Camp Eton 2016

Good Friday 2016 and time to drive to the delightful town of Eton where I was pleased to be attending the annual 'Camp Eton' training weekend organised and hosted by Nick and Sakura Adams.

The drive was pain free and I was soon checked into The Christopher Hotel ideally situated within walking distance of the pool and classrooms for the forthcoming activities. Nick then gave myself and a couple of others including swimmer extraordinaire and all-round lovely lady Suzie Dodds a whistle stop tour of some of the Eton grounds including the beautiful chapel and gardens.

The format was basically lots of pool based swimming against the clock interspersed with classroom presentations on all manner of subjects related to open water marathon swimming.

Around 24 swimmers (mainly London based) were in attendance. The first item on the timetable was a pool swim at 7am Saturday Morning, the session lasted a couple of hours, the details of which were delivered by Nick from poolside. I was obviously looking too comfortable as a result of which Mr Adams moved me into a lane with two very talented swimmers Deirdre Ward and Marcus Wadsworth, in this lane I was well and truly beasted.

After 5300m and several helpings of maxim the time had come to exit the water and rush to the classroom for informal introductions, snacks and the first of several excellent power point inputs.

Following lunch and another speaker it was back to the pool for another swim and yes, more maxim. (I was working hard and probably drinking more than normal due to effort and perhaps a little over heating.) This was another intense set against the clock during which we clocked up another 5000m.

Back to class for the remainder of the day where the after effects of maxim began to take hold. (enough said for now)

At the close of the day and in an effort to be well enough to attend the evening meal, it was necessary to attend the pharmacy for some much needed medication (you get the picture)

Early to bed for an early rise thanks to the start of British Summer Time. I didn't sleep too well for some reason, as normal as soon as it was time to get out of bed I suddenly had the urge to snooze. Alas, no such luxury, the schedule insisted we be in the water, warmed up and ready to start the 10km set of 100 x100 at 6am ( which in my world was 5am thanks to the clocks going forward)

photo Sam Mould.

As a result of the previous days abdominal issues I made the decision to 1. stay off the maxim 2. swim without a swim cap in an effort to stay cooler.

The 10k set was soon over, we were fed and watered throughout by Nick, Chris and JCR. I felt good and was delighted to have another good session in the bank. The best news being that my belly had stabilised and I was good to go for the classroom.

More speakers including video analysis from Ray Gibbs (Swim Canary Wharf) then off to the pool for some stroke correction and drills.

An excellent weekend with about 21km of work, a great if tough kick up the rear and and much inspiration from both speakers and swimmers alike.

Many thanks to Nick and his team for their hospitality and efforts.

Highly recommended

Time Gentlemen Please

Thursday I took an hour off work and spent it at max effort in the lake, the water was nice at 14.3c though it was rather patchy.

I average 3km an hour open water and 3.6km per hour in a 25 m pool. Today I was pleased to cover 3346m in the hour. Sometimes I get hung up on time in the water, especially when schedules and time are tight. I should learn to recall the quote from the absolute gent that is Mr Nick Adams "it's not just about how long you are in the water, it's what you do whilst you are in there"

This in turn reminds me of one of my all time favourite posts from Mr Alcatraz Gary Emich......
Don't let the pool cheat you .... Enjoy

Interview with EC swimmer Amanda Bell Part 4 of 4

continued..

AB " I did consider stopping and asking them, but I'm not so sure I would have started again once I stopped, so I just kept swimming and swimming, the next thing was seeing the rib (rigid inflatable boat used for escorting the swimmer when the water is too shallow for larger vessel) coming off the rear of the boat which made me give a little YAY !! And then even though it came off the back it just sat there, at the other side of the boat, occasionally I would slip behind the boat and again I would see the rib. I'm not sure if this was deliberate from Eddie, I suspect it was, in order to give me a boost, then I would find myself at the front thinking YES The boat is stopping now it's getting really close, then we would go through the whole cycle again. With every stroke I took I was longing for the boat to go away, so that it was just me and the rib. I could see the vague outline of land ahead, but it was so dark I couldn't tell if it was really close or far away. It remained like that until such time as the rib crew said "That's it, you are there" it didn't change in appearance at all. I still had no idea how long, so I swam on and then I more or less bumped into sand. I was there. I had done it.

