Art therapist aims for fastest Bristol Channel swim
Once her achievement is ratified by the Bristol Channel Swimming Association, Ms Benton will receive a badge reading "bridges are for wimps".She said she took up swimming to help deal with the stress of her work as an art therapist for people with learning disabilities."It completely empties your mind. You just have a great feeling afterwards and you do not regret coming for a swim, ever."I think of it like a filing cabinet, going through everything in my mind and putting everything away neatly and then it's a bit like meditation," she said.
She is now planning to swim across Loch Ness in a few years' time.Richard Smith, her coach at Vobster Quay in Radstock, Somerset, said Ms Benton's "mental strength" was her biggest asset."When you're taking on a significant long-distance swimming challenge, it's very different to, for example, the Olympic swimming in the pool or even open water," he said. "It was that mental strength that really assured me that she could take on a challenge like this," Mr Smith added.
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