NavList:

This week the British newspapers have been full of the wonderful achievement of the American lady Sarah Thomas swimming the English Channel four times non-stop in 54 hours.  If that wasn’t enough in itself, many journalists looking at the position trace made the point of stating that she actually swam 130 miles rather than the direct route of 80 miles https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/17/cancer-survivor-becomes-first-swim-channel-four-times-non-stop/  .  As 56 hours comes close to 4x12hours 25 minutes, if Sarah had have attempted to counteract the tidal flow and succeeded in swimming the direct route, would she not have actually swum a greater distance though the water and expended more energy, and would not her support vessel have failed to present a beam view while crossing the traffic lanes.  DaveP