MR " How did you feel?"
AB " It was a real anti climax, I know this sounds really negative but it wasn't at all how I had envisaged it would be. Nothing like what had been going through my head for hours and hours. You know when you see videos of people in daylight, with lots of cheers and arms held aloft, it was nothing like that. It was pitch black. I couldn't see anything aside from a small light on the rib, and light further off on Anastasia. So I stood up, on the beach, alone, raised my arms in the air and said Yaay (spoken in a very soft unassuming lonely manner) pretty much to myself. I didn't look for pebbles it was pointless in the dark on a sandy beach. I just felt relieved. I suppose inside I was chuffed I had done it, it hadn't really sunk in."

MR " Did you cry"
AB " No, I just go back in, I wanted to get back to the boat and get dressed. I wouldn't get in the rib, there was no way, you know what I am like, there was only one boat I was getting on. So I swam back to boat and whilst doing so swam into the biggest almighty jelly I had encountered all day. It was so large and hard I thought my hand had hit the rib. I received a mild sting and made it back to the boat. I climbed aboard where everyone was fussing. I was grateful though I was still capable of getting dressed. We sat and chatted for a while. My priority was to let those closest to me hear the news in particular the children. The crew retired to the bunks so I got wrapped up and stayed on deck and rested til we arrived back in Dover. I felt better than at the end of the 2 way Windermere, no banging headache and there had been no vomiting. I pretty much stuck to the maxim and it wasn't a problem "

MR " Awesome, is there anything you would like to add"

AB "Yes absolutely, there are many people to thank. Firstly, thank you Mark for taking the time to interview me and write about my swim. Much appreciated! The many people who have helped and supported me along the way. I couldn't have done it without the support from lots of other swimmers not least Adam Walker for his technique sessions and Nick Adams for the Eton Camp. The many others for training with me, and of course Freda Streeter and the Dover beach crew. Mark Sheridan and his family for their hospitality. The kind words of support and understanding from all family & friends.



To my colleagues at work and for all the support and efforts of the pupils at OLSB. I thank you all. 

Thanks also to my Pilot Eddie Spelling his crew on Anastasia, along with my crew on board, Johanna Barkwith, Barbara Brown, Kathryn Ayre & John Mace. Ground control, that's you Mark, you were not only a great support during the swim but a major part of the build up and part of the inspiration in the first place, even though you won't like me saying that and probably won't include it. I want it in! Also to Charlie your son for giving up his days off to crew for miss in the water! (Amanda is Charlie's science teacher)

To Georgina for being incredibly courageous during exceptionally difficult times. An inspiration to all.

Final thanks has to go to my ever supportive children, Joe, Adam and Emma. They are simply awesome!"


MR " Amanda I am sure I speak for many many people, when I say congratulations, I am very proud, thank-you for you honesty. I am certain you have inspired lots of people, not only swimmers but everyday folk who think they are having a bad day. Thankyou for allowing me to part of your journey"

It is only right to include The Justgiving page to close.

Interview with EC swimmer Amanda Bell. Part 2 of 4

continued......

