Happy New Year!!

This will be a remarkably quick post wishing everyone the best 2012 they can possibly have.

For everyone planning a big swim, good luck. I'll be having another crack at the Channel in the summer and this time I plan to get out at France.

Have an excellent time and achieve everything you want to.

In the great words of Nick Adams (Channel swimming extraordinaire) Big Love xx

See you soon Dover

A Bit of Inspiration for Next Year - Sponsored by Speedo

I was recently sent this video of Michael Phelps talking about how he first got into swimming and felt the immediate need to share it.

One of the things we get told all the time is: "If you want something bad enough you will get it", personally I get annoyed when I hear this. No matter how much I wanted to be an astronaut as a youth I don't think I could have ever achieved this. My lack of intelligence, and correctly functioning eye balls, are just two of the many reasons. 

Then I see this gentleman, who is widely regarded as the greatest olympian of all time (I think Sir Steve Redgrave may have a very good shout for that title too) revealing he was too scared to put his face in the water just 8 years before he broke his first world record.

Surely anything is possible?

After swimming the Channel next year I think I'll have another crack at becoming an astronaut (I use the word 'another' very generously, my first crack involved drawing a spaceship and saying "I want to be an astronaut")...

Film Time

As the outdoor swimming season has pretty much ended I have been unable to post anything on here. This is due to not really having anything of interest to report. I could repeat my frustrations of ridiculous pool rules, but that would just be dull for everyone involved.

Instead I have made a video of Ange’s successful swim.

I hope you enjoy them (Sorry if you're in Germany, your country has blocked these for reasons I cannot fathom)... 

Yes I do appear to speak like Jonathan Woss, how very upsetting...

6th Time's a Charm

Eminem doing his job pre-swim

After 5 cancellations and a very stop/start few weeks, Angela finally got to make her channel swim attempt on Saturday 21^st September. This was the last window of the season, so literally the very last opportunity or she would have to wait until next year. 

I was to crew with Keith (of the Just swim it relay, and pilot extraordinaire) and we were going to do our very best to help Ange get to France and achieve what she had been working so hard towards all year.

I arrived at Dover Marina at 0545 to a very nice, calm morning. The only thing calmer than the weather was Ange. She seemed remarkably unfazed about what she was about to do. She was the complete opposite to me on my swim - well rested, fresh and completely relaxed, even managing to phone her Mum whilst getting greased up. It was excellent to see.

Upon loading up the boat we were told that the C.S.A. (Channel Swimming Association) weren’t providing an observer for the swim. This is shocking, genuinely a really bad show by them. Instead the Pilot, Stuart, was having to observe as well as worry about the course and speeds etc. If they are saying you are allowed to do a swim without an observer, then why does everyone have to pay the extra £80 for one? If it’s good enough for one swim, it’s good enough for all the swims.

Anyway Ange took the news on board and just let it drift straight out of her mind and continued with her positive and relaxed demeanour. I wish I could have displayed the same attitude on my swim.

A glamorous entry into the water

At around 7o’clock she jumped in and swam to the beach in Dover ready to begin her journey across the Channel to France.

0715 and she was in and swimming.

It was my job to try and keep twitter going and keeping as many people up to date as I could. This passed the time really quickly, and before I knew it Ange was alongside the boat for her 1^st feed. She was still remarkably chilled out and gulped down her delicious hot Maxim and was soon off again.

Lovely Maxim

The feeding plan was to switch to 30 minute feeds straight after the first hour, originally I thought this was really early to switch, but it worked really well. She never seemed hungry and was maintaining pretty much the same speed and stroke rate constantly.

At 3 ½ hours I jumped in to swim my first hour to offer a bit of company. I was really impressed with the speed Ange was still moving. She would be the first person to admit she is not the fastest swimmer, and was expecting a 18-20 hour swim, but she was certainly travelling at a decent pace as far as I could see. After the hour was up I climbed out of the water back onto the boat, and immediately fell over. It was an excellent comedy fall; it wouldn’t have looked out of place in a cartoon.

Ange was still flying along when it came to Keith’s turn to join her. Keith and I were going to rotate so we would each have 3 hours out of the water, and Ange would have company every other hour. As I watched the 2 of them swim it became obvious a bit of a race was going on and she was more than holding her own.

A little bit of company for Ange

The time was passing by very quickly and soon it was my time to get back into the water. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it if I’m honest. I had shivered a lot after my first hour, as I hadn’t been in cold water for a while. However when I jumped into the water it felt a lot nicer. We were about half way across and I had been told before that the water feels warmer on the French side, and it certainly seemed true.

