Brisbane amputee Michael Powell has completed one of the world’s most gruelling physical challenges by swimming the English Channel.

Mr Powell, 55, lost part of his left leg in a tractor accident when he was four, but two years ago made the decision to take on the 32-kilometre swim between England and France.

Mr Powell, the sixth amputee to swim the English Channel, completed the swim in 15 hours and 25 minutes, landing at Wissant in France.

He took on the challenge to raise money for charity Foodbank Queensland, and has so far collected more than $13,000.

Mr Powell said high tide waters were initially smooth, but he needed to draw strength from his support team and advice from sports psychologists as conditions became more difficult.

“The French inshore just went really choppy, the wind got up, the currents turned around, and it went from being pleasant to quite challenging,” he said.

“When I finally touched a bit of sand with my arm I thought, ‘now I can feel like I’ve made it’.

“It was fantastic. Relief, is what I felt. My arms are killing me — they still are — and I just wanted to finish at that point and I wasn’t going to stop until I got there.

Source
ABC News