The Swim

Sunday 27th, was a relaxing day down on the beach. I'd been asked to phone the CS&PF office mid afternoon to see how the 2 way swimmer was progressing. He was doing well and so it was unlikely that my swim would be before Tuesday. Rob decided to head home to Shropshire, but promised to turn around if we heard anything new. Ruth, Ben and I decided that attendance at an all you can eat Chinese was called for. Before we settled down for a good feed, I made a final call to the office.... just in case! The 2 way had been pulled and I was now due to swim, be at the Marina office at 0530 ready to load.... action stations we have a go!! We filled our tummies and set off back to the B&B to prepare all the feeds and kit. For the first time in all of the prep I was nervous. I phoned Rob, who promptly set off back on the long road to Dover, (thanks again mate), and Ady who said he would meet us at the Marina office.

With the alarms set for 0415 I headed off to bed, and a restless night thinking about what awaited me over the next 24 hours. We arrived at the marina, where both Rob and Ady were ready to go. With Sea Satin loaded we slipped out of Dover with a number of other boats just as the sun was rising.

As we headed out round towards Shakespeare Beach (the start point) the crew stowed away all the kit and I was briefed by my official observer, Tom. We greased up with vaseline, (no goose grease!!) and I was ready for the day ahead.

The weather was looking good, and I slipped into the water for the few strokes to the beach, the hooter sounded and the swim of my life began.

The water was calm and the 1st hour flew by as I was called to the boat for my first feed. I took a sneaky look back and I could see the white cliffs of Dover back in the distance, I felt I'd come a long way in such a short time, at this rate what could go wrong!! We continued to feed every hour for the first 3 hours and then down to 40 minutes and apart from the occasional call of nature all was going well. During the feed at the 5 hour point I was told that I was well into the North West shipping lane and we were dodging the tankers. At this point I swallowed a large mouthful of seawater and it, along with all my feed, came surging back out to feed the fishes!! Ben managed to capture this event on video (typical), but I won't upload it for all to see. It was agreed at this point I would have a cup of tea at the next feed, very British I know, but it made me feel so much better! We then decided to feed me every 30 minutes.

By now the Channel had become very misty and the sound of the ship's foghorns could be heard all around. The sea started to get choppier and unbeknown to me a storm was heading our way. After 10 hours I was violently ill again, but I caught my first glimpse of France, which gave me renewed energy and I struck out for the finish.

The other thing that I didn't realise was that I was being pushed down the Channel by the tide and was fighting to stay in one place. When the tide changed the wind picked up but I continued to be pushed the wrong way, so for the next 5 hours I went up and down the Channel just a few miles off Cap Griz Nez. At times, I had a clear view of France and my ultimate goal, but the harder I pushed the further away it seemed.

By now it was dark, the rain was lashing down, the thunder and lightning was scary but exciting all at the same time, but the wind was making it tricky to swim without swallowing water. Everytime I had a feed, the waves would wash over me, making it impossible to take the much needed energy. After a particularly difficult feed during which I was pushed from one side of Sea Satin to the other, I was checked by Sean, one of Lance's crew, to see if I was ok. This is the last thing I remember, before waking up on the boat on the way back to Dover!

Apparently I swam on for a further 20 minutes, holding a good stroke rate of 60 strokes per min, before stopping dead in the water. I then did a couple of single arm strokes before stopping again face down in the water, I then tried to breaststroke and collapsed yet again. Lance tried to get me to respond, but by now I was completely limp and unresponsive, so he made the decision to haul me out of the water, thus my Channel swim came to an unsuccessful end.

Post swim thoughts to come later.

Oh So Close

For those of you who may not yet know I swam on Monday 28th July, unfortunately I didn't make it across. After swimming for over 15 hours, the last 5 in wind, rain, thunder and lightning, I was pulled out of the water, just 3 miles off the coast of France. In those last few hours I could see the coast but never got any closer as I swam against the elements. I'm disapointed, but I know I gave everything, and that is all I could do.

I will post more details, photo's and video as soon as I can.

Thankyou to everyone who has been involved in this adventure, and who have followed my dream. You know who you are..... thanks again.

The Long Wait!!

The weather is improving and the first swimmers got away this morning. I have a 2 way booked ahead of me so I may be delayed until monday or even tuesday. The weather forecast for monday is very good so please keep your fingers crossed.

Had a small panic last night, as Rob my support swimmer has possibly been moved forward for his own swim. Luckily, Ady Brown, a fellow SwimTrekker has kindly offered to take up the role, thanks Ady, you may regret it after a few hours on the boat!!!

I will ring the CS&PF office tonight at 7pm for the latest info, but the library is shut tomorrow so I can't update until monday (assuming I don't swim)!!

I did a 2 hour swim in Dover harbour this morning, and I felt great. I'm ready as I ever will be, and just want to go!!

Arrived in Dover

We have arrived in Dover with all the kit ready to swim. We are sat in warm sunshine, but with high winds, this means that I will not be setting off until at least monday. On the plus side I can get a few short swims in over the weekend in the harbour. There is also a possibility that I may swim with a different support boat piloted by Lance's Dad Mike. His boat is the Gallivant, so any of you who wish to follow me across you may have to look out for this boat rather than Sea Satin. Once I have confirmation of which I will try and post a new entry on this blog. I'm currently logged on at Dover library, so it all depends on the place being open.