Just entered French water

The swim was still progressing nicely; we had been going for about 10 hours and were ahead of schedule. The conditions were perfect and Ange was still stroking away towards France. However getting out of the SW shipping lane was proving to take longer than we had hoped. This was because we had to travel almost parallel to the French coast to catch the current, which would hopefully carry us towards the lighthouse at Cap Gris Nez.

Ange was starting to ask where we were and how long it was going to take. This is usually a bad sign but she still seemed absolutely fine, just genuinely interested in where we were. We were avoiding answering the question directly. It’s always a difficult question to answer, as you never know how the swimmer is going to react. We let Stuart deal with it. He simply said it would take as long as it takes. She didn’t seem amazingly happy with the answer but carried on plodding away.

The sun was going down and it was beginning to feel a lot cooler on the boat. The water apparently felt nice though, so that was the main thing.

The mini race

Stuart was starting to get a bit worried that we weren’t going to make it into shallow water in time. We had to miss the current that would drag us to the other side of Calais. This would probably ultimately result in failure. The advantage of making the shallow water is the current is greatly reduced almost to nothing due to the protection of the land mass of Cap Gris Nez. We challenged Ange to a power hour, no feed just a really strong hour swim to get as far as she could. She rose to the challenge and very nearly made the slacker water within the hour.

I then got changed and ready to get in for hopefully the final push into shore. My job this time was to just to keep the pace up and get us to France. This was not hard as the pace was decent and Ange was really pushing herself, she could sense the end was near.

Suddenly the boat stopped, and we were told to wait whilst they prepared the dingy to follow us to the beach. We tread water for about 5 minutes staring at the boat – nothing was happening. Ange said she was getting cold for the first time so I suggested an easy breaststroke towards France. We kept looking back towards the boat, but there was no dingy approaching. We started screaming asking what was going on? Still not knowing how close we were to the shore as it was pitch black.

Then there was a floodlight pointed at the cliffs of France. We were told to swim into the light, so that is what we did.

In an almost exact replica of the end of Hannah’s swim earlier in the season, Ange suddenly shouted ‘SAND!’ and stood up. She then fell over, then stood up, and again fell over.

The walk out of the water was actually really tricky. As I have said it was pitch black, there were a lot of sharp rocks underfoot and we were both falling over constantly.

Once clear of the water and after 17 hours 1 minute, Ange was a channel swimmer. It was an excellent performance by an excellent and very determined swimmer. I cannot congratulate her enough.

Now began the not so small task of the swim back to the boat…

A bit of Saffa pride

Day 1, Week 1... Again

After 3 weeks of doing nothing, today I got back in the pool. It was an emotional return – mainly because I am now terribly, terribly slow.

I have spent my time out of the pool living the high life. When I say ‘the high life’ I mean I have been sitting in my pants on the sofa watching the TV, eating pizza, weeping. It has been a remarkably sedentary time. I have barely moved apart from when having to visit the facilities, and I have resented that. I thought about dragging the TV into the bathroom so I could just watch it from there, eliminating the walk upstairs, but inevitably couldn’t be bothered. Then I considered a bedpan, but feared that my girlfriend, although incredibly understanding, would draw the line at emptying it upon her return from work.

In all seriousness the last few weeks are probably the longest I have gone without doing some kind of fitness since before I started school. I attempted a set of press-ups a few days ago, but just managed to lower myself to the floor. I laid there for about an hour before dragging myself back onto the sofa.

Today’s swim session was proof of my current lack of fitness. I did not perform very well at all. I managed to complete nearly 4.5km, which is ok, but I have lost a good 10 seconds off of my cruising pace over 100m. However as the title of this post says, this is day 1 week 1.

Channel training has started today and I am in a far better position then I was this time last year, when about to embark on the same challenge. The experience of this year will help me greatly next year (I hope), and I plan to be a lot faster as well.

Ange STILL hasn't been able to attempt her swim. With the time to do it fast running out she is understandably anxious to get going. It would be devastating for her to not even get to make an attempt. I really hope she does get the opportunity and is standing on the beach in France in the next week or so.

The incredible David Walliams

Whilst I have been sat down David Walliams has managed to complete the amazing feat of swimming the length of the River Thames in 8 days, demonstrating a swim that is fully deserving of the million pounds he has raised. He is an incredible swimmer and humble with it. Congratulations to him, he will undoubtedly never ever see this.

I have also had to start watching Big Brother. This is horrible news for me as I am not a fan, however my ex-flat mate is one of the housemates so I have no choice. His name is Harry and he is an excellent man, so if you are watching it give him a few votes to stay…

New World Record!

