A MILVERTON woman who was on course to be the first person in the world to achieve seven channel swims in a year recently attended a West End premier of a documentary about her that is now touring the country.

Single mum Beth French, 41, had completed four channel swims in different parts of the world as part of her Oceans7 challenge, when she stopped on the fifth – and walked away from the project for the sake of her son, Dylan.

A film crew which followed her from the start, still completed the full-length feature documentary about Beth, called Against the Tides, and the film is now touring the country, also available for community screenings, and will be digitally released at the end of the year.

“The West End premiere was really humbling. I never aimed at making this happen,” said Beth.

“It’s been a cathartic experience for me and Dylan, for us to see our life and see how people have reacted to it – people who parent disabled children, who have ME, many have been drawn to the story, and to see the reaction of others has given us a different sense of belonging and perspective.”

Dylan, ten, who travelled with Beth and is still home-schooled, was diagnosed as autistic while she was undertaking the Oceans7 project, and she found he became increasingly stressed and anxious as the months wore on, especially when she was swimming each challenge.

She was in the middle of her fifth swim, in the Tsugaru Strait in Japan, when she had an epiphany – and got out of the water with only seven kilometres to go.

At the time, she wrote about her decision to stop on her blog: “It was a huge decision, but the lesson I chose today is to let go. I knew I can be driven, I am tenacious and I absolutely believe that I could achieve Oceans7 in a year.

“But the cost to my son is too great...I don’t need to prove anything.

“There is an incredible community of people who are willing to invest in your dreams – and I hope I continue to inspire others not just to challenge themselves, but that it is also OK to not get where you thought you were going. I found grace in the water today.”

Bafta-nominated film director Stefan Stuckert, whose independent film company made the documentary, summarised it as: “The story of an extraordinary woman attempting one of the most extreme swimming challenges. As she battles with the dangers of seven seas, her journey takes a dramatic turn.”

In fact, Beth said, when she lifted her head out the water and asked him if it was a problem if she stopped, he said it was a new twist to why he chose to do the film, and it just changed the story.

“It was a more in-depth human story of a mother doing these things, rather than just a challenge of a sporting mum, showing a different side of a woman adventuring and the compulsions that drive someone to do big projects like this.

“It was about my relationship with myself [Beth was in a wheelchair and suffered with ME from the age of 17, but recovered], with Dylan, and with the water.”

Beth still does motivational speaking for all sorts of organisations from girls’ schools and leader groups, to the adventure circuit and corporations, and since she ended her Oceans7 challenge, she has been asked to do a number of talks based on the fact that she stopped.

“Never give up has become a byword for success, we sell the idea of bigger, better, more – but we need to listen to and trust our own voice and know when to stop,” she said.

“We have the idea in sport and adventure that success is only when you reach the top, but the journey on the way and life lessons are what is important.

“If you learn on the way, and find you don’t want to get to the top, that is success,” she said.

After Beth ended the swims, Dylan was worried they would not have any further adventures. Beth assured him they would, and he could choose the next, so this year saw them visiting a glacial valley in Alaska, trekking through the snow on their own to spend a week in a yurt.

“It was fantastic to give Dylan the chance to create an adventure for himself,” said Beth.

He wanted to try going to school rather than being home-schooled, but Beth struggled to get a place and funding to meet his special needs, so he has now been home-schooled for nearly five years.

Adventure is never far away for Beth and Dylan. Next on the list is to visit the Hintertux Glacier in Austria, in August, where Dylan will hike with Beth, then watch her swim in a glacial pool.

“It’s an adventure we cooked up together. He wants me to jump in the icy hole, he thinks it’s fun – but I’m not sure it will be entirely pleasant,” said Beth.