Long distance swimmer Izzy Weatherall has been making waves for most of her life.

And this year the 22-year-old has been making more waves than usual because back in the summer she swam the English Channel.

That’s some achievement, of course, and it’s something that understandably makes her very proud.

It’s actually the second time that she has swum the channel, although this time around it was a much greater challenge because she swam it solo.

Back in 2018 she was part of a six-strong relay team and while that was also some achievement, she wanted more, and it was that experience that spurred her on to take on the channel challenge on her own.

“I signed up for a solo swim almost straight away after the relay,” said Izzy, a businesswoman who lives just outside Painswick.

“Originally I signed up to swim it in 2021 but that got postponed because of Covid. I then signed up in 2022 but couldn’t do it because the weather was too bad, and in 2023 there weren’t any time slots available.”

So Izzy was, in effect, training for her big day in August for six years, although you could also say with some justification that she was training for her big day all her life.

Izzy has always been a swimmer from her very early days. She comes from a sporty family – her dad Marc represented Great Britain in triathlon, while mum Jo competed for Great Britain in karate.

And Izzy’s younger brother Oscar is currently living in Austria where he is part of the Great Britain snowboarding set-up.

“I had swimming lessons from an early age,” said Izzy, a former Brockworth School and Westonbirt School pupil.

“When I was about 12 my swimming teacher kindly prompted me to try open water, long distance swimming, I wasn’t a fast swimmer so pool competitions were out of the picture!”

Fortunately, her dad used to do a lot of open water swimming at Lake 86 at South Cerney as part of his triathlon training, so logistically, it was something that was pretty easy for Izzy to take up.

And fortunately, it was something Izzy found she enjoyed doing, too.

“It’s a very different sport from competitive swimming,” she said. “It’s a very solo sport, it requires a lot of sacrifice, you spend a lot of time away from people.”

She also spent a lot of time swimming in the Lake District, as well as Lake 86, as she built up her stamina.

“It’s something I’d been working towards even if I didn’t know it,” she said as she reflected on her channel crossing.

It was expected that she would take about 15 hours to reach France but she actually took 16 hours, 57 minutes.

“I got caught against the tides as I approached France, it was very tough,” she said. “The first few hours I settled into a rhythm but around the 14-hour mark was when it got really tough.

“The tides changed and I hit a wall. I could see France but it wasn’t getting any closer, that’s when I had to dig deep and use everything that I’d learned in my training.”

Having a strong mindset was obviously key to getting over the line but so was having a strong support crew.

“The most important factor is who is in the boat supporting you, that’s make-or-break,” explained Izzy. “I had my mum and two friends I’ve met through work, Emma Bryne and Liv Pietragalla.”

So how did Izzy feel when she reached France?

“I was very proud and absolutely overwhelmed that I’d done it,” she said. “But I was also absolutely exhausted, it was a very, very long day, so it was a funny feeling as well.”

She’s been back in the water since that epic swim and she’s got plans for another big swim, although she’s not revealing where at this stage.

“It will be some time next year,” she said.