A WOMAN'S determination not to let a disability affect how she lives her life has culminated in her swimming the English Channel.

Thanks to 20 gruelling months of training, amazing support from her friends and family - and plenty of bara brith - Amanda Love became the 690th woman woman and the 2,045th person to swim the Channel.

It was just five years after Amanda, a housing officer from Pembrokeshire County Council, underwent a full discectomy (the removal of a spinal disc) following years of back problems.

The operation meant she was left with very little feeling in her right leg and foot.

Amanda admits it wasn't an easy period of her life. "It takes some time to mentally and physically accept and become used to the 'new normal'," she said.

But after a discussion with friend, ultra-runner Julie Evans, she decided that her disability did not have to define her have to mean giving up things she loved – and so they entered Ironman Cozumel in Mexico. "I know it sounds mad," she said. "But it was very important to try and do the things that make me me."

Completing the event was a huge turning point and spurred her on to contemplate swimming The Channel.

"I knew I would be turning fifty this year and a friend said to me if you don't do it now you might never get another chance!" said Amanda.

Amanda completed a qualifying six-hour sea swim in temperatures of less than 16 degrees in October 2018. She then embarked on 20 months of training, consisting of pool swimming at Haverfordwest Leisure Centre, sea swimming without a wetsuit, and strength and conditioning at Bfit Health and Fitness in Milford Haven.

Last August she travelled to Dover with husband Dai, other members of her family, and friend Mel Miles, who works in education at Pembrokeshire County Council.

"It was 4am when I set off in the complete darkness," said Amanda. "All you can see is the sea in front of you and the light of the pilot boat. I had wondered for 20 months what I would feel at that moment. But I don't think I thought about anything but the water in front of me. I was just focused; excited but calm."

"The English Channel is 21 miles across at the shortest point but I swam 29 miles because of the tidal drift.

"The last three miles were the hardest. The wind and tide were against me but if you don't swim fast enough across the tide at this point you can get swept up to Calais and then you risk not finishing the swim because you've entered the shipping lanes."

It was at that point that her brother and pace swimmer, Andrew, got into the sea in his wetsuit and swam next to her.

"He said we have to go hard or I wouldn't make it," she said. "It was harder mentally than physically, because you're so close to France you feel that you're almost there."

Eventually, exhausted but elated at 4.53pm - 12 hours and 53 minutes after she set off – Amanda clambered out of the water on to the rocky French coast.

She said the swim was about proving to herself that she could still do things despite her disability. "It was to beat my inner voice that's always telling me I can't do something. It was about controlling the fear in my mind."

She was also pleased to be able to support a charity close to her heart, Aspire, which helps people with a spinal disability to adapt their homes. Together with Andrew, she has raised more than £6,000.