For a swimmer from a tiny town, Craigie's Rick Seirer now has a big reputation.
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At the age of 59, Seirer has become the oldest person to complete a return crossing of the English Channel.
Swimming for 30 hours, Seirer, who lives 10km outside of Maryborough in Central Victoria, had been thwarted in his attempts to make the crossing for two weeks by bad weather before setting out yesterday evening Australian time.
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After completing the crossing from Dover to Cap Gris Ney in just under 12 hours, Seirer turned around and swam back in a gruelling 17:48 crawl, arriving at the English coast at around 10pm, swimming in the dark.
His coach Chloe McArdel says the crossing is a very difficult achievement, made by very few people each year, and he was lucky both the temperature and swimming conditions eased this week, putting the possibility of the double crossing within his grasp.
