The English Channel Swim Report 2009
I always wanted to be the best and do something unusual so I aimed tocomplete the two-way crossing, not just one way, as no Japanese personhas ever successfully swum the two-way Channel crossing.
On my first attempt, I had to stop after ten hours due to thigh painand I didn’t finish even one-way. A week later, I had anotheropportunity to swim the one-way. I swam for 17hours 35minutes but hadto give up just 3km from the French coast. My respect Freda then gave me some good advice, “When you swim theChannel crossing, you shouldn’t look ahead. It makes you feel as ifyour goal is very far away and that you still have much further to swim so it is mentally harder to keep going. Also, you shouldn’t stopbecause by doing this; you will be drifted by the tide and have toswim further. You shouldn’t do anything which will be disadvantageousto you. You should try the one way swim again.”
It was in 2004. The next year, I began training again for the one-way swim and followed Freda’s advice. Since then, I have successfully completed the one way crossing six times.
This year, I went back to Dover again. I felt ready for to attempt thetwo-way swim. I planned to stay in Dover for 35 days and waited nervously for the big day. Neil, the boat pilot, would choose the day with the best weather conditions for the swim. The other swimmers had gone to swim one after another and everybody kept asking me when I was going to swim but the days passed and I still had no idea when I would get to swim. I started to feel very frustrated but I could not do anything but wait and trust Neil to pick a good day.
For the two-way swim, we would need two consecutive fine days. It was possible that the weather conditions would not permit me to swim because the weather was constantly changing. I told Neil that if the two-way was not possible, I still intended to swim at least one way before flying back to Japan.
At last, one week before I was due to leave England and go back to Japan, Freda told me that I would be able to swim on the next Monday or Tuesday. I was so happy because I had been waiting such a long timefor this chance and could not stop crying. On Monday, I was on the beach with Jenni, an observer when Neil called her to say that we should all meet at the marina at 19:00 that evening for my two-way challenge! I was overjoyed. I was going to attempt the two way swim! I was so pleased that Jenni would also be coming on theboat with me as my observer. I got my thing ready for the swim, had a massage and went to bed for a nap. At last the time for my big challenge had come!
Our boat was called Suva. Once on board, I applied the Channel grease to my body. When the boat came close to Shakespeare Beach, Ishii, my coach farted. Everybody on the ship started to laugh and the atmosphere became very relaxed. Even when I was swimming in the dark, I remembered it and laughed. It was nice to have a funny thought tomake me smile whilst I was swimming, particularly when it became dark. That night I started swimming from Shakespeare Beach. I was familiar with the currents around the beach from my previous swims but, for some reason, on this occasion I kept drifting so that every time I looked up I saw the same scenery. I worried that I might not be moving forward at all and was scared by a big red jelly fish that brushed my arm, stinging me.
After about 40 minutes, saltwater filled my goggles. I had already tested the goggles in the water but the waves pushed the water in. My eyes started to sting. I knew from my previous experiences that the eyes are very important to a long distance swimmer so I changed my goggles when I stopped for my feeding. I am used to swimming at night but I still felt sleepy.
Suddenly, I was surprised by some people screaming. They were a relay team who had already finished their swim and were on the way back to Dover. Their support encouraged me a lot. Swimming into the French side, I started to struggle with the high waves. Some were as big as 2m. The sea always tends to be rough towards France and the currents are very fast. Morning came and as it got brighter, I began to wake up a bit.
By this point, I was really enjoying swimming even in the rough waters but I realized that France was still far away after 14 hours of swimming. I usually swim one way in 14 hours but Ishii told me that this time I would have to swim for another four hours to reach France. I realized that I must have drifted a long way off course when I was swimming near Dover and kept seeing the same scenery. Consequently, it took me 17hours 18minutes to swim just one-way.
I told Ishii that it would be impossible to finish two-way because the first leg had taken too long but he encouraged me to swim a little longer. I swam for three more hours before I asked him if I could give up. Ishii said that the weather conditions were going to become better so there would be no wind or waves so I had better keep swimming as such good conditions were very rare. He told me that I could complete the swim in just eight more hours in such favorable conditions.
