Sarah Philpott has become the first English female to conquer the original British Triple Crown of open water swimming.

Philpott, from Dover, had recently swam the Bristol Channel, having already completed the English Channel swim in 2020, and she now has the full set after she swam the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland.

There are many risks with this swim.

Cold water is the significant factor, the water is colder than any other marathon swim challenge.

Blooms of the world’s largest jellyfish - the lion’s mane - come a close second. With tentacles reaching 4m in length, the sting delivers an agonising shot of pain.

Swimmers must also battle against strong currents and pass over crevices 1,000ft deep in order to safely reach Scotland.

Philpott’s solo North Channel attempt commenced on the morning of August 8 on a rocky outcrop in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland.

She entered the water and was immediately greeted by an abundance of jellyfish, small and large. Her crew would loudly blow a whistle to warn her of any jellyfish on a direct collision course and there were several near-misses.

After three hours, the constant stream of jellyfish dissipated, the water remained calm and Philpott was able to relax into a smooth stroke. Her crew of Jane Murphy and Erica Fogg worked hard to keep Philpott fed and watered and, by the six-hour mark, she was halfway across the channel.

But her hopes of a quick finish were shortlived as the wind picked up, creating choppy waters and constantly blowing the boat off-course.

By the 11th-hour mark and with the wind still high, Philpott had been stung across her forearms by jellyfish.

She describes how the pain motivated her to persevere, saying: “On every swim, I write the words ‘Per Ardua ad Astra’ along my forearm. The latin phrase means ‘through adversity to the stars’ and is the motto of the Royal Air Force.

“My late father, wing commander Ian Philpott, spent the last three years of his life permanently attached to an oxygen machine fighting for every breath against his pulmonary fibrosis.

“Unlike me, he couldn’t jump onto a boat when the going got tough, he had no choice but to persevere and he did so without complaint. He fought until the end and I knew this is what I must also do.”

A white light then flashed underneath Philpott. She looked up towards the boat and shouted “shark”, to which her crew replied “dolphins!”. They circled underneath her at high speed before dashing off as quickly as they had arrived.

As the 12th-hour mark passed, Philpott realised she was not going to reach land anytime soon, and as the 13th-hour mark passed, the sun set and the jellyfish returned.

Her crew once again were on patrol with flashlights blazing onto the water. But the currents were unkind and - no matter how hard she swam - her pilot, Padraig Mallon, was unable to find a path through.

At the 15th-hour mark, the pilot’s observer, John Moran, described Philpott’s mood as “very despondent” but, an hour later, some 16 hours after she first started swimming, Philpott reached Scottish shores.

She let out a defiant roar, punched the air and punched the water, as she knew she’d made it - before taking a finish photo.

The 90-minute journey back was far from pleasant as Philpott screamed and hollered in pain, her core body was cold and yet her skin was on fire.

Once on the land, the severe pain lasted for a further six hours and, only after her sixth soak in a steaming hot bath, did the pain dissipate, revealing all of the jellyfish scars that covered her entire body.

Philpott has become the seventh person ever to complete the original Triple Crown of open water swimming, first completed in the 1970s by Kevin Murphy.

She thanked sponsors The Atlantic Avengers, Medical Engineering Technologies, RR Construction Group, P&O Ferries, Specsavers and her swim club, Dover Life Guards.