Swimming the Channel is a daunting task for anyone, but for someone without both legs it could seem impossible.

However, for a team of four former Armed Forces veterans, ‘impossible’ was not in their vocabulary.

The group, all of whom are amputees, swam the channel for the military charity, British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association (Blesma) and also broke a world record.

Coached by Darent Valley Hospital core skills trainer Giovanna Richards, the team – Conrad Thorpe, 50, Stephen White, 49, Jamie Gillespie, 39 and Craig Howorth, 46 – completed the challenge in 12 hours and 14 minutes.

A group of amputees has never completed such a task.

Mr Thorpe previously served with the Royal Marine Commandos and Special Boat Service, Mr White with the Royal Green Jackets, Mr Gillespie with the 1st Airborne Engineers and Mr Howorth with the Royal Navy as a submariner.

The lads completed the swim non-stop, without their artificial limbs, despite the cold water causing a lot of discomfort.

Miss Richards, 46, said the four were determined to complete the task without special treatment.

She said: “I’ve known Steve for about four years and I coached him for swimming. He came up with the idea to do a full amputee channel swim for Blesma.

“He wanted to do it with no concessions at all, the same as an able-bodied team would do it, no wet suits and no prosthetics on their stumps either.

“He put the idea to Blesma, who thought it was fantastic.”

Training for the swim, from Dover to Cap Gris Nez, France, was long and arduous.

Miss Richards said: “I got them training without wet suits in water, from May right through late autumn last year. In September I took Stephen, Jamie and Craig to Coniston Water in the Lake District.

“We swam the whole length of the lake which is about five and a half miles.

“I’ve had to coach them in changing their technique. Because they’ve lost limbs they breathe in a way that is very different to someone with two legs. Some of them struggled with saving energy over long distances.”

Miss Richards described the lads’ finishing time as “amazing” and said she was really proud.

She said: “Twelve hours and 14 minutes is a big ask for an able-bodied team. It’s really fast and the conditions were pretty poor as well. In the Channel we had big swells, it was rough all the way through.

“Steve suffered from sea sickness from the time we left Dover to the time we came back on the pilot boat.

“It’s such an achievement for them, especially as Craig had only been in the sea twice before.

“I’m really proud of all of them.”