Roger Allsopp - Legend

No self-respecting swimming blog would be complete without the news of Roger Allsopp's world record Channel swim. He has become the oldest person, aged 70 years and 5 months, to conquer the stretch of water between England and France. The previous record holder, George Burnstad from the USA (who is Matt Damon's uncle), was a sprightly 70 years and 4 days.

The swim took 17 hours 51 minutes, and you can still sponsor him for this amazing achievement by clicking here.

In Dover he earned himself the nickname ‘the Metronome’ due to his regular, constant pace. I may have swum with him on occasion, however I can’t usually identify people when in the water so can neither confirm nor deny this.

Congratulations Roger, a well-earned world record and yet more inspiration for me to pull my finger out next year and get to France.

On another note I have to wish all the luck in the world to Ange, who sets out on her swim this coming Saturday. I hope the weather and tides are kind, and she sets foot on French soil as quickly as possible...

The weather wasn't kind - again - and Ange still hasn't managed to get away on her swim. That's 5 cancellations now. Channel swimming is shockingly unpredictable.

Get Back on the Horse

Another year in Speedos, Crocs and Vaseline

I thought I’d best put another post on here due to the quite depressing nature of the last one. 

First of all I’d like to say thank you for all the kind messages I have received, it’s been really nice and surprising. I am not feeling too bad at all anymore, and am currently in the process of booking my boat for 2012. After swimming 12,600m in 4 hours in the pool on Wednesday, I still have the bug to get across to France.

The water temperature is not going to be a problem next year, and hopefully I’ll get a bit more self-belief between now and then. This will be helped by a massive year of training. The goal is to get as close to 4km an hour as possible, this is a big ask. But 3km an hour was a big ask not too long ago and now I average well above that, apart from when it mattered.

All this extra drama will just make it a far more absorbing book anyway, nothing interesting about somebody being excellent at swimming and getting across in 8 hours. Far more exciting to see somebody splutter and vomit their way to France.

Thanks a lot again for all the support, this time next year I’ll be a Channel swimmer!

Where Did It All Go Wrong?

As a lot of you will probably already know my Channel swim did not go according to my master plan. I only managed to complete 6 hours. To be fair at least an hour and a half of that wasn’t really swimming, it was just moaning and trying not to cry. I don’t know what happened on the day. It was a nightmare and I expect a lot more from myself. This won’t be a post of self-pity, or making excuses, but instead will hopefully help me sort my head out. It will maybe also highlight any little pieces of positivity from the swim, or give advice to those thinking of attempting it. They say you learn a lot more from failure.

Checking the light

The swim was scheduled to start at around midnight on Friday 19^th/Saturday 20^th August, and we arrived at Dover for about 11o’clock. I had already been up for 14 hours as I had failed to get any sleep in the day, due to unbelievable nerves. This is something I definitely need to work on. I was literally gagging and nearly being sick with nerves for the entire day – and the day before, as initially I was going to swim then until the weather deteriorated. So this wasn’t the best preparation.

Getting greased - I was already looking nervous

We had a bit of a hold up at the harbour. Paul couldn’t get the boat ‘Pace Arrow’ in, as the harbour gate hadn’t been opened at the correct time. We eventually boarded at around half past midnight. I had a lot of people to see me off, which in hindsight I don’t know was a good thing. My focus was off a little bit and I probably put a bit of extra pressure on myself to please everyone that was there. This is obviously easy to say when looking back, the chances are it made no difference at all.

The swim started at 1am on the dot – I had been awake for 16 hours and had at least 14 hours of swimming ahead of me (so I thought). I would have had to be awake for at least 30 hours. Again this is not an excuse, some people’s swims alone are longer than this – Jackie Cobell swam her solo in over 28hours last year. That is an incredibly tough woman.

It was pretty dark

At the first feed after 1 hour I wouldn’t say I felt fine, but it came around pretty quickly and I was swimming well. I managed to get the peanut butter sandwich and Maxim in me without a problem and cracked on with the swim. I didn’t say anything though which made Simon on board think something wasn’t quite right.

My second hour was a bit of a nightmare. I completely lost my head. This has happened to me before, but not since I was suffering from the cold earlier in the season. It had never happened to the extent that it did on this swim. It was horrible. I also swallowed a fair amount of water as the waves picked up a bit, it wasn’t rough – far from it – but it was no longer smooth.

My head was slowly imploding

I was desperately trying to picture myself walking on the beach in France, meeting my family and celebrating. All I could see however, was an image of me sat on the boat with my towel over my head, crying. I couldn’t get this image out of my mind, until it felt as though it was actually happening in the water below me. It no longer felt like it was in my mind. This was very depressing.

At my 3 hour feed I was literally nearly in tears, I didn’t let anyone know as I was still swimming ok. My stroke rate was slowing slightly but nothing too dramatic, and I was still covering a fair amount of ground, but my head had completely gone.