MR "Are you ok to carry on?"
AB " Yes, lets do this"

MR " So what about the night before, when the telephone rang."
AB " I got a text message from Eddie, just as we had put a film on to take our minds off it, I was struggling to concentrate on the film anyway, it was around 8pm, I noticed the text alert on the phone and who it was from and immediately my heart began to race before I had even read the content. The message basically said there may be a problem with the next swimmer in line and was I ready to go. It took a moment to reply "Ready when you are" Eddie answered stating that he was still out in the Channel with a completed successful swim and would give me confirmation as soon as he returned to Dover within a couple of hours. So we clearly had an hour and a half or so not to exactly run around like headless chickens but to ensure that I was ready if he said it was a go. It was a long two hours. After which the phone rings, it's Eddie and he says "We are on, meet at the boat 4 o'clock in the morning ready to go"

AB "We then started the routine of... we should really go to bed...but we can't go to bed, check and recheck everything once more, we actually again went to confirm the location of the boat even though I had been earlier in the week. We then packed the cars with everything except the feeds. I already had the maxim bagged up in the right quantities ready to put into the bottles to mix, but I wasn't really happy about the crew making my feeds up ! Once I had made the first bottle I let go of the control freak within me and let them carry on..but kept a watchful eye (giggles). Then it was finally time to try and get some rest"


MR " How did you feel at that point?"
AB " Oh wow, I don't even think I could begin to describe how I felt at that point, the timings were certainly going to fit in with my plans regarding crew and accommodation, but yeah, worry, nervous. My phone was going ballistic with messages from here, there and everywhere which was nice but everytime it buzzes you've got to check, meaning I was constantly on a state of alert, coupled with a mixture of emotions, but it certainly wasn't doom" (looks at me knowingly)

MR " So you are now all set for the off, what were biggest needs and fears"
AB "  (pauses for while) Me have needs !! (laughs) as you know we had a crew meeting before we left home and had others whilst in Dover, so everybody knew their specific role, there was lots and lots of questions but I had to try and explain to the crew that there would be times when they needed to use their initiative, to try and expect the unexpected, they did have the famous handbook from Nick Adams (Eton Swim Camp) that I had left them, which would answer many of their queries once I was in the water."

MR " Fears ?"
AB " Don't know about fears but I had many concerns, you know a lot of people are watching, you know lots of people have donated to the charities, you don't want to let anybody down. You want to be able justify their generosity, I was really worried about the journey to the start, you know that journey to Samphire Hoe ! I so did not want to be ill, my nerves were not about the swim but that journey to the start"

MR " Is your recollection of the swim clear or only the highs and lows are there any voids"
AB "  It's all pretty clear, no voids"

MR " OK this is it..tell me what you can remember"
AB "  When we got on the boat  I asked Eddie where we would be starting from, he told me Shakey.. I could have jumped for joy. We had been to the beach the day before so I knew where we were going and I knew what it was like, so I was ready at that point to get in and get on with it, the other thing was, it was dark however it was 4am, it was starting to get light. I would not have liked swimming for three or four hours in the dark at the beginning so that was good. I suppose another fear was that I would have a long swim to the start from the boat, I was relieved just how close to shore we managed to get. He said "We are ready" I just thought, great , I can get off this boat and into the water. It was a relief to get there and it was all going to be over one way or the other. I know that might sound bad but the training was hard work, it had become something I had to do, more than something I was enjoying. Every swim was becoming more and more pressure.

There was a moment right at the start when the crew thought I was having a change of heart, I went down the ladder at the rear of the boat, they thought I was hesitating to get into the water but I wasn't I was just making sure I didn't slip, bang off something before I even got started. And that was it, I was in the water and onto the beach. I noticed that Suva (Neil Streeter's Escort Boat) was next to us with another swimmer, I didn't click at the time, until we set off, then as Suva moved away at a much faster pace I realised it was Nick Adams.

The first hour went really quickly, I reckon we started seeing light within that first hour, first feed not a problem as are the next 2 to be honest, it was all moving along quite quickly, I didn't talk to the crew at the feeds, just had it and continued"

MR " What were you feeling aside from relief at this point?"
AB " I wouldn't say I was completely relaxed, I was trying to remember some of the advice, don't look back, don't look forward, it's impossible not to, especially at the feeds when you lay on your  back to drink ..it's just there."

More legends

Whilst I am congratulating individuals, there are other swimmers who have been legendary in their efforts this year.

