UNE law student Tom Pembroke may not have achieved his double crossing of the English Channel but reached a goal almost as monumental - raising more than $30,000 for Armidale teenager Sara Lynch.
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In extremely trying conditions, Pembroke had to be pulled from the water when he fell unconscious 17 hours into his epic swim. He had touched French soil and turned back for England when he became delirious and slightly hypothermic.
Pembroke said he had battled testing tides the entire swim, which he had dedicated to Sara Lynch, who was diagnosed with the blood cancer Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.
"In long-distance swimming it's a matter of defying the elements, but the elements were tough," he said.
"When I was off the coast of France I could see the coastline, but the tide kept pushing me down the coast and this added an extra four hours to the first leg.”
“I was so hungry and exhausted when I finally touched the French coast, but the pilot (who officially oversees the swim) said that I had to keep going."
Pembroke said he was initially "absolutely devastated" when his support team deemed it unsafe for him to continue, but the journey had many highlights.
He was buoyed by the warmth of the Dover people and that of the entire Lynch family, especially Sara's mother Lynda, who was aboard his support boat, cheering and feeding him.
"I had this amazing support crew, who were doing everything they could to will me across," he said.
"It was always going to be challenging, and I had put myself through a lot to even get to the point of attempting the double crossing, so I did the best I could."
Lynda said she was in complete awe of Tom.
"He was falling asleep in the dark from sheer exhaustion,” she said.
“It was so choppy in the shipping lanes and the water temperature was only 12° Celsius, but he was so determined and never wanted to give up. We are so proud of this amazing, selfless thing he did for us and he will forever be a part of our family."
Pembroke isn’t hanging up his goggles any time yet. He plans to swim the Tsugaru Trait in Japan in September and then the Cook Strait (New Zealand) later this year, followed by the Strait of Gibraltar next year.
That would achieve his goal of swimming seven of the world's great straits.
"These swims are nowhere near as long or difficult as a double crossing of the English Channel, and hopefully not as cold, but you are always at the mercy of Mother Nature with ocean swimming and never know what she will throw at you," Pembroke said.
