Champion of Champions (CofC)

With the familiar road to Dover once again beckoning, we departed from home midday Friday 17 June, we had made arrangements to collect Joe Hunter enroute with a rendezvous of Cambridge services. No sooner had we recommenced the journey from the RV when Joe started reading out emails from his iPhone (posted on the Google Channel Swimmers Group) indicating the severity of the weather forecast, for the first time in history Freda Streeter the Channel General, was advising swimmers that gale force winds together with a spring tide would make it unsafe to swim in the harbour the following day.

This, in our minds, obviously put the BLDSA Champion of Champions event (5 miles then 3 miles then 1 mile) in doubt..it would be a great shame to take time off work, book and pay for accommodation and drive the best part of 350 miles only to find the event cancelled. There was no news from the organisors, therefore we continued south to our lodgings for the night just outside Dover on the A20. Once checked in we headed off to Cullin's Yard for the standard maximum belly stretch, the storm was certainly with us, the windows of the restaurant being lashed with wind and rain as we stuffed our faces.

Next morning after a poor nights sleep, I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a clear blue sky as I packed the car and prepared for the brutal day ahead. The normal early breakfast issues and nerves began to surface, there was little time to worry though as we were required at the safety brief for 8:30am.

Several swimmers had already arrived, we sat, chatted, registered/ numbered and basically became a little frustrated as the start time came and went. Eventually a briefing did take place however it was not entirely good news, the standard 1 mile square course was to be adjusted, we were required to visualise this as the buoys were yet to be placed, suffice to say the square would be replaced by a half mile triangular course, meaning ten clockwise laps not 5! what a nightmare, Neil Streeters boat 'Suva' would be anchored at the base of the triangle, we would simply swim by, shout names and numbers and be ticked off...easy enough...?

Around 10:15 swimmers after downing a litre of maxim, we were counted into the water and off we went, the water was 58f  about 14.5c, the usual dog fight at the first turn buoy before the field spread and clear water appeared, it was a little bumpy you might say, the incoming tide was bringing big swells, and wind brought with it just about every weather type known to man, we had rain, sunshine, hail, cloud, wind all in the space of three hours. The photographs do not capture the water movement sadly.

Neil was unable to anchor Suva on the silt bottom of the harbour which resulted in the first lap being more of a square due to drift, a change of plan emerged as numbers were now being taken by a rib, it seemed to take forever to reached six laps, I was worried I was going to have to do eleven as the rib was away performing a rescue during one of my passes. After what seemed like an age without a feed in the choppy swells, I swam upto the the first turn buoy on completion of lap ten only to be told to swim to Suva and give my number again, after 3hours and 10 minutes I was heading to shore after what felt like more than 5 miles, having battled the breakers at the beach, it was actions stations to feed and warm up before the start of the 3 mile swim in less than and hours time.

After a sit in the car and chat with Joe, being attended to by the motherly KGB we emerged to be given the news that due to several issues (abandonment's, injury to kayak safety crew and the weather conditions) the 3 mile event was cancelled. Most of the experienced swimmers stated the 5 mile swim was nearer 6 so that was pleasing but I didn't know how to feel in truth...the lazy part of me was relieved, the planner in me was disappointed, I felt a little cheated but accepted the cancellation decision and spent the next hour or so catching up with some friends who we hadn't seen for some time.

Several 'legends' for me to introduce to Joe, the likes of Kevin Murphy (The King of the English Channel) Jane Murphy, Marcy MacDonald, Freda, Nick Adams, Nuala, Dee, Liane, Thomas, Rebecca Lewis to name a few.

The course was then re positioned closer to land for the 1 mile event, two laps and that was us all done, we hung around for about an hour for the presentation and then due to delays hit the road for the seven hour drive home.

Tired and a little disappointed due to the lack of the 3 mile swim but overall very happy to have swam for 3 hours without a feed at 58f, something I have not managed before now.

Thank you as ever to KGB for your help and support, to Joe and of course the BLDSA especially the paddlers in some atrocious conditions.

When The King speaks we should LISTEN

When Kevin Murphy -The King of The English Channel was recently asked on facebook:

"What is the biggest obstacle that you have had to overcome in the Channel"

This is what he replied

"The biggest obstacle - the mind. Fifty per cent of a successful Channel swim is willpower, 25% swimming ability; 25% fitness. If you don't want it enough and you crack mentally, you won't do it. You will be exhausted. You may be sick. You may think you are never going to get there. But if you are determined enough and keep putting one arm in front of the other, you will get there. However tough it gets, remember, the discomfort is short term. The achievement lasts a lifetime."

There endeth the lesson.

