Woman braves jellyfish and seals to conquer Channel swim

A woman who swam the English Channel alongside seals and through jellyfish stings said completing the challenge while her father with Parkinson's disease could still understand her achievement felt like "it was all meant to be".

Karen Mee, from Snitterfield, completed the 21-mile (34km) crossing from Dover to France in 14 hours and 39 minutes on 4 October, raising almost £17,000 for Parkinson's and brain tumour charities.

Mee said finishing the swim before her father's condition progressed further made the feat feel even more meaningful.

"It hit home that if it had [got] any later, my dad might not have known I'd done it", she added.

She opened the email offering her a Channel swim place on International Women's Day, which also coincided with the 100th anniversary year of the first woman successfully crossing the Channel.

"I felt like all the stars were aligning," she said.

"Only 930 women have ever done that swim. It feels like I've done something pretty big."

The swim began at Samphire Hoe, near Dover, at about 03:30 BST.

For weeks, Mee thought she might not be able to do the swim because the conditions were not right. But on 4 October a window opened where the conditions were perfect.

Mee swam through darkness for four hours before sunrise, guided by a spotlight from the support boat.

Under Channel Swimming Association rules, participants can wear only a swimsuit, hat and goggles, with wetsuits prohibited.

During the crossing, she encountered seals, jellyfish and busy shipping lanes.

"It is quite a surreal feeling when you're swimming and then you're looking to breathe and you just see this massive cargo ship - it really brings home to you how big those boats are," she said.

She added: "The jelly fish stings just felt like a nettle sting, nothing that would stop me from carrying on".

Mee said during the swim support crew fed her using a pole extending from the boat, offering carbohydrate drinks and "plenty of soggy cake".

The crew also ensured she did not touch the vessel at any point, which would have invalidated the attempt.

She took on the challenge after two-and-a-half years of preparation, having first taken up longer-distance open water swimming during the coronavirus lockdown.

"I had trained but not really hard. I felt like I Forrest Gumped it and just carried on," she said.

Wondering what she could achieve with structured training, she was encouraged by her neighbour, Alex Grove, former Worcestershire Warriors rugby player, to consider the Channel crossing.

"He planted the seed," she said. "Those slots are so difficult to get because swimmers from all over the world apply for them, so I couldn't turn it down".

Mee attended a training camp in Bournemouth and spent months getting accustomed to swimming in open water and in darkness before dawn.

"I felt nothing but being really happy out there," she said.

"I knew what I'd set out to do, I knew I wanted to do it and it all came together."

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