop-four-way-swim-across-english-channel/840374/1 "2019-09-17T13:41:28Z")
[Sarah Thomas becomes the first person](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-49724851) to swim the English Channel four times non-stop. There have been four people who have done three crossings at once and a number who have done two crossings. Total swim took just over 54 hours and she swam close to 130 miles total. The only rest she was able to take was ten minutes on each shore. Just thinking about this boggles my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-non-stop-four-way-swim-across-english-channel/840374/2 "2019-09-17T21:25:25Z")
An incredible achievement and an inspirational story! The article doesn’t say why an American chose to swim the English Channel - had she moved to the UK? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-non-stop-four-way-swim-across-english-channel/840374/3 "2019-09-18T03:45:04Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > The only rest she was able to take was ten minutes on each shore. How is that “non-stop”? Don’t get me wrong, it’s still completely amazing; but I wouldn’t quite call it “non-stop”. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-non-stop-four-way-swim-across-english-channel/840374/4 "2019-09-18T11:04:08Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > An incredible achievement and an inspirational story! The article doesn’t say why an American chose to swim the English Channel - had she moved to the UK? The English Channel swim is one of those swims that people want to attempt. Lots of people from around the world do the swim. I’ve thought about doing it from time to time, but not really sure if I’d want to train for it. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > How is that “non-stop”? Don’t get me wrong, it’s still completely amazing; but I wouldn’t quite call it “non-stop”. I guess it really depends on what one considers by “non-stop”. One has to go past the high water mark, then return to the water where they can rest for no more then ten minutes. It’s not like she got out on one side, took an hour nap, and went back in. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-non-stop-four-way-swim-across-english-channel/840374/5 "2019-09-18T12:04:45Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > How is that “non-stop”? Don’t get me wrong, it’s still completely amazing; but I wouldn’t quite call it “non-stop”. Like the dance marathons of old, win-a-car-by-touching-it contests, etc., there are rules allowing breaks. Stuff like this is usually not literally non-stop. So presumably the Official English Channel Crossing Association or whatever set the criteria for non-stop crossings and this is one of their rules. The swimmers obey these rules, not yours. Sorry. You should have set up your own organization decades ago and promoted the daylights out of it so it’d be considered the main one.