New Year New Targets

New Years Eve filled with parties, alcohol, fireworks and festivities isn’t always my favourite time of the year. I often find myself reflecting on memories from years ago, childhood thoughts of ‘first footing’ at my parents house and the joy those days brought. On the flip side is the dread of what the coming year may bring. Trying to dispel the fears of the emotional battles that lay ahead we move into 2011 with another set of goals.

2010 more or less rebooted my swimming , with a specific set of stepping stones leading to the target of the One way Windermere swim. I generally find it a lot easier to be motivated when I have something to aim towards, last year was very methodical and thankfully allowed me to progress without to much trouble be it mentally or physically, I had some lower back problems earlier in the year but this soon subsided as my condition slowly improved.

If anything, training of late has been ahead of schedule in comparison to last year, timings in the pool are down on twelve months ago but stamina appears to be improved, basically I am not as quick but I can go for longer! A better situation to be in I suppose…slow and steady wins the race so says the tortoise!

Last week brought my first little challenge since the summer when I decided on a steady two hour pool swim (I hadn’t swam for longer than 90 minutes since August) I was pleased to get 7000m under my belt which is a great benchmark for the big plan. That said, like most of the UK I have been suffering with varying degrees of ‘manflu’ since before Christmas which has resulted in a chest infection coupled with an intercostal muscle injury. A trip to the GP for confirmation and a weeks supply of anti biotics and instructions to take it easy was not what I wanted to hear yesterday. I dare say the weather hasn't helped with everything including the River Tees being frozen.

The lay off from training has allowed me time to get stuck into my recent birthday present from Charlie….Lewis Pugh’s book ’Achieving The Impossible’

I actually have several new swim books to keep me motivated. I am all too aware of the phrase “a little frustration builds the desire” and this certainly is the case whilst injured. Speaking of motivational gifts from Charlie, I also received the DVD film Touching The Void which I recommend without hesitation. If you enjoyed my other favourite ‘Two Swimmers’ you not be disappointed in this powerful documentary film.

So..in a frustrated state, unable to train, that brings me to this years ambitions…similar to last year I have a main goal with some testing challenges enroute..

Here goes:

The April/May weekend of the Royal wedding brings the Swim4Life…a twenty four hour event, swimming 1 mile on the hour every hour for twenty four hours at Guildford Lido. Whilst this isn’t in freezing cold water it will definitely be a tough day with little sleep/rest between each mile.

Having rejoined the BLDSA the next insane stage is the Champion of Champions event at Dover Harbour mid June, this involves three swims of 5 miles, 3 miles then 1 mile in what usually averages around 13 degree water. This will without doubt be a very very tough day.

This leads me to my principal 2011 Challenge… some time in August I will attempt to swim Lake Windermere both ways non stop 21 miles of freshwater, I have already asked another swimmer to join me on this challenge, I am delighted he has accepted but he will remain anonymous until he is happy to be identified (oh and when he has told his Mrs!)

The 2Way swim is a massive event for me, it will take over 13 hours, but throughout the swim I will have the words of The King, Kevin Murphy himself ringing in my ears.."if you have plenty of sea swimming experience and can do a two-way Windermere I'd bet on you completing the Channel"

The King of The Channel

Irish Champions

When the alarm sounded at 5am on Friday morning (23th May) I really didn’t feel like getting out of bed, with a flight to catch at 7.35 I didn’t have a choice, other than the early start, the journey to Cork went without a hitch, by 9am we had checked into the beautiful Carlton hotel just outside Kinsale. You may recall that the flights and hotel reservations were a Christmas gift for me from KGB.

Following breakfast we drove the hire car into Kinsale town where we met up with 2009 Channel Aspirant Lisa Cummins, after intros chat and coffee we headed off, following her to Sandycove itself. It became obvious that thanks to KGBs planning we were absolutely ideally situated, with the venue for the swim being no more than fifteen minutes from the hotel.

However as we rounded the corner Sandycove Island came into view and my immediate thoughts which I voiced aloud were, along the lines of “Good grief, look at the size of that!” the Island looked massive, way larger than I anticipated it would be.

The tide was almost at its lowest and as such the visible area of the island was at his greatest. After a bit of a safety brief by Lisa, we decided to get in and swim despite the low water levels. It was sunny and the wind was moderate. So nothing too severe ...I thought. Entering the water it felt a little warmer than at home, though due to the shallows we were forced to walk through patches of dense seaweed which under normal circumstances would be well below the surface, when we turned the corner to swim the back side of Island we were met with large swells and white water, we stopped regularly to check each others welfare and for Lisa to give advice on the route to follow as she pointed out various hazards as we got battered by the waves. Turning the next corner we were pushed nicely along before the home stretch where again the water levels eventually dropped to the point that we walked to shore.