I was determined to swim for another eight hours. I tried very hard, spurred on by the though that my dream of swimming the two-way Channel crossing was about to come true. My husband, the pilot, my colleagues, everybody would be delighted! What would I do if TV reporters were waiting for me at Narita airport? What would I do next after my dreamhad come true? Maybe I could try to swim the one-way ten times! Or perhaps I should try to become the oldest Channel swimmer! Pondering over these random things, I pushed myself to continue swimming.
My body ached and I wanted to give up many time but I kept my arms moving. Night came again and it became cold but I didn’t stop. I saw the lights of England as I swam closer and closer to England. I drank another feeding and said to the people on the boat that I could not swim any more but they told me to keep trying. I screamed and my voice echoed in the darkness over Channel. It was the first time that my body was chilled to my very bones and even my wrists started to ache. I gave up about 5 hours from England (about 4 miles). I was mentally and physically exhausted. I could not swim the last five hours.
I recalled my first Channel swim. That time, I was also unable to swim the last few hours. I could see the white houses on the French coast but just could not swim. I realized that I had not followed Freda’s good advice. I had looked ahead and convinced myself that the end was too far away for me to keep swimming. If I had continued to swim very slowly, I might have been able to finish the swim but,because I was tired, I convinced myself that I could not do it.
To be a successful long distance swimmer, you have to be mentally strong. I had swum 30hours in pool and for 20hours 7minutes in sea. Even though it was tough, I am glad that I did not stop after just one way and challenged myself to my limit. Now, I have to use this experience to aid my future training for my next Channel swim. On my first swim, I stopped after just 10 hours but now I was able to swim for about 29hours 30minutes. I never dreamed I would be able to swim for so long. I am so grateful to the people who have helped me to come so far. I could not have done all this by myself. Thank you very much for supporting me. I hope that I will soon be able to fulfill my dream of completing the two way swim and will continue to enjoy swimming.
"The Channel swim was… the human mind is weak, you will inevitably experience feelings of struggle and sadness when you swim, but, hopefully, you will find happiness, too."---Miyuki
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
little by little
I am finally beginning to feel a little fitness coming back after returning to the pool, I have as usual been training alone and swimming as and when the usual commitments permit. My swims have usually been for around an hour or less, initially it was a struggle to just plod for a thousamd metres but I am pleased to say my times are beginning to drop.
This the weekend I decided to have a go at one of my old favourite swim sets...Basically it is a descending ladder in 100m drops from 1km to 100, ie 1000,900,800,700 etc down to 100 which totals at 5500m.
Last year I was always able to hit 90 minutes for the set with around 15 secs rest between efforts...at the moment I am on 95 mins, sometimes stretching it to 30+ secs rest towards the beginning of the session. After the first three swims I was doubting I could finish but was delighted to do so in a reasonable time. As my aerobic fitness slowly returns I will be able to lower the rest periods and be closer the target time.
This weekend (12/13 Sept 2009) is the Great North Swim in Lake Windermere (1 mile in open water) I am in a wave on Saturday afternoon and will be hoping to finish in 26 mins. After which I will decide what route to go down with longer term swims...there are few irons in the fire, but its early days (and I still haven't won the lotto!)
This the weekend I decided to have a go at one of my old favourite swim sets...Basically it is a descending ladder in 100m drops from 1km to 100, ie 1000,900,800,700 etc down to 100 which totals at 5500m.
Last year I was always able to hit 90 minutes for the set with around 15 secs rest between efforts...at the moment I am on 95 mins, sometimes stretching it to 30+ secs rest towards the beginning of the session. After the first three swims I was doubting I could finish but was delighted to do so in a reasonable time. As my aerobic fitness slowly returns I will be able to lower the rest periods and be closer the target time.
This weekend (12/13 Sept 2009) is the Great North Swim in Lake Windermere (1 mile in open water) I am in a wave on Saturday afternoon and will be hoping to finish in 26 mins. After which I will decide what route to go down with longer term swims...there are few irons in the fire, but its early days (and I still haven't won the lotto!)
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Channel Statistics
There have been a total of 2245 Channel swims, 206 of which have been part of multiple-way swims.
1056 swimmers have completed a total of 1471 solo swims.
Approximately 3903 swimmers have taken part in 647 relay swims and 127 special category swims.
64.7% of swimmers have been male (solo, relay and special category).
35.3% of swimmers have been female.
The average age of a solo swimmer is 33 years, 191 days (based on 574 swims, 39% of all solos)
35.8% of solo swims have been made by swimmers from the UK, 20.4% from the USA.