Emma France who has not only recovered from cancer, she then swam The English Channel for a second time just for the hell of it in an awesome 12h 58 mins smashing her PB. As if that was not enough a week later she swam around Jersey in 11h 46m. Incredible.

Mark Sheridan another top bloke, total gent and all round nice man. He also swam The Channel in 14h 33mins. Check out his website.

Nick Adams on virtually no training swam The Channel for THE TENTH TIME.

All are genuine honest generous swimmers who go out of their way to help others.
Congratulations and thanks for the inspiration.


Not to mention Adam Walker the first British Oceans 7 swimmer.

Art and The English Channel

I obtained a copy of this booklet last year sometime and thought I would share it with the more artistically minded amongst you, nice little project for a worthy cause. Thanks for your efforts and contribution Jen.

Swimming The Channel... Jenny Rice Graphic Design

The tide, weather and the speed of the swimmer all determine the course that a swimmer will take across the 21 miles of sea between England and France. A series of sculptures based upon the course of different Channel swims were photographed at Dover Harbour. These photographs formed a publication that was available to all the swimmers involved in the project and the potential Channel swimmers who started their training at Dover.

The booklets are for sale for £12 (£14 inc. P&P) with £5 per copy going to the Swim Loch Ness charity, Afghan Mother and Child Rescue.

If you would like a copy of the book, please email jen.rice@hotmail.co.uk

Update from Jenny.

A few words on my Channel project:

I began this project after seeing the Serpentine Ladies relay team Channel chart - they missed the Cap and ended up getting swept so far down the west coast they actually went off the chart. I spoke to Nick Adams and he helpfully showed me all the charts he had from both his swims and other teams he had been involved with. People on the Channel chat group also sent me their charts after Nick emailed them about my work so I built up a substantial collection of charts from the world record through to Lisa Cummins' 35 hour two way swim.

The difficulty for me was to produce something that moved things on from the beautiful admiralty charts. Initially my ideas remained flat and 2D - but as soon as I started working with the map in a 3 dimensional way I got a lot more excited about the project. Once the final sculptures were made, I took them down to Dover on the first weekend of Channel training to photograph. The weather was perfect - grey and drizzly - and I spent a couple of hours before my swim taking pictures of them in the sand, in the water, against the sky and on the rocks. It all came together beautifully. Some of the swimmers whose charts I had used were there that weekend to see what I had been working on and why I'd been sending nagging emails asking for all their details.

I had no plans to make the book, it was suggested by one of my tutors, and as that developed I realised it could be something that could be sold and link back to one of the swims. The Serpentine Ladies relay team (whose chart I used) had swum the Channel in 2008 in aid of Afghan Mother and Child Rescue, a small charity with one of it's Patrons being a Serpentine swimmer. That summer the team had reformed with a couple of different swimmers (including myself) and we were planning to swim the length of Loch Ness for the same charity (we completed the swim in August, in 13 hours and 23 minutes). Sales of the booklet have so far have added a modest £100 to our total (around £7000 which is going towards building a hospital purely for women and children in the remote Panjsher valley in Afghanistan).

I do still have copies left, so please contact me if you would like one. For further information here are some links - http://www.jennyrice.com/ http://www.amcr.org.uk/ http://www.swimlochness.co.uk/

Lake Windermere One Way

Rising at 6am on Wednesday 25th August after a reasonable nights sleep, the weather looked fantastic as I walked the dog, prior to the usual uncomfortable and dreaded forcing down of porridge. This eating first thing on a morning lark never gets easier for me. The car was packed with enough supplies to feed every living relative! Chris Pearson arrived (he was going to swim in his wetsuit and as many other bits of rubber / under garments as he could find) Departing from home at 7am I was surprised by the amount of traffic using the roads as we crossed the A66. Progress was thwarted by the odd heavy goods vehicle, caravan or tractor. Ambleside as always, was a welcome sight, however just as Windermere itself came into sight...so did Chris' breakfast! not what I wanted to see, hear or smell. A brief welfare break and we were once more enroute to Bowness our intended rendezvous point with the rest of 'Team Robson'.

