Sheffield man who cannot walk part of relay team to swim Channel

Tom Peters has an incurable pain condition but still managed to swim in the Channel

A disabled man who taught himself to swim with just his arms by watching YouTube videos has completed a cross-Channel challenge.

Tom Peters, from Sheffield, suffers permanent "excruciating" pain in his foot after surgery damaged nerves.

The 28-year-old was one of six athletes led by Paralympian swimmer Alice Tai who made the 21-mile crossing.

Mr Peters said: "I have such a sense of achievement after being told my condition is incurable."

Mr Peters and his teammates were part of the Optimum Nutrition Channel More project, a call for five amateur swimmers to "conquer the Channel" with amputee champion Alice Tai MBE.

He said: "I wanted to see how amputees swam with only their arms so I watched lots of videos on YouTube and that's how I came across Alice Tai.

"I do 95% of it with my arms because my left foot is useless. I've become so strong at it I can do 4km in under an hour."

The Channel swim took place on 30 September and the team made it form Dover in Kent to a beach near near Cap Gris-Nez in Northern France in eight hours, 49 minutes and 25 seconds.

The six swimmers each did an hour before another took over and Mr Peters' first stint was 03:00 BST in the pitch black with "huge waves".

He told the BBC: "Being in the water, in the dark, with eels and jellyfish was a sensory overload."

Mr Peters' first relay swim was at 03:00 BST and he was surrounded by eels and jellyfish

Before being diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome when he was 23, he found swimming boring and preferred more extreme sports like BMXing, he said.

Mr Peters' disability means he can only stand or walk "for very short distances" at home and anything more results in days of pain.

The social media manager said that getting CRPS meant he thought he had "lost everything" and he became "miserable and depressed".

He said: "The pain in my left foot is excruciating and relentless and I've been told it will be that way permanently. There is no respite.

"I haven't gone for a walk while holding my girlfriend's hand in six years and I now use a wheelchair and crutches.

"I used to be really sporty but after my surgery that all changed."

In 2021 Mr Peters decided to see if swimming helped and he said with no gravitational pull on his foot it was bearable, so started doing it every day.

Mr Peters, Alice Tai and the other teammates who took on the Optimum Nutrition Channel More project on 30 September

After completing the relay, Mr Peters said he was "overcome emotionally".

He added: "After having nothing but bad news about my condition, swimming across the channel as part of a team was a real achievement.

"We're all friends now and bound by 21 miles of water."