Average solo crossing time: 13 hours, 19 minutes and 42 seconds.Average relay crossing time: 12 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds.
Average special category crossing time: 12 hours, 47 minutes and 28 seconds.
If every successful Channel swim was made consecutively, it would take 3 years, 119 days, 4 hours, 47 minutes and 39 seconds.
The most successful day of the year, with 47 swims, is 28th August
1056 swimmers have completed a total of 1471 solo swims.
Approximately 3903 swimmers have taken part in 647 relay swims and 127 special category swims.
64.7% of swimmers have been male (solo, relay and special category).
35.3% of swimmers have been female.
The average age of a solo swimmer is 33 years, 191 days (based on 574 swims, 39% of all solos)
35.8% of solo swims have been made by swimmers from the UK, 20.4% from the USA.
Average solo crossing time: 13 hours, 19 minutes and 42 seconds.Average relay crossing time: 12 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds.
Average special category crossing time: 12 hours, 47 minutes and 28 seconds.
If every successful Channel swim was made consecutively, it would take 3 years, 119 days, 4 hours, 47 minutes and 39 seconds.
The most successful day of the year, with 47 swims, is 28th August
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Hola
Just back from a week in Spain where the weather was incredible...a heat wave even by Spanish standards...did some pool swimming and spent a lot of time practicing my flips turns which I don't normally bother with as it bothers my lower back....think I am getting old..Managed to hurt my shoulder as usual in the process, though this may well be down to the kids demanding 3 and 4 storey pyramid fights, not a good idea to have three kids on top of you at midnight in the pool after a night on the beer!!
Back to work at the weekend..
Saturday, 15 August 2009
Julieann Galloway..in her own words
Reposted here with Julieanns consent..many thanks and congratulations again on that awesome swim
"Well hello there, I am currently lying in my bed in Dublin, feeling pretty good I must say, other than my dunzo shoulder. I think I need a good long rest for that to heal. So the swim details...I got the final 'you're going' by Mike Oram around 8pm on the 12th. I felt like I had won the lottery; I was dancing around like a lunatic, thinking 'Wait, you just got the go-ahead to do the hardest, most grueling thing you've ever done. Why are we dancing?!' But it didn't matter, I was ready and pumped. I made all my Maxim feed, and it all seemed a bit surreal, like I wasn't actually about to go swim the Channel.I met up with my crew, Mark Ransom (Channel Swimmer 08) and Nick Adams (multiple Channel Swimmer, including a 2-way). It was good to have them because they are quite experienced with both crewing and actually doing the swim, so that gave me a lot of confidence and security that I would be okay.
We headed down to the marina at 1:15 a.m. and got ourselves sorted. When we arrived to Sea Satin (my boat), it was empty with lights out. I was like, 'um, are they coming?' as we started to load up the boat. Then crew started to emerge from the boat. They had been asleep down there! (Naive mistake number 1). I felt pretty good. There were other swimmers and relays getting themselves sorted on the other boats, so it was a bit like a nervous party. I met some of the boat crew and the observer, and then Lance Oram (boat pilot) emerged. I felt a sense of excitement because I had heard so much about him..how he yells at you from the boat, how he's a great pilot, etc. I kind of looked at him and was like, hello. He just like, nodded and grinned at me. I thought, this is going to be good.We got all the stuff settled on the boat, then headed off to Samphire Ho around 2:20am.
I got greased up and had a nervous excitement about me. We arrived and Tanya (boat crew) told me to hop in, swim to the beach, clear the water, raise my hand, and go when the horn went off. So I got in, and squealed something along the lines of 'OH MY GAHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHH!' So I swam in quite slow, taking my time, getting my goggles adjusted. I got onto the stony beach, but apparently wasn't back far enough because I didn't hear any horn. There were a few yells back and forth, but I could barely hear a thing thanks to the crashing waves. Finally I heard loud yells and a muffled horn so I gathered it was time to start.
I made my way in and swam to the boat, and we were off!The first hour was, for lack of a better word, hell. It was very choppy and I was swimming in pitch black water with mirrored goggles (Naive mistake number 2). What was I thinking!? The boat kept feeling like it was going to crash into me, and I felt very lost swimming next to it. It wasn't so bad swimming at night, I wasn't scared or anything, but it was so incredibly hard to navigate breathing and the like because I could not see the waves coming toward me. Usually, when it's light, if I see a wave I may not breathe, or if I get water in my mouth, I can spit it out. Well this time water was going everywhere, and I felt like I was thrashing the waves. It was not enjoyable.