I had reserved an electric boat at Shepherds for a couple of reasons...no physical exertion to be required, some cover from the weather would be afforded to the crew, the noise would be minimal if any and most importantly there would be zero fumes to upset my stomach or head whilst swimming.

The ever jovial Sarah Tunnicliffe had already arrived, closely followed by our skipper for the day Mark 'Pash' Pashby, after introductions, hugs (and hungry parking meters) we off loaded the cars, the girls stowed everything on the boat whilst Pash was briefed by the horizontal laid back staff.

Moments later, slightly behind schedule we left Bowness and motored (at 4mph!) to Fell Foot the official start point of the swim. This was ample time for me to brief Sarah regarding the finer points of my feeding plan and Pash for the best route to Ambleside, as Chris rested his weary head.

Conditions looked near perfect, a slight breeze, breaking clouds, I couldn't have wished for more. The crew were chatting away, picking out landmarks for navigation purposes and becoming slightly nervous at the imminent event, to the extent that we all needed the toilet! With Fell Foot in full view Chris squeezed into his rubber torpedo suit, Pash skillfully moored us at the jetty, it was time to strip, grease up and commence my attempt to swim Englands longest lake.

(Some Windermere Facts: ten and a half miles long and a mile and a quarter across at it's widest point, with a depth of up to 220 feet. The lake is so large that it has a slight but discernable tide. Deeper than the English Channel.)

Chris stood on the Jetty dancing around freeing himself from nervous energy as I applied Vaseline around the arm pits, neck and groin, the crew took their positions, Pash started the clock at 11:14am as I lowered myself into the water and began stroking in as relaxed a manner as possible. Initially we had to manoeuvre around several moored yachts before having much open water ahead. The boat was positioned to my right hand side, so all I had to do was breath, I was completely confident of being piloted the shortest possible route, I didn't want to have to sight ahead which strains my neck, it was great having the boat for company, knowing all my needs were taken care off by a very upbeat, enthusiastic crew.

The arrangement was to feed every 30 minutes taking Maxim and possibly some solids in the shape of jelly babies, chocolate rolls, jaffa cakes, milky ways or similar. I had pre mixed the maxim just before we left home using the guide Nick Adams posted on the Channel group earlier this season. All Sarah needed to do was pour 200mls into the feed bottle, add 200mls of hot water, attach to the 'Cliff Golding reel and line' and dispatch to the swimmer.

The first feed arrived in what seemed like no time at all, I commented to KGB that the water was 62F, drank the maxim as quick as possible together with two jellies, and swam on. At this point my stroke rate was 64spm. I felt great. The next couple of feeds were fairly uneventful, Sarah was keeping notes on what I consumed, Pash logged the location as KGB snapped away with the camera..it was going like clock work.

According to Pashs' log:
Feed 2 @ 12:15 Blake Holme Nab..Plain Maxim 400mls
Feed 3 @ 12:45 Dog Nab.. Maxim and Coffee 400 mls. Stroke Rate 68 spm.
Update @ 12:54 passing Beech Hill Hotel
Feed 4 @ 13:15 Rawlinsons Nab..Maxim 400mls

So.. two hours had now passed, Pash recorded that I was in good spirits, was joking about the water temperature and splashing the crew mid stroke, I remember splashing both Pash through his open window and Sarah (she was quick to tell me off). I was happy enough, but was developing a bit of a headache which I put down to the Cressi goggles I opted for at the start (they have yellow lenses and make any day look bright and cheerful). As a result I flipped over mid stroke and spoke with Sarah requesting some clear Aquasphere Goggles at the next feed.

