Childhood dream come true: Li Ling Yung-Hryniewiecki is first Singaporean woman to swim across English Channel

SINGAPORE: For the first Singaporean woman to swim 34km across the English Channel, the battle was as much mental as it was physical.

Arriving in Dover in England 10 days before her scheduled window, Li Ling Yung-Hryniewiecki watched as others took advantage of calm weather while she acclimatised to her surroundings.

But when it was her turn, the 37-year-old could not take to the water due to unfavourable conditions.

"You have a tight window and you're assigned a slot ... Because I was assigned first slot, I assumed maybe that I was going to go early but obviously it all comes down to the weather," she told CNA in an interview on Wednesday (Sep 14).

"The Channel is so exposed so you actually need very, very little wind to swim it."

On the one day she thought she would be able to start the swim, her hopes would be dashed.

"It was a bit of a letdown. But again, it is the weather, no one can control it. That got to me a little bit and I could see that the weather was not good for the next few days," she said.

"During that time when I was waiting, I was already starting to think, 'Maybe all of what I've been doing this year is going to go to waste and I'm going to have to wait for next year'."

But eventually, Yung-Hryniewiecki would get her shot.

"I was so happy. The only thing I was worried about was that I've already waited for four or five weeks since my last big swim. I hope I'm fit enough!" she recalled.

"People don't really understand (the) mental stuff there is leading up to the swim ... The swim itself, the physical part I'm not saying it's easy, it's not. But you can get through it if you train, you can prepare for it. But the waiting and other stuff, it's hard. You have to just roll with it."

Yung-Hryniewiecki began her swim