General French News | French amputee successfully swims English Channel

A quadruple amputee who did not know how to swim just two years ago has become the first limbless person to successfully cross the English Channel.

Philippe Croizon set off from Folkestone at 6.45am on Saturday and reached his destination in Wissant, near Calais, at 9.13pm. The 42-year-old Frenchman had expected to spend 24 hours in the water, but good weather conditions allowed him to complete the challenge well ahead of schedule.

Britons embarking on French holidays from Folkestone are sure to have been aware of Mr Croizon's feat, as the attempt attracted a great deal of press attention.

Mr Croizon suffered an electric shock sixteen years ago when he was removing a television aerial from a roof. Doctors were forced to amputate all of his limbs, so he had to use prosthetic legs to complete the cross-channel swim.

According to The Independant, Mr Croizon trained for 35 hours at a swimming pool near his home in Châtelleraut, in central France. His coach, Valérie Carbonel, said that he could barely swim two lengths just a couple of years ago.

'When I first met him in September 2008, he couldn't even do two lengths. He had no endurance; his prosthetics didn't propel him at all,' Mr Carbonel said.

After successfully completing the 21-mile swim, Mr Croizon expressed his joy and said that even though he was absolutely exhausted, he never doubted his ability to complete the challenge.

'I did it. I'm so happy. I can't beleive it, It's crazy' BBC News quoted him as saying.

'Every part of me is hurting but I never for a moment thought that I would not make it,' he added.

Author: J.Jeffries
Posted: 20/09/2010