The next hour was the beginning of the end. My stroke rate dropped massively and I was no longer moving forward, just drifting to the side. I was starting to realise the dream was over. I wasn’t doing myself any justice at all, this was really killing me, I knew I was capable of much more than I was showing.

I have always been told to swim from feed to feed. This is excellent advice and should be followed. I was thinking purely about the entire task, and this was destroying my confidence. At 5 hours all I could think was that I had no chance of getting to France, I should have been thinking “I only have 30 minutes of swimming until my next feed”. My heart and hips dropped and I was suddenly incapable of swimming. Frustratingly I wasn’t too tired but just couldn’t do anything.

Simon got into the water and tried to get me going. He couldn’t have done anymore and I cannot thank him enough – that goes for the entire crew and Pilot. I had just given up in my head and there was no telling me any different. I hate myself for this. I always said that the worst way to get out of the water was if you just gave up, and this is exactly what I did.

Paul put down the ladder at around 5 ½ hours and told me it was up to me if I wanted to get out. I asked for some painkillers and swam on, but I had it in my head that it was completely pointless. I wasn’t moving forward and my stroke was no longer a stroke. I was swimming for a maximum of 2 minutes and stopping. It was terrible. I was almost in a completely upright position and I had only covered around 7 miles, and I had covered those in the first 3 ½ hours. It really was never going to happen, and at just under 6 hours I climbed onto the boat.

I swam until the Sun came up , but I had already lost it

I am not ashamed to admit that as soon as I got onto the boat I started crying. I wrapped my towel around my head and just couldn’t stop. I was basically re-enacting the exact vision I had had in my head for the past 4 hours. If you imagine something enough it will be so – apparently.

After the trip back to Dover I met back up with my family and again started crying. I haven’t cried for a long time and now I couldn’t stop, it was weird. I spoke to the crew and apologised for my performance. Everyone was incredibly kind, both at the harbour and on Facebook etc. and I am very grateful for that. I am not going to be so kind to myself, although at the same time I need to get over it and not dwell on it too much.

Simon trying to get me going - but he had no chance

I realise it is an enormous task to swim the Channel, but I was certain I would achieve it. I MASSIVELY underestimated the psychological side of the swim. I cannot emphasise this enough. My swim was completely and utterly destroyed by my head. I felt like I had a complete mental breakdown. As soon as I started thinking negatively my stroke went to pot, my hips and stroke rate dropped and I was completely inefficient in the water.

For anybody looking to do this swim make sure you spend time sorting out your mental preparation. I was told this beforehand and just glazed over it. I should have spent far more time concentrating on it.

I’m obviously still upset about how things turned out, but I am more determined than ever to complete the swim now. Everything in life is a lesson, and I seem to be having a fair few of them in my swimming. It would be nice to not have to learn a lesson once in a while and just get it done!

Thanks a lot to everybody on the crew for putting up with me and for staying up for a night watching me on a hiding to nothing. Especially as there was a lot of seasickness going around on the boat.

Thanks also to Paul Foreman, my pilot, who couldn’t have done anymore to keep me in the water. By rights he could have pulled me out a couple of hours earlier when it became clear I wasn’t going anywhere – he gave me every possible chance of sorting my head out and getting going again. I just didn’t do it.

I will have another go, and I will swim the Channel. At least I get to write a blog for a bit longer, and it will make a far more interesting film…

“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; Who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knows neither victory nor defeat.”   

- Theodore Roosevelt (sent to me by my mate after the swim)

The Phone Call

I just got the phone call, tonight I swim the Channel.

I have been told I will be setting off at around Midnight GMT so hopefully, unless I take a horrifically long time, I will finish in the light. It would appear that my countdown clock in the top corner of this page was exactly correct.

If you want to follow the swim my girlfriend will be posting regular updates on my twitter page - Tex_James. You can also follow my spot tracker here.

After receiving this news I immediately visited the toilet and produced this…

It must have been something I ate

The Boy Done Good

Lorcan's distinctive straight arm recovery - I often see this flying past me at a rate of knots

Still my favourite picture of him

Yet again I get to write a congratulatory post on here. This time it is for 17-year-old Lorcan ‘Piglet’ Rowley, who swam across the Channel last night in a time of 13hours 5minutes. This is an excellent effort made even greater by the fact that he started at around 1 o’clock in the afternoon, so had a good 6 hours swimming in the dark. It was also a spring tide so he had a bit more water movement to contend with, not a problem but it sounds cooler.

Well done Piglet!

Just me now from our Swimtrek group – crap.

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.

