French coastguards held out little hope in their search today for a Swiss swimmer who disappeared off the French coast 16 hours into his attempt to cross the English Channel.
"With weather like this, his body might have been washed up on the beach," said Mr Jose Miceli, from Calais' coastguard, as force five winds whisked up the Channel waters.
"We're not ruling anything out," he added.
The 37-year-old swimmer, a professional athlete who is also the coach of the Liechtenstein triathlon team, left the south coast of England at dawn on Saturday and went missing off Calais, northwestern France later that evening.
British coastguards identified the man as Mr Ueli Staub and said he went missing less than three kilometres (two miles) off the French coast, having swum for around 16 hours.
British authorities said they had called off their part of the search earlier today, but French rescuers insisted they would maintain their patrols until late into the day if the weather didn't deteriorate.
Mr Staub was accompanied on his cross-Channel attempt by a boat carrying his father, the ship's captain and a trainer closely monitoring his progress.
As he approached the French coast late Saturday, his companions lost sight of him amid two-metre (six-foot) high waves. After initially scouring the area, his escort called for help.
AFP