Peta Bradley crossed the English Channel with her relay team in September

Ms Bradley's team, 'Channel Attack', swam the crossing between England and France on September 14 and 15, 2023.

In a straight line the distance to cover for the channel is only 32 kilometres, however tides and conditions meant that overall Peta's team ended up swimming an extra 23 kilometres, a total of 55.

Ms Bradley's team was accompanied by a support boat, the 'Sea Leopard' and crew.

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Ms Bradley said each swimmer did one-hour stints at a time and she was lucky enough to be given the honour of the starting pistol. "I lead the team off from the English beach 'Sampfire Hoe' at about 11:30pm".

Ms Bradley said there were some surreal moments including swimming in pitch black, watching the sun come up while she was in the water and also swimming alongside massive cruise liners.

"It's pretty cool when you're swimming along and you see a P and O boat and a big container ship and then you feel their wave a couple of minutes later."

As far as the conditions went, Ms Bradley said they were generally pleasant but one big takeaway was the strength of the tides which she described as like being in a riptide on an Australian beach.

Ms Bradley came close to being the swimmer to touch the shores of France when her team told her they were within 4kms. In the pool, Peta is able to swim 4 km/ hour however, despite her best efforts and with 4 knot an hour tide working against her she realised she was being pulled along the coastline of France.

It was a sobering moment for Ms Bradley, but one that quickly turned to elation when her team mate Brendan Cullen was able to make the final push for the shore.

"I could barely pull myself back on to the boat after my last effort," she said.

"It was so fitting for Brendan to be the one to touch France. He was the one who brought us all together".

When asked if she would consider attempting the channel solo, Ms Bradley said this was one of the first times she truly understood the importance of swimming as a team sport.

"If any one of us had, you know, had a panic attack swimming in dark water or something, the whole team would have been disqualified. So that reliance on your teammates is what it's all about.

"It's a rare thing to experience as a solo swimmer, but the truly brutal nature of it doing that, as a team, makes it so special.

One of the challenges she didn't anticipate was the sea sickness she had to overcome.

"I haven't really been seasick before. I think a combination of the dark and a little bit of choppy water and getting a couple of mouthfuls of salt water. It was definitely the roughest water I have experienced."

In September, the Armidale Express caught up with Peta days out from her departure.

She said she was looking forward to some downtime once she returned home to Australia. At the time she told the Express:

"I'm actually looking forward to not having anything to prepare for, although maybe don't quote me on that," she said with a laugh.

"When I get back home, most likely I'll be straight back in the pool, or the dam getting ready for the next one."

Being the true competitor she is, Ms Bradley is already back in training.

"I'm back in the pool pretty much every day, but just enjoying it at the moment. I can already feel that I'm about to set something. I'm just not exactly sure what might be."

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