Swimming the English Channel ‘an unbelievable experience’

A Type 1 diabetic, Mrs Hardill swam the Channel as part of a team of three, with two swimmers she had never met before.

‘I’m a bit emotional – it’s just about sinking in,’ she said after being greeted by her family at the airport.

‘It was just incredible and an unbelievable experience.’

As Mrs Hardill had to regularly test her blood and eat, the swim was broken up into a relay of hour-long stretches, meaning she spent just over five hours in the water.

‘It was a bit choppy then absolutely beautiful... the water was really warm.

‘But when it got darker it was a bit more of a challenge.’

After 13 hours, 55 minutes and 50 seconds, and a winding route across the stretch of water, the team reached the French coast.

Mrs Hardill is no stranger to endurance swimming and said her passion began when she was a child.

‘When I was a child, I swam quite a lot and always wanted to do that but it was a pipe dream really.

‘Doing other swimming challenges put this in perspective, especially with challenges of diabetes. It’s unbelievable and quite a feat.’

The last few legs of the challenge were the most difficult, Mrs Hardill said, with large cargo ships and changing swimming conditions making the journey from Dover more difficult.

‘The last couple of hours it went dark and the tide turned,’ she added.

‘We didn’t go forwards, we went sideways – there was no advance in that hour.’

But she was helped to keep motivated by her team, whom she had been in contact with previously via Facebook, and had not met in person before.

‘Having the team around me was so much more encouraging,’ Mrs Hardill said.

‘It was good to get to know them on the boat, and completing the challenge with people you don’t know is exciting and challenging in itself.’

Currently her efforts have raised £1,895 for the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation and Diabetes Guernsey.

• To donate, visit www.giving.gg/donate/event/9171.