Swimmer's Guinness world record channel swims hope

Sian said the swim between Scotland and Northern Ireland was the toughest because of the lion's mane jellyfish 'which are not friendly'

A swimmer believes she has broken the world record for the fastest swim across three channels.

Sian Clement, from Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, had already swam the English Channel and the Bristol Channel, and has now done the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The current record holder had a combined time of 40 hours, 23 minutes.

Ms Clement is waiting for Guinness World Records to confirm her total swim time of 39 hours, 24 minutes.

"The first two channels I'd done several years ago and the one I did earlier this month was the North Channel," she told Radio Wales Breakfast.

"For me it was the scariest, because of the cold and the lion's mane jellyfish which are not friendly... there we so many of them I did get several stings.

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"I carried on swimming it was just a bit painful and very very itchy for the next several days.

Sian Clement had already swam the English Channel and the Bristol Channel, and recently completed the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland

"It was only on Sunday that I realised I was faster than the person who currently holds the record for the total time."

The open water challenge, known as the Original Triple Crown, started in the 1970s and involves the three separate swims.

The minimum distances are 33.7 km (20.9 mi) for the English Channel, 34.5 km (21.4 mi) for the North Channel and 27 km (16.8 mi) for the Bristol Channel.

There is no maximum time period to complete the three swims.

Ms Clement's swim in the Bristol Channel was also nine miles longer than the required distance as she chose to go from Ilfracombe to Swansea.

The current holder is Turkish open water swimmer Kamil Resa Alsaran.