The End is Nigh

Another 4 hours were chalked up in Dover Harbour this Saturday, again not great conditions but I managed to swim 10km anyway. Obviously I will be wanting to move a bit faster than this on the day, but the conditions will pretty much dictate what speed I’m going to do.

Our training ground - looks really inviting

I remember my first weekend in Dover when I was looking forward to getting to the stage where a 4 hour swim wouldn’t hurt anymore, and I’d still feel fresh afterwards. I have never reached this stage, 4 hours still feels like hard work. Luckily after talking to other swimmers on the beach afterwards I am not alone. Everybody is still finding it hard graft. It’s just a matter of gritting your teeth and carrying on. What I have done is become a lot faster. I'm covering a much greater distance than I was at the start of the season. I'm still not in the same league as a few of the swimmers down there, but I'm certainly not out of my depth.

It was another day where swimming from right to left was fine, but upon turning at the harbour wall and heading in the other direction, it became a far tougher challenge. It is really hard work swimming against the current. You can’t really judge the waves as they are rebounding off of the wall and the concrete steps near the beach. This makes breathing that little bit trickier. When breathing is tricky, swimming also becomes tricky. There aren’t many things in life that are made easier by not being able to breath properly. Apart from maybe suffocation. That would be really hard to achieve if you were breathing easily.

I wanted to get out for pretty much the entire time I was in the water. I wasn’t cold or tired I just wanted to get out. Every time I swam in for a feed I thought about finishing, but every time I actually reached the shore I decided there was no way I was finishing early. My mind set now is completely different to how it was during my darkest days in Dover. It does help that the water is that little bit warmer.

After the swim Chris and Si came down to give Freda and the beach crew some flowers to thank them for all they have done. It was a really nice moment, and really good to see them both again. Si is going to have another crack at the swim someday, once he has fixed himself (shoulders, hips and body in general).

Sunday was a completely different day. I went flying.

Simon never lifted his hands from this position

Keith (a member of the ‘Just Swim It’ relay team) has a Private Pilots licence and a share in a 4 seater plane, and he felt like flying. Ange, Simon and myself jumped at the chance to go as well. We flew over Dover harbour and across the Channel to France. It was an excellent way for Simon, who had swum the Channel the day before, to fully comprehend what he had achieved. It was also a good opportunity for Ange and me to see what we have still to do. It looks very simple from 2,000ft up. It was also good to see Simon who can now no longer move his arms. Why do we do it?

Everything looks better from the air

It was an excellent day and a nice way to finish (almost) my training. I’m into the taper down period now, with just a few short swims this week. I imagine I will have 1 more swim in Dover Harbour of around 3 hours before my attempt at the big one next week. Fingers crossed for good weather and some sunshine. This at the moment appears to be a massive ask…

Good luck to Lorcan, the final member of the Gozo group bar me, who is making his attempt as I type. Everybody needs an element of luck obviously, but this chap will have no problem. He is a superfish.