On the hour feed, I tried to take it on my back like Nick did in his video, but I got so incredibly dizzy that I really thought I was going to pass out. So I turned to my stomach, and took an incredibly slow feed. Also, my suit was moving because of the Vaseline, but I didn't want to touch it because my fingers would get all sticky, so I just basically let me top half hang out! I did find humour in this, as Lance was wearing a shirt that said 'Real swimmers swim naked'. So I did, in my own way! Apologies for the 'graphic' footage on the video! Hour two was much better. I relaxed a bit and enjoyed the swim more. I was still getting smashed by the waves, but I didn't really care that much. It was, after all, the English Channel. I didn't do training for a flat swim. I enjoyed hour 2, because I knew on hour 3 the sun would rise, so I had that to look forward to. The feed went down okay, and I headed off for hour 3.
I was a bit nauseous at this point, even when the sun came up and I could see the waves better. I just focused on staying close to the boat, and found an odd comfort in watching the boat pilot watching me. I didn't feel so alone, I suppose.Well I knew the sun came up, but it was hidden behind dark clouds so I was a bit disappointed. Then the rain storm came. I kept my hand out of the water a bit longer to make sure, and yes, it was raining. The waves were a bit violent at this point, and I really felt like I was going to puke. I kept telling myself, over and over, 'You can puke the rest of your life, just hold it in now.' I must have said that 2 thousand times. My mind was a bit weird; I felt so focused on not hitting the boat, swimming powerfully, and not puking that I didn't think of anything else, really. In my longer swims, I enjoyed so many long conversations with myself, and had some great thoughts come to me when swimming. Well not in the Channel! It was survival mode for me.
At 5 hours Nick told me I was halfway through the separation zone. I was like, ok what does that mean. (Naive mistake number 3- learn how the Channel operates!) He and Mark were like, halfway! Well okay. That seemed alright. Keep swimming.At 6 hours I was tired, really really tired. I thought to myself, I'll take this hour off, go nice and slow, then build back up again. I was in so much pain that I was feeling mentally down. My shoulders, arms, elbows, hands and fingers were aching with a pain that is hard to describe. I felt so bloated from the feeds, even though I was peeing quite regularly. I began to resent the boys when they came down with feeds. I was like 'No! Not that again! I can't handle any more!' I kept thinking 'feeds are fuel' but it was no use, my body did NOT want any more Maxim! At the 6 hour feed, Nick suggested Mark to offer me a swiss roll. Mark kind of put it in my face and I was like 'GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!' Just the thought of having that in my mouth made me barf a little. I do not know how people eat food in the Channel. Thoughts of people eating peaches, swiss rolls and jelly babies made me gag, so I tried my best to get away from those thoughts! So I swam, then Mark appeared in his suit at 6.5 hours. I got really agitated at this point, because I thought this meant I was going way too slow, and Lance had told him to get in to speed me up. I almost said 'Don't get in, I'll go faster!' but just left it.
Failure thoughts entered my head, and I told them to shut up, but I was exhausted, so I felt a bit sad at this point. Mark apparently swallowed a lot of water, and I swam as fast as I could to show the crew I was not deflated just yet. Mark got back on the boat a couple minutes later and I swam on, feeling pleased that I was back by myself. Around 7 hours the sky cleared, and the sun started to peek through the clouds. The waves calmed significantly, and the swim became a lot more enjoyable, as painful as it was at this point. I had a mini celebration with myself, because 7 hours was the longest I had swum thus far in my training, so it was a new record! Lance yelled something out the window rather loudly, so I sped up while laughing. I could also see my reflection off the side of the boat, so I was happy to have myself as company! I kept staring at myself, and thought I looked pretty okay given the beating I endured a couple hours back. The feeds were still horrific; I just could not seem to get more than a tiny mouthful into me, and I was sick of them taking so long. All I could say to myself at this point was 'Relax', which was a hypnosis technique Mairead gave me from a recording I have listened to for a few weeks. It worked brilliantly, and I felt my entire body relax every time I said this. France was getting closer and closer, but still seemed quite far away.
