A team from Colchester-based 16 Medical Regiment has swum across the English Channel, battling high winds and the strongest spring tide of the year on the way.

Exercise Serpents Swim saw the mixed team of eight medics swim from Dover to Calais as a relay. The crossing took 17 hours 20 minutes in total, with each medic swimming at least two hour-long sessions before handing over to a colleague.

With the tide dragging them off route, the medics swam an estimated 40 miles to swim the 22 miles from Dover to Calais. They also had to battle winds of up to 23 knots that whipped up heavy waves.

Lieutenant Colonel Philip McNee, Commanding Officer of 16 Med Regt, started the swim off from Dover’s Shakespeare Beach at 6.30am on Friday 28 August and they arrived in France just before midnight.