Anyway, just off for a dip, more later.

Quick Dip in Criccieth

The tapering down for the big swim has gone well. I had a swim at Criccieth off the coast of North Wales at the weekend. The Conditions were a little rough, more so for Ruth as safety cover than me. I've been busy getting all the kit I will need for the big one ready this week. I didn't think you would need so much stuff, over and above the hat and goggles, but we now have 3 large boxes of equipment including flasks, Maxim, warm clothes etc. The weather forecast is starting to look better as the week goes on, so let's keep our fingers crossed. We travel down to Dover on Thursday and will be ready to go as soon as we arrive. All we need is the nod from Lance, and France, here we come!!

Follow My Progress Via AIS

Lance Oram, my boat pilot has a system on board his boat (Sea Satin) which allows anyone who has internet access to track the position of the boat, and hence the swimmer he is supporting. This system is known as AIS and can be accessed via the following link:

http://www.shipais.com/currentmap.php?refresh=2&count=3&map=folkstone

For anyone who is interested, we will post when I start my swim and you will be able to follow my progress to France, you can set the map to refresh at set intervals to see the progress. If Sea Satin does not appear on the plot then go to the search tab and type in Sea Satin and it will find the boat. It also gives a better idea of the traffic in the Channel.

Andy

Channel Traffic

For anyone who's interested, the picture below was placed on the Channel Swimmers Forum yesterday, and gives an indication of all the shipping I'll have to dodge on my swim!!

Make or Break Weekend

Having been zapped with ultra-sound everyday, I was ready to test out the injured shoulder, if all went well, I hoped to do 7 hours on Saturday, followed by 6 hours on Sunday. We arrived at Dover and Freda suggests I do a 5 hour swim, oh joy thinks I, she is trying to protect my shoulder (Bless). Rob and I enter the water together and I manage to stay with him, no pain yet. As I swim I think that no way would Freda just propose 5 hours, and sure enough, at the first feed stop I'm told I'm going well and should now do 6 hours. It is very hard to mentally adjust in the cold, but I suspected this may be done, (Total Body Confusion) and was prepared to swim for 6 hours. What I wasn't ready for was at the next feed, I was told that 7 hours would be a good target for the day. Now whilst I had wanted to do 7 at the start of the day, being told 5 then 6 really challenged my mind, and it took a fair amount of control not to tell everyone where they could shove the suggestion!! I plugged on, counting down the hourly feeds, until I had just an hour to finish. What I didn't realise at the time was I was the only swimmer on a 7 hour effort and Freda had stopped to ensure I was out safe, even though she wasn't feeling too well, so thank-you Freda. On the last leg of the swim back to the beach, a truely bizzare event occurred, when I was stopped by the Police... in a huge RIB. Now I would like to think I was pulled over for speeding but they only wanted to warn me about the sailing dinghies in the water, luckily I was on my way out.

Sunday was a 6 hour swim with no mind games! However, the weather did it's best to stop us from swimming. We had an hour of sun, but things went from bad to worse as the day went on. By the end it was better to be in the water than on the beach as the photo's show:

Photo's courtesy of Emma French

Despite the conditions, a few brave souls completed the full 6 hours, under Fredas ever watching eyes. I have completed my final hurdle before I'm let loose in the Channel, swimming a 7 then a 6 hour is thought of a a "split Channel swim" and is a fair indicator of whether you can in fact swim to France. So, it's time to taper down the training and await the call up!!

Thanks to all at Dover who supported not only me, but all the other swimmers, we can't do it without you.

Andy

Dover Weekend 28th 29th June

Having recovered from my fright last time in Dover, I had taken a rest, and a bucket full of antibiotics!! The only swim completed was a 90 min effort off the coast of North Wales (Criccieth), this was in very rough conditions and I was forced out of the water due to the conditions.

The rest hovever, had done me the world of good, and I entered the water at Dover on Saturday morning feeling confident that I could complete the swim suggested by the lovely Freda, a 7 hour effort. The swim was totally uneventful and I fed well on each hour feeling great and well able to do more. I admit I was tired and a little sore but that's to be expected. I came out of the water after the 7 hours with renewed confidence in myself, and was grateful to all those who had faith in me, thankyou all.

Hovever, things did not stay as rosey as this, overnight my left shoulder became very stiff and painful, and even after a brufen fix the pain barely subsided. I managed to swim for 3 hours on Sunday before deciding that it may be best to "live to fight another day", thus rest the shoulder. I felt awful explaining to Freda my decision to quit, but I know I did the right thing. Meanwhile out on the beach there was a small reunion of some of the SwimTrek Malta swimmers as you can see:

Photo courtesy of Nicola Millichip.

Subsequently, I've been to see a sports injury specialist, who diagnosed, yes you guessed it, Rotator Cuff damage!! I'm now on prescribed anti-inflammatories and daily ultra-sound!! But I hope to be back in the harbour this Saturday coming, but time will tell!!