Father and son fail in cross-channel bid

A father-and-son swimming pair made it almost all the way across the Channel but ended the effort a few miles short of the coastline of France.

Pennsylvanian Marty O’Connor, 46, and his 22-year-old son, Steve, who had hoped to become the first father and son to swim the channel together, said they were being tossed around by four and five foot swells, pummelled by choppy conditions and struggling against the tide on Sunday.

‘‘I’m so disappointed,’’ Steve O’Connor said. ‘‘It was really hard to come out of the water, but my shoulder was a mess. I just couldn’t do it.’’

Duncan Taylor, secretary of the Channel Swimming Association, confirmed that the O’Connors got within a few miles of the French coast, but said: ‘‘It just wasn’t their day.’’

Dave White, pilot of the boat that accompanied the elder O’Connor, said he was about two and a half miles off France when he gave up, and Steven O’Connor was three or four miles short of his goal.

Steve said he and his father might consider the attempt again, but it would not be any time soon.

‘‘I’ve had enough of England for a while,’’ he said.