Jasmine Harrison Becomes First Woman To Swim Entire Length Of UK

Twenty-three-year-old Jasmine Harrison has become the first woman in the world to swim the entire length of the United Kingdom. Ms Harrison achieved this feat on October 18 after completing the 900-mile (1,448 km) swim from Land's End to John o'Groats in more than three months, reported the BBC.

The distance is the equivalent of swimming about 58,000 lengths of a 25-metre pool. She also became the second fastest person ever to achieve the feat, behind Ross Edgley, who took 62 days to do so, the outlet further said.

"From the moment I first dived into the water to finally reaching dry land again, this has been a truly epic experience," she told BBC.

Ms Harrison began her journey in July and said her longest swim was 12 hours while the maximum distance undertaken in a shift was 14 nautical miles.

The swimmer, who belongs to North Yorkshire, told Wales Online, "The most challenging part is having to continuously swim for five hours then get a couple of hours sleep and then swim again in the evening."

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She battled thousands of jellyfish and had to adopt a wetsuit balaclava to protect her face half-way through her journey. "It's not just the sting that hurts, it's that it gets worse over 24 hours, and it basically just spreads up my legs and arms. It's so itchy that I really don't sleep," Wales Online quoted as saying. In another incident, a large whale that lurked 1 metre below her. A shark also followed her through the Gulf of Corryvreckan in Scotland.

Although she had to face difficulties swimming alongside dolphins, seals and whales and coming across busy shipping lanes, Ms Harrison said she undertook this challenge to support Sea Shepherd UK and Surfers Against Sewage, two marine conservation charities in the UK. 

After completing the challenge, the record holder experienced painful chafing from her wetsuit. She added that she suffered from "salt mouth", a condition which strips skin from the tongue and throat and makes it hard to swallow.

In February 2021, the swimming instructor and motivational speaker set a world record for being the youngest woman to row solo across the Atlantic.