乳がん治療を受けた米女性スイマー、４回目の英国海峡横断に成功　世界初

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】米コロラド州出身のオープンウオータースイマーで、2018年に乳がんの治療を受けたサラ・トーマスさん（37）が17日、イギリス海峡を54時間ノンストップで泳ぎ切り、世界で初めて4回目の横断に成功した。（写真はイギリス海峡を泳ぐサラ・トーマスさん）
　フェイスブックに投稿された動画には、英南部沿岸のドーバーに到着したトーマスさんに支援グループが歓声を送る様子が映っている。
　超人的な偉業を成し遂げたトーマスさんは、「少し気分が悪い」とコメント。報道によると、潮の流れの影響で、実際に泳いだ距離は２１０キロ近くに達した。
　トーマスさんは、２０１７年８月、米国・カナダ国境をまたぐシャンプレーン湖で史上初めて１０４．６マイル（約１６８キロ）の距離を単独・ノンストップで泳ぎ切った。しかしこの４か月後、トーマスさんはがんと診断された。
　トーマスさんのドキュメンタリー制作に向けた資金集めのサイトによると、乳がんは片方の腕の下にあるリンパ節にまで広がり、トーマスさんは２０１８年夏にがん治療を受けた。トーマスさんは、同サイトに投稿した動画で「アスリートとしての頂点にいた…そしてがんと診断された」「（がんは）今の私の一部であり、人生の一部にもなっている。再発しないことを願っているが、もし再発したら、私が人生でやりたいことはすべてやったということだと思う」と語っている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/09/19-09:14）

An American breast cancer survivor on Tuesday became the first person to swim across the English Channel four times non-stop in a 54-hour feat of endurance.
Sarah Thomas, 37, an open water marathon swimmer from the US state of Colorado, could be seen in a video posted on Facebook arriving at Dover on the southern English coast with a group of supporters cheering her on.
I feel a little sick, she is heard saying following the herculean effort, which reportedly saw her cover close to 130 miles (209 kilometres) due to strong tides.
Only four swimmers have previously completed the approximately 21-mile Channel crossing between Britain and France three times without stopping.
I just can't believe we did it, Thomas told the BBC.
I'm really just pretty numb. There was a lot of people on the beach to meet me and wish me well and it was really nice of them, but I feel just mostly stunned.
Thomas said the hardest part was dealing with the salt water, which left her throat and mouth sore, while she also got stung in the face by a jellyfish.
The athlete relied on a protein recovery drink mixed with electrolytes and caffeine -- which was tied to a rope and thrown to her every 30 minutes -- to complete the feat, according to her mother.
Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh wrote on Twitter that her achievement was extraordinary, amazing, super-human.
Just when we think we've reached the limit of human endurance, someone shatters the records, he wrote.
- 'Pain and fear' -
In a post on Saturday before setting off, Thomas wrote: This swim is dedicated to all the survivors out there.
This is for those of us who have prayed for our lives, who have wondered with despair about what comes next, and have battled through pain and fear to overcome, she wrote.
The marathon swimmer received the cancer diagnosis four months after an unprecedented August 2017 non-stop solo swim of 104.6 miles in Lake Champlain on the US-Canada border.
She underwent treatment for the aggressive form of breast cancer -- which had already begun spreading to the lymph nodes under one of her arms -- in the summer of 2018, according to a fundraising website for a documentary about her achievements.
I was at the peak of my athletic accomplishments... and then I got diagnosed with cancer, Thomas said in a video posted on the Kickstarter website.
It's part of who I am now, part of my story. I just hope it never comes back but if it does, to know that I did everything I wanted to do in life.
In the video Thomas, who finished her first open-water event in 2007 and had previously made two Channel swims in 2012 and 2016, said swimming across the Dover Strait had been a lifelong dream and just as hard as climbing Mount Everest.
When you're a kid you just dream of swimming the English Channel.