A SCHOOLGIRL smashed a world record after catching a ‘giant’ tuna fish weighing almost 18 stone – three times her own bodyweight.

Sarah McLean, of Meeting House Lane in Newton, Frodsham, battled tirelessly for more than two-and-a-half hours as she hauled the bigeye tuna onboard a fishing boat during a family trip while on holiday in Madeira.

The 13-year-old, who weighs just 36kg (5st 9lb), was left shocked and exhausted after pulling in the massive fish, which weighed 114kg and, when strung up, dwarfed the tiny teenager standing at 1.97m or 6ft 5in.

It was only the second time that Sarah, a pupil of Helsby High School, had ever been fishing, but she smashed the female junior world record by 60kg after catching the fish just before 8pm on Tuesday, August 14.

Sarah’s proud dad Simon, who was on the boat as his 5ft 1in daughter struggled to haul the fish onboard while sea water poured into the fishing boat, said she had been exhausted, but determined to catch the fish.

“When she first got a bite on the line everyone was really excited,” said Simon, who said the family had been heading back to shore following the seven-hour trip when Sarah had felt the tug on the line.

“Her right shoulder really ached and still hurt for days afterwards, but she couldn’t believe how big it really was. She seemed really shocked by the sheer size and power of the thing.”

Simon described how it took himself and two other men to haul the fish on board, and when they arrived back at the marina in Funchal, Madeira, it took a team of strong fishermen to control the tuna which was writhing around.

“It didn’t seem real. This massive fish just came from nowhere really,” said Simon, who was on the boat with Sarah’s mum Helen, and nine-year-old sister Katie.

The fish was packed with ice and stored overnight on the boat before being left outside the fish market with a note requesting that the proceeds be donated to a mental health charity.

And the following day the town’s fish market, which was closed due to a bank holiday, was especially opened so that the fish could be officially weighed and the world record could be officially confirmed.

“What is amazing is that she hadn’t fished before the holiday, it was just something that we fancied doing and she caught the ‘fishing bug’,” said Simon.

“I still don’t think that she believes that she has done it, I am so proud of her.”