Payas completes English Channel swim in just over 9 hours

Nathan Payas has swum the English Channel, completing the challenge in just over nine hours. The Gibraltarian swimmer swam on Sunday from Dover to France.

The now veteran local swimmer "landed bang on the cap" (Cap Gris Nez in France), as the English Channel Swimmers Facebook page described it, with a time of 9 hours 13 minutes.

Speaking to the Chronicle yesterday as he returned to Gibraltar, Mr Payas said he was “extremely content” with what he described as “a quick swim”.

“The idea was always to go strong and spend as little time as possible in the water as my biggest concern was hypothermia,” he said.

"Most importantly, the challenge was to complete the swim and I am very satisfied that I was able to do it."

FULL STORY IN OUR PRINT AND E-EDITIONS