A PENSIONER from America swam his way into the record books by becoming the oldest person to swim the English Channel.

George Brunstad is the uncle of actor Matt Damon and originally hoped to complete the 21-mile crossing from Dover to France last Wednesday, his 70th birthday.

British weather forced him to cancel his plans but on Saturday he set off and reached the French coast in 15 hours and 59 minutes.

A spokesman for Dover Coastguard said the swimmer, from Connecticut, only just made his record breaking swim in time, as the weather was due to change again.