So, who’s idea was this? I asked myself as I climbed down the ladder from the boat into the cold water at 6:20am on a Tuesday morning as day started to break!
The answer is that it was all down to me, I had brought this on myself, it was totally voluntary. My journey starts with a conversation with my good friend and long-time swimming buddy Neil. This was February; I had spent a weekend in Brighton which had included a swim in the Sea Lanes. I had really felt the cold, this was to become a recurrent theme over the coming months. Neil mentioned casually that an acquaintance of his was putting together a relay team to swim the English Channel from Dover to Calais in late August. He asked whether I was interested, although I had never thought about swimming the Channel, my response was that I was! I did some research – will I drown? How do I train for such an event? How will the relay team work? How can I improve my swimming technique? I have been a swimmer since childhood, but it has been for exercise and pleasure, not for competitions or endurance. I also had minimal experience of swimming in the sea, the warm Caribbean Sea around Barbados does not count! The thought of training with my good friend was definitely a pull factor for signing up.
I watched some videos on YouTube, I was surprised that the footage was taken in the English Channel, the water looked so still and clear with the bright sun reflecting from it. After a conversation with my partner Andrew (who is a marathon runner), I joined the team.
The team met for the first time just after Easter at a pub in Islington. Ben P, Ben K, Ella, Xander, Frauke, myself and Neil. The eighth member of the team is Kevin, the father of Ben and Ella, he couldn’t make this gathering. I soon realised that I was the oldest person in the room, but that also meant that I had been swimming for longer than the others! The team were fairly inexperienced in sea swimming, some had done triathlons, and they were a fairly sporty and able bunch.
Training season was upon us. West Reservoir was my first proper taste of open water swimming with a wet suit and a tow float. It is a lovely place with a café and a community feel. On my first swim, I had to get used to swimming the distance and getting over the fear of not being able to touch the bottom of the pool. Neil was very patient with me as I adjusted. As with many experiences in my life, it was a case of ‘mind over matter’.
Spring turned to summer, although it was hard to tell, four seasons in a day is probably the best way to describe the early summer of 2024. I became a regular at the reservoir and at London Fields Lido, taking group lessons with my friend Marco on Wednesdays after work. I worked on my front crawl, the best stroke for sea swimming. I had one on one training with a coach at London Fields who told me to put on weight – chocolate milk every day for 6 weeks! We then moved on to sea swimming: Brighton, Herne Bay, and Westcliffe along with a few sessions in Loch Lomond during our July break – now that was really cold! Herne Bay was our first experience of jellyfish. We also did our observed swim there – 1.5 hours in the sea followed by a one-hour break (mainly eating biscuits), then a further hour in the sea followed by fish and chips all with no wetsuit. That was tough, but it gave me the confidence to believe that I could do the Channel relay. I learned to carb-load, and I had a ready supply of Grenade Bars in my backpack at all times.
The big day approached. Neil and I headed to Sandwich the day before to stay at my brother Joe’s house. We were very anxious the night before, especially as it was not possible to confirm the attempt as the weather was still looking changeable.
27th August, the big day
The alarm went off at 2am, seasickness tablets were taken, and bleary eyed we drove down to Dover Marina and met the rest of the team along with Paul, the Pilot, the skipper, and the observer. The Optimist was ready to sail.
We were briefed on the deck and the nerves were palpable as the boat started its journey. The boat itself was kitted out with a kitchen, seating area, 4 bunk beds and a bathroom (a place I never wish to see again)! The sea was very choppy and six of us were hit with seasickness. Ben P, with lights attached, went first – a truly impressive swim from the boat to Shakespeare Beach in total darkness followed by an hour in the water. Ben K was next, a difficult swim in the dark, and still choppy waters. My turn came, with trepidation, I entered the water at 6:20am. The water was about 18 degrees, but it felt colder. The initial shock faded, and I swam from the boat, quite far from the boat, the team beckoned me back. My thoughts were a mixed bag, flitting between thoughts of the cold, how I had no tow float, thoughts of my nephew as he celebrated his birthday that day playing with the Lego I bought him, and some random song lyrics all against the backdrop of a beautiful sunrise as the sun burned across the horizon. It is so important to not panic in these situations, something I learned earlier this year when I learned to scuba dive.
I completed my hour of front crawl and swam back to the boat. As I clambered out of the water, the cold hit me hard, the team warmed me up with the dry robe, towels, and fed me warm tea, I slept for a couple of hours wrapped up in one of the bunks.
I missed Xander and Frauke’s swims and I emerged on to the deck in time for Ella’s swim. She was followed by Kevin, then Neil went 8th. He was supposed to have gone 2nd, but the seasickness had affected him badly.
Lunch was a load of cheese and tomato sandwiches with Grenade bars and cookies. The crew had a fishing rod, and they ate some mackerel straight from the sea to the pan! We saw many other boats heading in various directions, some of the container ships were so heavily loaded they looked to be exempt from the laws of physics!
We were making progress, but it looked as though we would miss the tide that would take us up to our landing point at Cap Gris-Nez. We continued with our 2nd swims in the same order. My second swim at 2:20pm was easier as I had eaten more food and I had acclimatised to the cold water. The sun was also warming us up nicely, a temperature of around 23 degrees with a clear sky, a beautiful day. This time, song lyrics took over my thoughts, and somehow this second hour felt longer than the first one, the taste of the sea water was now etched in my mouth. The call of 3 minutes to go came as a huge relief, this is around the length of a song on the radio. More shivering and tea for my recovery from the water.
The French coast came into view, a site to behold, although the English side is prettier with the white cliffs and the castle. Both coasts are fortified because of conflicts past. I thought about the countless number of people who will have crossed this sea, mostly on boats!
Around 5pm we started to drift away from our planned landing point. The tide had eluded us. However, we continued our swims. The crew told us that due to the tides, it would take us a further 8 or 9 hours to make the next tide that would take us to the landing point. As we swam, the sun set, an absolutely beautiful sight after such a long day. The team regrouped, what were we to do? We agreed on a plan, we would continue until Ben P took his third swim at hour 16. He was the strongest swimmer, and he was confident to swim in the dark. We wanted to get to the port of Calais. Darkness was with us again as Ben entered the water in his trunks proudly displaying the flag of his native South Africa. He gallantly swam against the current and through the jellyfish to get into the port. We were not allowed to land there due to the cross-channel ferries, but we had made it! This was a great moment for the team, a moment of pure joy.
The boat turned around and it took 3 hours to get back to Dover. Some of the team slept, I watched the moon rising over the sea and the many stars in the sky, something I am not used to after living my whole life in cities. I reflected on the absolute power of the sea and the beauty of nature. Dover came into sight once again and we disembarked at around 12:30am. The end of an epic day.