Holliday... Celebrate...

Another Channel swimmer - awesome effort

It is with great pleasure that I announce the successful Channel swim of Simon Holliday (see what I did now with the title? very clever), of Gozo fame and many other posts on here. He completed his swim last night in a time of 15hours 2minutes. This was an excellent swim in, what I am led to believe, pretty bumpy conditions – winds up to 22mph and waves reaching almost 3metres. He kept on going even when relay teams were being pulled out of the water due to the swell.

Congratulations Simon, I am absolutely chuffed for you!

There are just 2 of our Gozo group to go now, Lorcan and myself. Lorcan will undoubtedly smash it, and I plan to do the same. Mine will be a much, much slower smash, but a smash none-the-less. There is also Ange of course, who although not on the Swimtrek trip with us, has managed to worm her way into our group with her constant excitement. Due to this she will also get a post on here. She is incredibly lucky…

What a Difference a Day Makes

This weekend was possibly my penultimate weekend at Dover before my actual swim. I am struggling to believe how quickly this year of training has gone, it has absolutely flown by. I keep getting asked if I am ready. I’m not sure you can ever know you are completely ready until you are standing on the beach in France, what I will say is I am as ready as I’ll ever be. I have done the training, I haven’t bluffed my way through it, and soon (hopefully) it will all pay off.

The glamourous world of Channel swimming

I arrived at the beach on Saturday, to pretty lovely conditions, expecting a relatively short swim. I was rewarded with 4 hours. This may not seem like a short swim but it really is, it’s basically two feeds (we don’t get fed until 2 hours in), then the last 2 hours is easy. After a little speech from Stuart Branch, conqueror of the Channel in mid-week, we were off.

A pointless video

This week I decided I was going to swim as hard as I could for the first 2 hours, and then chill out a little bit in the second 2. What actually happened was I swam hard for the first 2 hours, and then kept up that same pace for the entire time. The secret to this swim was peanut butter sandwiches.

I have recently decided that I am a man who is powered purely by protein, carbs don’t appear to do that much for me, which is why I have been getting so hungry on my swims. All I have been consuming is carbs, with no protein at all. Suddenly, with just a couple of tiny peanut butter sandwiches inside me, I have become a swimming machine (a slow machine yes, but the ZX Spectrum was a machine. I'm faster than that). I didn't even experience slight hunger throughout the entire swim. This is excellent news for me, hunger really has been my Achilles heel so far.

Enjoying my greasing a little too much

My wrist also didn’t hurt at all. I saw my friend at Lambert Performance in the week. He appears to be some kind of witch doctor. After a few stretches and getting into some awkward positions I felt fine. There wasn’t even any pain when he pushed directly onto the injury with his thumb. If you’re in London and want to be fixed, pay him a visit. It is well worth it.

So on Saturday I ended up covering 12,250metres in my 4 hour swim, this is including feeds which take about a minute, so I was smashing out over 3km an hour. On Sunday I had another 4 hour swim, despite Freda promising it would only be a 3 hour dip (I knew that was too good to be true). This time I only covered 10,500metres. This wasn’t due to bluffing though, this was due to basically having to swim up a waterfall.

The conditions on Sunday were not great. It was fine swimming from right to left, but when you turned around at the wall it was horrific. If you have ever swam in an endless pool on full power, on the back of a flat-bed truck driving at 60mph round an off-road circuit, you will have some idea of what the conditions were like. It was hard work. You literally had to punch through the waves to get moving, to be fair I quite enjoyed it. After 3 hours my enjoyment had waned a little I must admit.

Actually looking warmer than Ange, this is a first

At one point the heavens opened and it absolutely poured with rain, this was a real high point. It genuinely was a high point, it flattened the sea out a bit and was just interesting. There was no chance of getting bored on this swim. As soon as the rain stopped though the waves returned, my shoulders were not happy with this.

After I had finished my 4 hours, I watched a man who still had a couple of hours to swim. He was basically swimming on the spot, he couldn’t beat the current. It was very strange to watch, especially when people swimming in the opposite direction glided past effortlessly. It’s all good training though, as I imagine there will be a spot or 2 (or 7) where I cover very little ground on my Channel swim.

I got back on Sunday to a message from my friend over in Australia who said I had been on TV, due to being around whilst Chloë McCardel attempted her triple crossing. Only for about 2 seconds (after 5mins 31secs), but still it looks like I have finally cracked Australia!

Ensuring I didn't spend 1 second too long in the water

Thanks again to everybody that has sponsored me so far, I am nearly where I want to be, just need another £1,000(ish). If you do fancy sponsoring me then just click the Help for Heroes logo on the top right of this page, or here if it's easier. All sponsors are very gratefully received…

Triumph!

