How life lessons learned through marathon swimming helped me persevere through cancer and on toward becoming the first person to swim the English Channel four times, non stop.
Sarah Thomas, 38, is an ultra-marathon swimmer who holds the current world record for the longest continuous, unassisted, non-wetsuit, swim done in current-neutral conditions. That record-breaking swim covered 104.6 miles over 67 hours and was completed in Lake Champlain (NY/VT) in August of 2017. Shortly after completing this swim, Sarah was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She was just 35 years old. While undergoing aggressive cancer treatment, including chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy, Sarah never gave up on her dream of doing a swim that most people thought was impossible. One year after completing her cancer treatments, Sarah did just that- becoming the first person in history to complete a four-way crossing of the English Channel in 54 hours and 10 minutes.
Sarah lives near Denver, Colorado, with her husband Ryan, their two beagles and their rescue mutt. She is a full-time recruiter. She also does keynote presentations for special events, where she shares life lessons that have helped her complete marathon swims and beat cancer.
