(Video: VCG)

British swimmer Ross Edgley has broken the world record for the longest swim at sea on Tuesday. He has been swimming for 74 days around the British mainland without touching land.

He broke the record that Frenchman Benoit Lecomte set in 1998. Lecomte spent 73 days swimming across the Atlantic.

“Be so naive that you start but so stubborn that you finish,” he told local media on the west coast of Scotland.

Edgley set off in Kent on June 1.

During his journey, he battled jellyfish stings, wet-suit chaffing and a “salt mouth.”

“Studies show that it is better to swim with a smile,” Edgley said.