British woman dies trying to swim across english channel

A British woman died while trying to swim across the channel between Britain and France over the weekend, police and the UK foreign office said on Monday. Susan Taylor, who was reportedly in her 30s, died in hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the northern French coast on Sunday night after trying to complete a charity challenge. ‘We are aware of the death of a British national in Boulogne on July 14, 2013. 

We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time,’ the foreign office said. French authorities said the boat accompanying Taylor, the ‘Pathfinder’, called coastguards at about 5.30 pm on Sunday and asked for a defibrillator. A helicopter was dispatched to collect the swimmer and take her to hospital where she died at about 7.15pm. On her website, Taylor had described swimming the channel, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, as akin to scaling Everest.