The newest member of the Channel club

This is another short post to mark another Channel swim. This time it’s Chris, my fellow Gozo swimmer, who has today completed the crossing in an excellent time of 13 hours 33 minutes. Massive congratulations to him for a well deserved success. This man has been completing 7 and 8 hour swims in Dover harbour since the end of June!

That’s 3 of our Swimtrek group to have attempted the swim now, not including our guides Nick Adams, who smashed the swim in 10 hours 22 minutes, and Karen Throsby, who conquered the Catalina Channel in 14 hours 11 minutes.

We have managed 2 successes so far, and one heroic failure (not that failure feels like the correct word). Just 3 more of us to go in the next few weeks, the pressure is well and truly on… 

We're Gonna Need a Montage...

Now that I am into my final 3 weeks before the big swim (weather permitting), I have started reminiscing about how truly awful I was in the water 14 months ago. I could swim 1 complete length of my local 33 metre pool before having to stop for a good minute or 2 to get my breath back. This had nothing to do with fitness, just terrible, terrible technique.

So I spent some of today watching this technique in great detail in the dvd's I got from Tri'n'swim WELL, and felt it necessary to make a video. This happens to me quite a lot.

The following video is intentionally cheesy. All classic 80's montage scenes are, so don't judge me...



Due to the Guardians of everything, I have had to change the soundtrack. Well done copyright, another master crime prevented.

Incidentally if you want to watch this with it's original soundtrack just press play on the bar below the film and mute the actual video. I'm an evil genius, who will shortly be in jail no doubt. This is far worse than the phone hacking scandal.

Love Me Tendon

After my 50km week, I have had a disaster this time round managing only 17km. This was partially due to support swimming for Hannah taking up a couple of days (which was an excellent experience), and also due to my right wrist injury once again rearing its ugly head. My weekend in Dover was supposed to be my ‘Big’ weekend, with a 7 and 6 hour swim. The weather was perfect both days, but my wrist was not.

The cheap mans ferry shot

On Saturday I entered the water knowing I had 7 hours ahead of me, and didn’t feel too phased. I was swimming very well (for me), and maintaining a good pace, comfortably staying with people who usually leave me for dead. After about an hour however, my wrist really started to let me know it wasn’t quite right. With each stroke I could feel the tendon straining, and could almost hear it creaking.

I decided at 90 minutes that I was going to get out at the 2 hour point, the pain wasn’t so excruciating that I had to get out, but I really didn’t want to reach that stage with so little time remaining before the big event. Whilst I was swimming in for the 2 hour feed I thought about just carrying on and swimming through the pain, but really feel I made the sensible decision in getting out and not pushing myself, or my wrist, too hard. There would be absolutely no point in completing a 7 hour swim in the harbour, only to injure myself so I can't even attempt the Channel.

I exited the water and made straight for the physio to get a massage on the wrist. This really helped, and gave me a decent amount of confidence that it isn't going to completely destroy the dream. After the session I was told to heat and ice the area for a couple of days, and that I would be fine to swim again the next day. It turned out that another swimmer, Tom, had pretty much the exact same problem. His swim is on the same tide as me so it will be interesting to see how this turns out. Nick Adams also had the same injury before his swim and he managed to get across in 10hours 22minutes, so all is definitely not lost (he does have the advantage of having several fish like qualities).

Sunday was pretty much the exact same scenario, the only thing was this time I was overly aware of any pain I felt in the wrist. I probably could/should have kept going for longer than I managed, but paranoia takes over and makes it very hard for me to push myself any further. I could do without this right now.

It is such bad timing, I don’t want to miss any training, but REALLY don’t want to get injured. I have to have faith in my fitness at the moment and just train until it aches and no more. This is so much easier said then done.

If you are in Dover and feel a bit of an injury coming on I couldn’t recommend Zoe (the sports masseuse) enough. She really knows her stuff, and both times I have walked out of the treatment room feeling a lot better than when I walked in. I’d rather not have to visit her obviously, but I foresee it becoming a regular occurrence from now until my swim.

On Saturday I also got to visit the 'White Horse' pub in Dover, where channel swimmers regularly sign their names on the walls. Hannah was to make her mark after her successful swim mid-week, and ended up picking a spot right next to Cameron Spittle, so I now have a crew corner. 

I really have to get my name on that pub wall…

No Guts... No Glory

I spent Tuesday 26^th July on board Neil Streeter’s boat, Suva, as Hannah Noble attempted to become a Channel swimmer. I was to witness one of the bravest swims I have ever seen (not that I’ve seen a lot, but still…).

