Channelling old success

FOR many the sea is a place to relax beside and maybe have a surf but for British-born Gold Coast resident Jane Solomon, it’s a very different playground.

In 2003, the now 43-year-old became the 143rd person to swim the 32km English Channel in a time of 10 hours and 47 minutes.

And this Sunday at 8.10am, she’ll take the plunge at Mermaid Beach.

“Swimming the English Channel is like being in a washing machine with huge ferries going from England to France and all the freight ships going down the middle, while the ocean here has waves that throw you around and rips and all those sorts of things,” she told ABC Gold Coast radio.