A man has swum the Channel after nearly dying while training for the feat.

Steve Fish, 54, completed the 21-mile route as part of a relay team a year after surviving a cardiac arrest.

He had ended up with two attacks and was clinically dead but was revived.

He now says: “I’m so happy to have recovered my full health and achieved this crossing. I was also very lucky to receive such excellent medical attention.”

Mr Fish, a Home Office employee from Folkestone, led the team of four landing on the beach at Cap Blanc Nez near Calais after swimming from Dover.

He and the others completed the challenge in 15 hours and 37 minutes, swimming in hourly rotations.

They have now more than doubled their fundraising target for a sick children’s charity.

The team, Wingin’ It to France, also featured Steve Lodge, a physiotherapist, and Diane Murphy Weaver, a former police detective, both from Buckinghamshire; and Nigel Stock, a paramedic from Hampshire. The quartet swam in a day from the early hours into the evening, and while weather conditions were favourable, they were plagued by jellyfish, with Mr Stock badly stung. He said: “Swimming across the mid-Channel shipping lanes was an awesome experience.

“There were some good-sized waves created by the ferries and cargo ships, and there were also dolphins and seals who made an appearance along the way.”

Once the team reached French inshore waters in the late afternoon, they needed to work even harder as the tide was sweeping them along the coast instead of towards the shore. They also had to swim against the current.

Wetsuits are not allowed if the crossing is to count as an official Channel swim.

Preparations involve a year of training, including braving ice-cold open waters during winter.

This swim raised £1,117 for the Sebastian’s Action Trust, when the target was £500.

There is still time to donate via Justgiving.com/
Nigel-Stock