The first steps of an epic day

It all began at 0520, on Shakespeare Beach, Dover. The weather looked lovely and the sea looked calm. About 40 minutes into the swim, this all changed. I wouldn’t say the sea was rough but it was incredibly wavy, and the Sun just would not come out from behind the clouds, making it pretty cold. The major downer was the wind.

The first 4 hours passed by pretty quickly, and before I knew it I was in alongside Hannah for an hours swim. This is the longest you are allowed to swim with a Channel soloist, before you have to get out for a break. It is not to pace make, just to offer some company as it can get pretty lonely on marathon swims, even with people staring at you constantly from the boat. The hour passed by very quickly (for me), and once again I was on the boat and sorting out the feed.

Hannah was still swimming along at the same pace, keeping up a regular stroke rate and looking quite comfortable. She was chirpy at the feeds and everything looked rosy, by 7 hours she was nearing the separation zone in the centre of the Channel. We started making optimistic guesses of finishing times, we all thought around 14-15 hours, which seemed a reasonable assumption.

Keeping good form

When I got in again at the 9 hour point, it wasn’t quite such a happy experience. Hannah was starting to feel it. Her pace had dropped significantly but she was still plodding along and looking reasonably comfortable under water. She was maintaining her technique, despite shoulder problems later revealed. By the end of this hour she was entering the North West shipping zone, or French waters, but everything was about to take a turn for the worse.

When we reached 4 nautical miles from the French coast we stopped. Literally stopped still, along with 3 other boats within our vicinity. Nobody was making any ground at all. Hannah was to cover around 250 metres an hour, for the next 3 hours. It was horrific to watch. At each feed I was telling her what good progress we were making towards the coast, but at one point we actually moved slightly further away. I got in again for another hour at the 14 hour point and felt the conditions for myself. It was definitely not a case of Hannah slowing, it was a case of the wind deciding nobody was going any further.

Our 3 hour sticking point

After I got back out, I again asked Neil how far we had to go, and was told we still had 3.5 nautical miles. We were barely moving, and Hannah’s mood was deteriorating rapidly. She was still going though, her arms were just going through the motions almost automatically, despite the fact that she was obviously in pain and almost crying. I was so impressed and humbled by the whole experience. I knew she was gutsy but this really was incredible.

At the 16 hour feed I was sure it was soon going to be over, it looked like we were just never going to get moving again, it was heart breaking. Her Dad then suggested she move to the other side of the boat to get a bit of protection from the wind, and this turned out to be a master stroke. Although she still wasn’t exactly flying towards France she was moving in the right direction once again.

The coast of France looks deceptively close for an incredibly long time, but it never seems to get any nearer. It appears to stay the exact same distance away forever, until it is suddenly upon you. We never got to experience the moment where it was suddenly upon us, as it was pitch black, but the orange glow from the shore was gradually becoming separate lights, and we could see cars driving up and down just in front of us.

The final mile

At the 17½ hour feed I was told she had under a mile to go. This was an excellent thing to hear as I was slowly but surely beginning to accept defeat, Hannah never reached this stage. The first time she complained or said she couldn’t do it was after 16 hours, and this blip lasted for about 20 seconds until she was off again – it was amazing.

After I delivered the 18 hour feed I was told to get changed and get ready to swim into shore with Hannah. This was an amazing moment for me, I can’t imagine what the feeling was like for her when she was told she had 300metres to push! I jumped in, to surprisingly warm water, and swam alongside. I told her to follow the torchlight. I wasn’t allowed to go in front so just breast stroked/front crawled next to her until she uttered the immortal word ‘sand’.

After 18 hours and 24 minutes, she had set foot in France.

We walked the last 15 metres or so until she was clear of the water, and that was that. Hannah Noble was a Channel swimmer, and one of the most deserved ones there can possibly be.

A well earned 5 second lay down

I have now been on 2 Channel crossings, which have been massively inspirational yet completely different. Cameron Spittle’s crossing last year was an exhibition of pure swimming ability, coolness and just a text book display. Hannah's was an exhibition of absolute grit and determination.

It was a privilege to be involved with both, and it will provide much inspiration for my attempt in around 3 weeks. There are no excuses – I MUST GET ACROSS… 

….one more thing, we had the added bonus of getting stopped and boarded by customs as we were leaving France. We were then taken to Boulogne and searched for 3 hours (apparently, I was asleep for the whole thing). If you’re going on a Channel swim always remember your passport. Luckily we all had, otherwise I think we were looking at a good few years hard labour.

The Wall

This week, for the first time, I have broken the 50km barrier. Nearly 32 miles of swimming. It has been a tough time, but actually hasn’t been as hideous as I would have expected it to be. 34km have been in the pool, and nearly 17km at Dover. I also completed 7 hours in the sea, so it has been a week of firsts.

