Background on the "Channel 5" relay team

There are, surprise, surprise, 5 members of our Relay team. Why 5? Well primarily because that's how many "volunteered" to turn up in April to go into 49F (10C) harbour water!!

Just to clear up a common misconception: A channel relay does not involve a swimmer crossing the 21 mile straits between Dover & Cap Gris Nez, handing over some form of a baton and then the next swimmer going back! Apart from anything 5 crossings would take a minimum of 3 days and nights to complete!!

Our "channel relay" involves 5 swimmers setting out from Dover for Cap Gris Nez. Each swimmer swims for 1 hour in strict rotation. After the first swimmer and the first hour, the next swimmer jumps off the boat and into the water behind the first swimmer and takes over for the next hour. The first swimmer has 4 hours on the boat to "recover" (read feel sea sick!) until after 5 hours, the first swimmer gets back in.

And to clear up a second common misconception: the swimmers do not wear wetsuits. Each swimmer wears a standard swimming costume (and yes there are strict regulations on the style!), a pair of goggles, a swimming cap, some Vaseline (to prevent friction burns not for insulation) and a smile. Actually the smile appears to be voluntarily, often being left behind in the excitement!

 So to the team: 

Julian Critchlow was the original catalyst behind the idea of a Channel Relay. In 2004, he took 8 months off from being a "strategy consultant" (whatever that is?) to train to swim the English Channel. With the support of his wife, Sarah, and 2 mad, sea-sick crew (Liz Denbigh & Tracey Rawlins), he succeeded in swimming the channel on 4th September in 14 hours 8 minutes. The preparation and excitement of the 2004 swim planted a seed in the mind of the second team member, Liz's husband Mike Denbigh.

 

 

Mike Denbigh, another parent of children at Ide Hill CoE Primary School, conceived in a moment of certifiable madness the idea of a sponsored Channel Relay on behalf of the school. He then got over-excited and proposed a "2-way" (to France and back) but the rest of the team weren't that drunk and only agreed to a "1 way"! Liz proposed adding Starlight Children's Foundation to Ide Hill School and to raise money for both charities. So a plan was in place and all we needed were 3-4 more swimmers!

 

 

Sue Hart as the Chair of the school PTA was quickly co-opted. This was despite the fact that she didn't really swim front crawl, let alone swim it in salt water whilst breathing bilaterally (i.e. both sides!). But Sue is always game for a challenge...well that was until she found how really, really cold 49F water is and how not having lots of "natural insulation" is a hindrance in cold water swimming!

 

 

Andy Scholes another parent of children at the school heard about the swim in the playground. He thought it sounded like an "interesting" challenge and he was clearly missing the "development opportunities" presented regularly during his time with the Forces. He hadn't lost any of his "volunteer first, figure out what you have volunteered for later" attitude from the Army and quickly presented himself for duty with the team. He is now redefining the term "blue with cold"!

 

 

Kevan Sharp should have know better. He should never have had that last pint with Mike & Julian in the Cock Inn. Next morning, Kevan woke up with a huge hangover - in fact it will take him 12 months to shake it off -as he was the fifth and final member of the team. Despite severe reservations, he has been at each and every training swim - although that might just be Jos being super efficient with the diary management?

 

The support crew fell into place quickly after that. Sarah, Liz, Ian, Steph and Jos agreed valiantly to support their respective partners in the training – despite having little idea what that actually meant. Sarah, Liz & Tracey – as experienced Channel Swimming support crew – volunteered for a second tour of duty on the boat.

 

So what does the training involve?

Well to start with you need to learn to swim front crawl bilaterally. That means, if you let Julian be the trainer, that you go down to Sevenoaks Leisure Centre at 7:30 each Sunday from August last year, to plod up and down the pool. Initially it is only 10 lengths or so - which is still a long way if you don't "do" front crawl. Even further if coughing & spluttering, you are forced to do 1, 2, 3 strokes and breath to the left, then 1, 2, 3 strokes and breath to the right. 

Over the next few months, the distance went up from 10 to 120 lengths (or 2km or about 50 minutes). Just as boredom began to set in, a new challenge presented itself - “ Dover Harbour! On April 29th, we presented ourselves at the β€œbeach” for our first couple of dips - 22 minutes and 18 minutes - in 49F (10C) salt water. Then there was an hour & half of violent shaking to defrost after each swim.

This set the pattern for fortnightly visits to the harbour. Each swim was slightly longer, despite the water temperature being unseasonally cold (~4F below normal temperatures!) and the harbour often being engulfed in fog.

 The actual swim is scheduled for the 3rd, 4th or 5th September - subject to the weather and all the swimmers before us getting off. However if the chance for an early swim comes up in late July, then we will jump at it - just to avoid further trips to Dover Harbour! 

 

And who are these charities that you are putting yourself to such agony for?

Starlight Children's Foundation (www.starlight.org.uk) brightens the lives of seriously and terminally ill children by granting their wishes and providing hospital entertainment to help take their minds off the pain, fear and isolation of their illness.

When Starlight began in 1987, it helped just 4 children; this year, we will help over 400,000 children all over the UK. Where possible, mums, dads, brothers and sisters are involved to strengthen family bonds at what is often a time of great stress and give everyone happy memories to share, no matter what the future may hold. Starlight receives neither Government nor Lottery support.

If Starlight had just one wish itself, it would be that cures could be found for all the terrible illnesses that can afflict children. Until then, it continues to provide important medicines of another sort: excitement, fun and laughter.

Ide Hill CoE Primary School Governors Appeal supports a small but excellent local village school that is at the heart of its community. Although it is only 90-100 children, the school has set a very high standard and is the top of those (infamous) league tables. But the funding mechanism that the Government has designed provides barely enough money to pay the teachers, let alone fund "optional" extras such as library books or teaching resources and certainly not powerful resources such as computers or electronic whiteboards that children in larger schools would expect as a matter of course. The Governors are hoping to use the funds raised by the swim to buy an electronic whiteboard for one of the classrooms and to add IT equipment to the shared IT room.

 

And so what can I do?

We have already raised corporate sponsorship from Timothy James & Partners to fund the expenses associated with the swim. The expenses are primarily the cost of the Channel Swimming & Pilot Federation (CS&PF) support boat ("Suva"), pilot (Neil Streeter) & crew that we must hire to cross safely and qualify as an approved swim, the observer costs and the travel costs to train each fortnight in Dover. Overall these come to several thousand pounds but are all covered by one of our sponsors.

 Therefore every penny that you pledge goes straight to the 2 charities and support directly the children that they work with. If you feeling generous now that you know more, then please click here and pledge. If you are still uncertain, then go fill a cold bath (with absolute no hot water) and sit in it for, say, 15 minutes. Once you have stopped shaking then you will be able to write a big cheque to a team that do more than an hour every fortnight for 6 months!

Whatever you pledge, a big, BIG thank you. We really appreciate every penny. Don't worry we will get the Government to contribute its bit by recovering the tax wherever possible! Just fill in the form appropriately at leave it to us!

 Finally if you want updates over the next few months on our progress and, on the day of the swim, would like periodic progress updates, then please fill in a relevant email address.  

Again, on behalf of both charities, thank you!