When she finally stumbled ashore after swimming 126km, Chloe McCardel could hardly stay upright - let alone say much.
"I'm so glad to have made it. I've got a great crew," she managed through a severely swollen mouth.
The 29-year-old athlete from Melbourne set out from the southern tip of Eleuthera island, in the Bahamas, on Monday morning local time.
Some 42 hours later, she was crumpled on the Nassau shoreline.
Waiting for her was husband Paul McQueeney, who praised his wife's "unbelievable" effort.
"Gutsiest effort I've ever seen," he told Channel Seven.
"She's out there for 42, 43 hours, she got stung 10 to 12 times by jellyfish the night beforehand."
"She fought for it."
He said McCardel would need time to recover from the achievement, which had been a long-standing professional goal.
"(She) has spent her entire swimming career preparing for (this)," he said.
According to McCardel's support team, her effort is the longest open-water solo, continuous marathon swim in history.
It's also the latest in a long line of arduous swims for the athlete, with McCardel having already swum the English Channel seven times and set records for doing 60 laps across Bondi Beach.
Last year, she was pulled from the water 11 hours into a swim from Cuba to the US after suffering venomous jellyfish stings to her throat and body.
She has said marathon swims are "spiritual" experiences.
"You feel like you're a part of that environment, you're an extension of it," she said.
McCardel is currently in a Bahamas hospital being treated for exhaustion and hypothermia.
Her swim is still pending recognition by the Marathon Swimmers Federation, which stipulates individuals can only wear a swimsuit, goggles and cap during record attempts.
They're also forbidden from touching the support boat or receiving physical assistance by a fellow team member.
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