Pembrokeshire's Makala Jones shares her Channel-swimming experiences

Ahead of her lay the French coastline and the Cap Gris Nez, which was the point at which she would touch finally French soil. But minutes after seeing it to her right, the Cap was then to her left. And the next time she looked, it was back on her right again.

Even though Makala felt as if she was swimming in a straight line, the exceptionally strong currents resulting from two different tides were having a devastating effect on her progress.

“Anyone who swims the Channel never knows what their pace is going to be and my stroke never changed from start to finish,” Makala told the Western Telegraph.

“My energy levels were incredible and I knew that my body was never going to give up. But it was my mind that was struggling.

“Whatever I do, I always know how far I’ve travelled and how far I’ve got to go to reach the finish. But in this instance, because of the tides across the Channel, I had no idea. And I was afraid to ask.”

Makala was given regular energy feeds and drinks every 30 minutes by her back-up team who were accompanying her in the ‘Masterpiece’.

Makala having one her her feeds (Image: Makala Jones)

“After about 13 hours when I could see the Cap ahead, I was given a feed and I thought that this was going to be my last. Then I was given another one, and then another one and that’s when my head started to go.

“I thought ‘What the hell is going on?’ And then I realised that I had three and a half hours more to swim, because of the two different tides.”

Makala, from Milford Haven, has previously revealed how cold water swimming saved her mental health from spiralling out of control, and you can watch a moving video here.

Makala had put on 21 pounds in weight in preparation for her Channel crossing, so she knew that she had the strength to finish. She was also looking forward to losing herself in her own thoughts, in the magnitude of swimming such a distance far out at sea.

“The thought that 15 hours of thinking of nothing – just me and sea – was going to be fantastic. But how wrong could I have been?

“I was swimming right alongside the boat and I could hear them talking, pointing at things, taking photos, and I kept wondering what the hell was happening? Was there something horrible out there? What were they seeing?”

Makala, swimming alongside her backup boat (Image: Makala Jones)

The rules of a Channel crossing mean that swimmers are only allowed to have one swimming costume (wet suits aren’t allowed), one hat, swimming goggles and ear plugs. She also covered her body in Vaseline and Sudocrem to prevent chafing.

“My body was warm throughout the swim but after I while, my hands felt like they didn’t belong to me, the same as my feet.

“And at one point it felt like I was swimming through hot treacle when I hit thousands of jellyfish. They were hitting me, one caught me around my face and even though they were small, their tentacles were very long. I was stinging from head to toe.”

Around halfway into her swim, Makala began hitting out.

“I started screaming that I hated swimming, that I’d never swim again and what the f*** was I doing it for? And it was at this point that the crew on ‘Masterpiece’ knew I was going to finish. They could see I had the energy and the passion.

“Whatever I set out to do in my life, I’m never sure if I’m going to be able to finish, but I also never start thinking that I’m not. I never put pressure on myself.

“Those last three miles took me three and a half hours as I was carried to-and-fro along the coast and then suddenly I saw the crew get out of the boat and into the dinghy which meant we were almost there.

“And that’s when I started kicking my legs so I could get the feeling back into them and I started to laugh and laugh.

“The Cap Gris Nez is quite a lonely place and every time a person completes the Channel swim, a man called Patrice who lives nearby, always comes down to the shore to greet them.

“And when I saw him standing there, it was just amazing. I stood up and started running up to the beach and Patrice gave me a shell.

She's done it! (Image: Makala Jones)

“This is by far the biggest thing I’ve ever done in my life and no matter what happens from here on, my name is up there as a woman who’s swam the English Channel.”

I ask Makala if she’d every consider doing it again and she answers without a moment’s hesitation.

“If I get the sponsorship, I would. But then there’s always the Bristol Channel where the currents are crazy as well as the North Channel where it’s so cold.”

Her next challenge, however, will be on dry land when she runs the Snowdon Marathon in October.

Makala’s Channel crossing was to raise money for the Paul Sartori Foundation Hospice and Bluetits.

Makala Jones on her journey back to the UK (Image: Makala Jones)