A quick summary of my swim across the English Channel on 4th September 2004
(Click here for blow-by-blow account)
A) For those with an answer first
mentality, I swam to France on Saturday in 14 hours 8 minutes.
B) For those with a pyramidal mentality:
Situation: Dark, very dark at 3am. Dive into water to start when...
Complication: Goggles lost. Replacement pair covered in grease and hard to adjust in water. Immediate thought...
Question: Why am I doing this?
Answer: 'Cos I spent 8 months training and told lots of people that I would (& they believed me)! So "just keep swimming"...and I did. For 3 hours in the cold until sunrise. For 3 more hours to hit the mid point buoy (that felt good). For 2 more hours until I equalled my longest single day swim. For 1 more hour to pass it! For 2 more hours until France was clearly in sight. For 3 more hours to defeat the currents and put feet on French soil. For 5 more minutes back to the boat to prove to myself that I hadn't imagined the contra-current!
C) For those who like the war stories... and there were many but here is just one:
On my very last training swim after my very last feed, I swam back out for one final circuit of Dover harbour and bumped into a bottle. That bottle had a message in it from a little boy called Colm Todd from Suton Coldfield. He set it adrift in Les Sable d'Olonne on the north west coast of France on the 24th August and I bumped into it just off the Dover beach on the 30th August. So being a little perverse, I wrote Colm a letter, enclosed his original and set off for France. When I crawled up the shore after 14 hours swimming, I was greeted by a small crowd of French people who wanted to shake my hand and have pictures taken with me - odd considering I looked like a beached sperm whale. In return, I negotiated for one of them to add a stamp to my letter and post it on to Colm.
When his letter arrived, it had travelled by bottle from France to England, by swimmer from England to France and by postal service from France to England. Some journey! Let's hope it brings him as much luck as it did me!
One small postscript: I was telling this story to one of my friends who I have known since primary school and who now lives near Coventry. After hearing about Colm and his father Bill Todd, he remarked: "Oh yes, I know Bill. I play squash with him!". Small world eh!
If you want to hear more and have broadband, then click on the London Tonight interview
D) For those who buy the Sun for
the pictures:
E) For those who like statistics:
Boat: "Seafarer"
Seafarer Crew:
Pilot - Chris Osmond
Crew - Tony Mitchenson
Observer - Brian HarbottleSupport Crew:
Sarah Critchlow (logistics)
Liz Denbigh (on board)
Tracey Rawlins (on board)Start Time: 03:05
Finish Time: 17:13
Sunrise: 06:12
Sunset: 19:32
Air Temp: 24ºC (75ºF)
Water Temp: 18ºC (64ºF)Distance: 34.5 km (direct)
Distance: 61.4 km (actual)
High Tide: 03:05 6.3m
Low Tide: 10:19 1.2m
High Tide: 15:21 6.5m
Low Tide: 22:40 1.3m
F) For those who like the blow-by-blow account:
Thank you everyone for all the words of wisdom and encouragement before and during the swim. They meant a lot during a very long 14 hours. As someone famous once had inscribed on his tomb: "Nothing great is easy" (Capt Matthew Webb)... and whilst not "great" nor "easy" my swim was certainly an interesting experience!