American Sarah Thomas, cancer survivor, has become the first person to swim the English Channel four times non-stop. She swam around 200km (120 miles), taking around 54 hours. She battled salt water, the current and was stung by a jellyfish. Learn about this amazing news story and study its vocabulary in this free English class.

The story
An American swimmer has become the first person to cross the Channel between France and England a record four times non-stop. Sarah Thomas, whos 37 and recently had cancer treatment, took 54 hours to finish her epic swim of about 200km. She told the BBC it was extremely tough with the current pushing her off course and shed been stung by a jellyfish. She said the moment she finished was quite surreal.

Key words and phrases
non-stop
without stopping

• As the children played, the school was filled with non-stop laughter.
• Can we order takeaway? Work was non-stop today and Im tired.

feat
achievement that requires great skill

• Ive always admired single parents. Working and raising a child is an impressive feat.
• The Eiffel Tower is considered by many to be quite a feat of engineering.

triumph
significant success
• Winning gold has been the triumph of my life, said the retired Olympic athlete.
• The book follows a group of refugees triumph over adversity.

Language challenge

What do jellyfish, bees and scorpions all do?

a) bite
b) scratch
c) sting

For the answer, watch this on our website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/newsreview/unit-11/session-108

[Cover: Getty Images]

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