My watch had been reading 60F, the lap took in the region of 35 mins for around 1700-1900 metres. Making our way to the slipway, Kelly was waiting with our towels as always, she took the opportunity to tell us off for chatting too much instead of swimming! I made an excellent recovery due to the good temperature and the fact that it had been a brief swim. Lisa showed no signs of being cold whatsoever either in the water or afterwards. I was over the moon that we had took the opportunity to scout the area and felt confident for the following day, though I prayed that the conditions would improve on the other side of the cove.

Back to The Carlton to shower away the salt and take a ‘power nap’ after which we had probably the best meal ever in the hotel restaurant. We then returned to Sandycove to view the scene at high tide, a completely different picture greeted us with all of the rocky outcrops now under water. A drop of the black stuff then off to bed ..it had been a long day.

Breakfast didn’t start til 7am so we were more or less waiting for the staff to open in order to eat and get to the swim, to be in time for the safety brief from Ned Denison and to get a suitable parking place. Having forced down some porridge we arrived in plenty of time, got parked and said a few hellos before a thorough group brief and welcome from Ned. Kelly immediately struck up conversation with Jane Murphy (Kevin’s wife) and they were virtually inseparable for most of the day. Ned briefs the swimmers before the start of play/battle.

Swim no.1 started around 9:15am, a mass start at high water, we all made our way, some in Speedos, some in wetsuits, to corner one and then it hit us, it was incredible, the roughest water I had ever swam in, I was finding it almost impossible to sight, breath or get into a rhythm, I was being tossed around and dropped from peak to trough constantly…this was not funny nor was it anything like I had imagined.

After three laps, I approached the feed boat, I was gutted to find my drink was icy, the wind was blowing and I began to feel cold, I had to get moving but I really did not want to face the abuse from the sea again. I headed off around the corner and eventually managed four laps of the Island in what my watch was showing as 58F, I got to the slipway after 2hours and 20 minutes, I wasn’t too cold but did not feel I could manage another lap at this stage. I was paranoid that I was in last place and worried about my performance. Greeted on the slipway again by Kelly I swore to her that I was not getting back into the water under any circumstances, I felt like I needed to throw up and couldn’t believe how rough it had been.

After some soup and a good talking to by Ned, and Kelly and others I decided that I would swim one more lap at the two o’clock start. I dreaded the prospect of turning the corner as did many others, a number of swimmers didn’t face the start and opted to end the day there and then. So at what was now almost low tide we set of for the second swim, I swam the agreed lap, experienced some mild pain in the left shoulder and forearm and returned to shore. I was already devastated that I hadn’t swam the full five laps and my head was not in the right place. I was lifted slighted by the virtue of having gotten back into the water after feeling so low earlier. A number of individuals managed partial swims with a shrinking number completing.

Jane Murphy completed all three laps for her first swim of the day, I was well impressed, Kelly was there to meet her with a towel as she raced and beat Kevin to shore.

Kelly and Jane Murphy

As far as I was concerned I was done for the day, until I was summoned to Head Master Ned who was sat baking in a blisteringly hot car, we chatted for some time about many aspects of the day and my Channel swim, at the end of which I thought I might as well do the final lap at 5pm, this I did together with 8 others in our group (some swam earlier due to the start of the Heineken Cup Final) Ned raced home in 29 minutes, I sprinted the whole way, got battered again of the reverse side of the Island and landed at the slip second behind Ned in 34 minutes, I was pleased but my shoulder was paying the price.

Kevin Murphy (no introduction needed!)

A short time later we said our goodbyes and thank you’s before heading off for food, Guinness and rest.

It was, from the outset meant to be a information gathering exercise, I swam for longer than I have done before in open water, in conditions the like of which I have never experienced, I took some positives from getting back into the sea three times and was chuffed to have silenced the mental demons who were telling me not to bother. Overall I finished in ninth place, only four non wetsuit swimmers completed all nine lap: Ned Denison, Kevin Murphy, Enda Kennedy and Ed Jeffries. It was excellent training. We met some wonderful people and made some friends who we are sure to see again. The weather was on our side, the sun shone and Kinsale Town together with the hotel was a delight.

I learnt a lot about myself and know that with the right support crew I can do more than I think is possible, still disappointed in 6 laps not 9 but am determined to take the positives and build on anything else.

My shoulder is suffering now, I have some treatment booked for Wednesday, I am flapping a bit about the injury but fingers crossed it will repair before too long.

A big thank you to Kelly for organising (and paying) for the trip, to Ned, Lisa and Enda for your help and support, to Jane for looking after Kelly whilst I was away for the first swim. Irish hospitality never fails to impress me, thanks to you all for a memorable weekend…we will be back.

Together with Enda Kennedy 2008 Channel Aspirant before the final swim.