The pool swimming has involved a lot of sprinting and some long aerobic warm-ups. I have managed to get a new P.B. in pretty much every distance I have attempted, still not amazing times but not too shabby. Better than the celebrities that are attempting to cross the Irish sea in September anyway, in ‘the SWIM’. 

My thoughts on this are very mixed, it’s obviously good that they are trying to raise so much money for Cancer research, but the way they have gone about it has been almost farcical. Jenny Frost for example is currently learning to do front crawl in Ibiza, and Ronan Keating has confessed to hating swimming. This is an excellent attitude which I’m sure will not encourage anybody else into the sport. They are getting some excellent swimmers involved, who I'm guessing are going to end up doing the majority of the work.

Also don't fool yourself into thinking that this is a hard challenge, if it were a hard challenge then people would be required to swim far further than the 3km's they are asking for in the trials. Good luck to everyone who attempts it, but there are far greater challenges out there that deserve far more recognition. When I see the amount of graft people put in every weekend at Dover and struggle to raise sponsorship, it's frustrating to me how willing people are to sponsor 'celebrities'.

Anyway who cares about celebrities? The whole celebrity culture is ridiculous, and it’s nobody’s fault but our own. Why do we want to read about these people’s lives all the time? Who cares? On the same day that many innocent people were murdered in Norway, Amy Winehouse is top news, an average singer with a drug habit. This is surely not right, but this is the world in which we currently live. This is nothing against her, although I don't think she should be revered as a great, but it really needs to be put into perspective.

Again who cares about celebrities? let’s talk about swimming. That’s far more interesting I’m sure...

Perfect conditions (minus the Sun). What a difference a week makes

Simon, Angela and myself arrived at Dover harbour early this week, which was an absolute pleasure. We had time to get everything sorted, and be truly ready to get into the sea. The weather was not too bad and the water was delightfully calm. The sun was occasionally poking through the clouds, but only very occasionally. After my beast in the pool this week I knew I still had a big swim ahead of me. I thought it may be 8 hours but Freda instead prescribed me 7. To be fair I don’t think there’s that much difference between the two (until I do an 8 hour next week).

Simon suggested we swim together and I accepted, quite reluctantly as I don’t mind swimming on my own, but it turned out to be the right decision. We set off at a very decent pace and managed to keep it up for the majority of the swim – Simon kept it up for the whole of the swim. I faded badly in the last 90 minutes, again hunger struck me massively.

The first 2 hours of the swim were an absolute pleasure, although I feel the cold a lot more when there is no sun shining on me. This makes such a difference it's unreal. When the sun is out I am happy and loving life, but as soon as it drifts behind a cloud I slowly become a mess. Fingers crossed for a sunny day for me in August.

Towards the end of these 2 hours we had managed to swim far too far out to sea and were near the end of the harbour wall, so we decided to swim back towards the shore. This was when I hit the wall, not the metaphorical wall, the actual wall. I smashed my hand against the corrugated iron after drifting to the left and managed to cut my wrist open. This was a very unfortunate thing to do so early in a 7 hour swim.

My horrific injury. Many men fainted upon seeing this

When we arrived for our first scheduled feed I had quite a lot of blood seeping out of my hand, it looked pretty cool to be fair. The bleeding soon stopped when I started swimming again, the cold water made sure of that. Every time I came into feed from that point onwards though, all the blood came back to the surface and it looked worse and worse. There’s nothing better than a wound that doesn’t hurt that much but looks bad, it’s very good for street cred.

At the 5 hour point I really wanted to get out of the water, I was starving. The milky ways are just not satisfying my hunger. From now on I will be taking down some sandwiches to eat when I come to shore, I have been told to do this already but constantly forget (sorry Cameron). The good news is that, hunger aside, I had no real problems. The bad news is the hunger was unbelievable and it really, really affected me.

I only covered around 3km in the last 2 hours, which was a shame as me and Simon were going really well for 5 hours. I was so weak and feeble and constantly thinking about eating. Nutrition is so important it cannot be emphasised enough. Especially for me, I’m a big fan of eating even if I’m not doing anything.

By the end of the swim I was very happy to be getting out of the water, but I was happier to have stayed in for the whole time. There were many times towards the end where I was very tempted to get out and eat everything in sight.

There are just 26 days to go now until my Channel window opens. I’m guessing I'll have one more major weekend in Dover with big back to back sessions, followed by a little taper. Then I will have the main event. 

It’s been a hard year so far in the Channel with a fair few excellent swimmers being pulled out of the water. I won’t be one of them… (please!)