9 Weeks Out - Single Figures!

I now have around 9 weeks to go until my scheduled week to swim the Channel, the time is passing by horrifically quickly. I am booked into slot 3 of 4 for the week of 20^th - 27^th August, this means 2 people will have their opportunity to go before me.  I really need to hope for good weather that week to have the best chance possible of making my attempt. I'm reasonably confident I will get the chance, but anything can happen in Channel swimming. Last year August was a complete wash-out and many people had to move their swims into September, or not even make their attempt at all, the absolute worst possible result.

The way the swims are arranged is all decided by the tides: Spring and Neap. A Spring tide is when the Moon and the Sun are in line ie. a full or new Moon. This creates a large gravitational pull on the sea, which in turn causes a greater volume of water to pass through the Strait of Dover. A Neap tide is the exact opposite. The Sun and Moon are at right angles to each other (quarter moon) and cancel each others gravitational pull out, causing less water to pass through the strait. 

This is why most swimmers wish to swim on the Neap tide and, until recently, have only had that option. More and more pilots are now offering slots on Spring tides due to the popularity of Channel swimming. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as all it means is your 'S' shaped chart may be bigger. The tide is never against you, it pushes you from side to side but never back towards Dover, apart from a strong current towards the end of the swim, or so I am told. 

I am on a Neap tide.

The pull on the Oceans of the World. Neap Tides look much nicer

As I type the nerves are starting to creep in. I say starting to creep in, I’m nervous pretty much every time I go to Dover. 9 weeks is not a long time, and will fly by once my friends on the beach start making their attempts. In my head I have aimed off to do my swim on the 24^th August. This is purely for sentimental reasons, as this was the date that Captain Matthew Webb made the first ever crossing. I like little coincidences like that.

When embarking on something like training for the Channel, the thing you must realise is how it completely consumes your life. COMPLETELY. I understood before I began that this was going to be a lot of hard work and a few sacrifices would have to be made, I wasn’t aware however that I would have nothing else on my mind ever.

My football team, West Ham, got relegated this season and I barely noticed it. This would usually really bother me. I know this from several past experiences, but this time it hardly registered at all (to the great relief of my girlfriend). The last 5 or 6 books I’ve read have all been about swimming the Channel or just swimming in general. All I ever talk about is swimming. I’ve started a blog to write about swimming. I have no idea what will become of me when this is all over!...

In other news I would like to say a big thank you to Swimshop, who have been kind enough to help me out with some kit to aid my training. I am always grateful for help and sponsorship, which is not very easy to come by in these days of recession and other depressing words. Thanks a lot, it is much appreciated.