The 9-year-old girl Zhou Yihan from Guangzhou, Guangdong province, has completed a 20-plus-kilometer swimming trip across the Qiongzhou Strait in 13 hours on Wednesday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

She missed the best landing point in Xuwen and swam for two more hours than planned, reaching the shore at 6:41 pm.

The girl proposed swimming across the strait all by herself, seeing it as something fun, said her father.

Her parents tried to hold her back at first over concerns of safety and her physical strength, but the girl insisted on going. She had taken specialized training after she made up her mind to do it in July last year.