'If I can fight depression for 40 years, I can swim the Irish channel'

Six women. Fifty-two miles. Thirty-six hours. One freezing cold sea.

One extraordinary challenge: to become the first female swimmers to cross the formidable St George's Channel from Ireland to Wales.

The women, who are members of the Blue Tit Chill Swimmers - a Pembrokeshire cold water swimming group - faced brutal currents, freezing temperatures and the limits of their own endurance as they attempted a world record.

Initially told the attempt was "too dangerous", the group's founder, Sian Richardson, said she was "livid" to discover that six men had already achieved her childhood dream of completing the crossing before she "even had the chance".

A new BBC documentary, Braving the Blue - Our Lives, follows how the group channelled that anger into determination and self-discovery.

Sian selected team members Eva, Makala, Laura and sisters Elspeth and Fiona to join her for the challenge.

But during training Fiona Coombs, 65, from Brecon, was diagnosed with stage-three melanoma and had to withdraw, prompting Jo Canton-Smith - who is from Nolton Haven and has recently recovered from cancer - to join the team.

Each woman carried her own reason for taking on such a gruelling challenge, but all shared a love of the water and a fierce determination.

Elspeth Lewis, 63, from Brecon, was keen to complete the swim in her sister Fiona'd absence.

"I'm quite dogged and persistent," she saids

For Makala Jones, 57, from Milford Haven, the challenge offered purpose and belonging after years marked by grief, depression and the pressures of single motherhood.

It also gave her a sisterhood that helped rebuild her life.

Laura Voller, 46, from St David's - who learned to swim at the age of 43 - said that despite her fears, she has "never looked back", adding cold water swimming has "transformed" her life and taught her who she is.

She said being in the water is pure relief.

"When life is busy and full of pressures, just floating in cold water is amazing - everything just floats away," she said.

Sian, from near St Davids in Pembrokeshire, started the Blue Tits in 2014 after discovering the joy of wild winter swimming with a friend.

"When I started, it was unusual to see anyone in the sea in a swimsuit in winter," she said.

"It was just a really great way to talk to people - nothing more."

What began with two swimmers quickly grew into a large community of thousands, nicknamed "the Blue Tits" after Sian's husband's joke about her swims.

Now, she says it's become a welcoming space where age, identity and background do not matter - for that "tiny moment in the water, we are all the same".

When Makala first joined the Blue Tits she was "absolutely terrified", but found her mind clear for the first time in years - a moment she calls "magical".

She quickly felt she had found where she was "meant to be", a place to simply exist, watch, listen and belong.

After years of severe depression following her mother's death, Makala recalls: "I was in the darkest place I'd ever been.

"Once I went to bed for three months, I never got out.

"I honestly thought I wouldn't make it through."

The Blue Tits became a "lifeline", she said, adding it was "a stepping stone to rediscovering myself".

"I never used to believe in myself," she said.

"I thought I was a rubbish mum, rubbish at my job - but that's just me telling myself that.

"If I can fight depression for 40 years, I think I can swim the Channel.

"It's not easy, but depression is a lot harder than swimming."

Although she loves it, she admits the water is "really scary - but every time I scare myself, I believe in myself more."

To complete the challenge, the women were supported by a team of experts monitoring weather and tidal currents.

They were given a one-week window in August when conditions looked best and planned to swim in hourly relay shifts over 36 hours.

After months of training, the moment arrived.

The team spent the week in anticipation - a mix of "torture" and excitement - waiting for the call.

But the window closed due to poor weather, leaving them frustrated.

Another opportunity opened, only to be halted again by storms which Sian called a "bitter disappointment after so much training".

But she emphasised the importance of perspective and realism.

"We only ever see things when they happen; we rarely see people not achieving something because of the weather," she said.

"Failure is never getting to the start line.

"If you have an idea to do something and you have that fire that kind of starts to burn and you think I can do this, I want to do this and I'll do whatever it takes to get to the start line - then you've won."

For these six women, this year's challenge was not meant to be.

But they said they are fighters and will draw on their sisterhood, resilience and unbreakable bonds to come back stronger.

You can watch Braving the Blue - Our Lives on BBC One Wales at 20:30 GMT on Monday 15 December