Chloe McCardel sets record for most England Channel swims

An Australian woman has set a new record for swimming the English Channel by completing her 44th crossing, the most ever by a single swimmer.

Chloe McCardel arrived at Pointe de la Courte Dune in France on Wednesday, 10 hours after leaving Kent.

She said she felt "really good" despite having battled breathing difficulties caused by a chest infection in the past several days.

"It's been a really tough journey, but I've persisted," she said.

Ms McCardel said she had waited "a long time to celebrate this swim."

She said: "I'm so thankful, I've had so much support from people across the UK and Australia to get me through this last 12 years."

"So many people helped along the way to make my dreams come true and hopefully I can inspire the next generation of open water swimmers and young people to go after their dreams."

She celebrated with a magnum of English sparkling wine brought over on her support boat, drunk from a French champagne flute.

Speaking ahead of the swim, Ms McCardel said: "I think sometimes women don't get recognised for their achievements as much as they should.

"To have female role models has been amazing for me and I really hope I can be that for other women and girls."

Ms McCardel also holds the record of longest unassisted ocean swim - 77 miles (124km) from South Eleuthera Island to Nassau in the Bahamas.

In 2015 she made a non-stop triple crossing of the Channel, which took almost 37 hours.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].