Feed 5 @ 13:45 Black Coffee

Feed 6 @ 14:15 Maiden Home..Maxim 400mls

Update @ 14:32 Passing The Lillies (adjacent to Belle Isle)
I recall this point in the swim, I knew this meant we had now crossed to the West side of the Lake where we would remain until the last couple of kilometres, I was also aware this was the half way point, all of this knowledge lifted my spirits I remember upping the pace somewhat as we travelled through the shallows.

Feed 7 @ 14:45 Thompsons Holme..Maxim plus 2 Jelly babies, Pash also entered the water here (he must have needed to take a leak!) he would swim somewhere near the boat upto, but no further than it was time to return to the East side of the Lake (plan was to cross somewhere near Wray Castle). KGB was now piloting the boat after instruction from the skipper.

Feed 8 @ 15:15 Bass Rock to the left side..Plain Water..I was starting to feel a little full on maxim and felt the need to flush out my system before I over loaded, Pash approached me in the water and asked if I was OK, I responded saying "I'm having a bit of a blip but I'm OK"

I swam on once more knowing the next hurdle was the cross over, somewhere around this stretch the water again became a little more difficult to the extent that I was adjusting my recovery to combat the waves, it soon became apparent this was due to speed boats and water skiers, I was amazed to see this as the lake has a 10mph speed limit..Is it possible to water ski at such a speed? Whatever the answer is to that, the boats as well as the passenger ferries all gave me something else to think about and broke up the boredom of the ideal conditions with which I had been blessed for most of the swim.

Feed 9   @ 15:45 Maxim

Feed 10 @ 16:15 Wray Castle..Plain Water..Pash now tried to leave the water, he was struggling to get into the boat so much so that I decided to swim on alone as this was clearly going to take some time. I could see a large green buoy in the distance and tried to make progress in that direction until such times as the boat caught up. I also used this time to backstroke for a couple of minutes resting my shoulders as well as seeing if the boat was on its way. 

With Pash back on board and wrapped up warm, onwards we continued, I asked if we were about to cross the Lake and was pleased to be told we were already doing so, by this stage the days Maxim was feeling like it no longer wanted to stay in my stomach, it wasn't due to the swell, it was something else, I was becoming increasing agitated by the nauseous feeling, it was forcing to stop, face away from the boat and let out an almighty belch each time, I was not actually vomiting though it was on its way for certain. 

Feed 11 @ 16:45  Offered a feed of choice.. maxim / water, I declined everything at this point due to the stomach issues and decided to continue without hoping it would settle down, a Rennie tablet had no effect so I plodded on recognising Low wood Hotel and knowing full well  I was inside the final mile.

Throughout the next half an hour or so the sickly feeling continued, I stop several times to address this, took a breather before swimming on, Sarah was then entering the water for the final leg through the small boats moored near the Ambleside Youth Hostel, an area I know very well, the end was literally in sight. KGB was now seated on the front of the boat cheering us all on as we slowly closed in on The Ambleside Waterhead Pier.

After 5 hours 58 minutes and 58 seconds Chris, Sarah and I all swam across the finish line..to much cheers and congratulations...Job Done!

I was delighted to have finished, to have completed the swim and hit the target I set some time ago at the start of the season. I struggled to dry land, and proceeded to be violently sick, my hips were very sore and my stomach felt like it had been turned inside out.

Eventually we all dressed, returned to the boat and motored off South to Bowness, I was presented with bottle of Champagne by Chris (thankyou Chris) and a toy medallion from Sarah! The journey back to Shepherds was lovely and peaceful, the sun was shining allowing me to fully take in the days events.

The sickness continued preventing me from enjoying a post swim meal but that wasn't important. The day was a complete success...My Crew whom I cannot thank enough were absolutely awesome, everything went exactly according to plan and I learnt a lot. Not least of which is the strength at which I can handle maxim.!

Thankyou all so very much...it was a great day. I will be calling on your services again of that you can be sure. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou

Capt Pash Pilot extraordinaire

The end in sight...

another feed