I was trying to gauge how much I had left, so at 8 hours, I asked if I'd 2 more to go. They didn't seem happy with this question! Lance yelled at me to stop chatting and just swim. I kind of snarled at him and took off, wanting to know how much left I had. It's not that I wanted to give up. I wanted to know where I was in this mad thing! I couldn't tell if I had a kilometre, a mile, 5 miles or even 3 nautical miles left. (Naive mistake number 4- wtf is a nautical mile? I kept trying to remember Mike Oram's emails describing all this information I should have learned by this point, but nothing solid came from my noggin.) So I quoted Nemo for the 5000th time, and said 'Just keep swimming'. What I didn't tell them was I had a pretty secret goal of going under 10 hours. Of course, I didn't broadcast this because hello, what if it took me 12 or 14 hours to complete? I'd be embarrassed. So I really just wanted to know if I was in contention of getting my goal.
I think just after 8.5 hours, Nick joined me in the sea. I was so confused because I wondered if it was time to swim in. I really had no idea how close I was. It was then that Lance told me I'd just a mile and a half to go. But I was wondering, was this a nautical mile? I needed kilometres! So I figured the longest it could be was 3k, and I knew I could do a 3k. I knew the Channel was in the bag, and I felt pretty relieved. I've spent basically 2 years wondering if I could do it, and to know I was almost about to prove myself, well, I felt good. It was a great feeling.At 9 hours Mark came down with a feed, and I kept wondering, when will this feeding crap end!? I only drank half of it, as I could not avoid puking at this point. I heard a reaction from Lance, but left it. I quoted Cartman, saying, 'Screw you guys, I'm going home'. I don't know, it made sense to me at this point? Delirium to the max, folks. Nick was keeping a very fast pace, and at times I just wanted to stop so he's stop so I could tell him to slow down. I was all over the place mentally, so I just kept saying 'relax, stop puking, look at your reflection, stop looking at France.' The co-pilot was cruising along beside me, and he stuck his bare foot in my face. This made both of us laugh a little. (May as well have fun, right?)
At 9.5 hours, Lance said the words I wanted to hear for the past, well, 9.5 hours. 'This is your last feed.' A lot of the Channel swimmers talk about this as being a heroic, celebratory time full of joy and happiness. Me? I was like 'Thank f*ck for that!' France was so close that I could feel it. The water was so warm, and the rocks became unmeshed, if you will. I drank about 2 sips of the feed, said a final 'Screw you, Maxim!' and swam as fast as I could. At 9:45 I knew I'd be in within 15 minutes, and I felt pretty dang good about myself. I swam over to a rock, eager to end it, and as I climbed up Nick goes 'You need to clear the water, come over here.' I was like not this again! So I belly-flopped into the water (ha), swam over to this stony beach on Cap Griz Nez, and stood up. Sirens from Lance's boat went off, and I was like OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. I hugged Nick, then fell down. 9 hours 51 minutes was on my watch. YES! Mark swam in with the camera, and we got some shots/video of me on the French coast. We picked up rocks from the shore, and I stuffed them in the pants of my suit. Of course, a freaking SEAL had to be right in the water where we finished, trying to steal my glory once again. (Why do I have such a history with these creatures?) So I said goodbye, waved to some fishermen, and got back in the water. I went under a few times to kind of stretch out and be submerged. It felt SO good.
I sat on the deck in my swim suit for a while, just staring at the vast amount of water ahead and behind me. It felt great. I was not to keen on the 3-hour boat ride back, as I was so nauseous, but burping seemed to do the trick, much to the guys' dissatisfaction. :) We saw 2 dolphins on the way back, the gay sharks that they are. Lance came to give me a hug and kiss, and I felt wholly indebted to him and his crew, as well as my crew. It was just, amazing. Not many words can describe it. I was more than anything happy to be finished with it, relieved that I had conquered my biggest challenge of my life.
When we got back, I felt alright! I was a bit seasick, and stumbled around the rest of the day, but I didn't feel utterly exhausted. Just a bit sore, and a bit happy. :) When we drove to Varne Ridge, an American and an Irish flag were flying. THAT felt good. I felt so proud and so elated. My flags were flying high, and a banner was on my caravan window, congratulating me on crossing the Channel. I looked back to the water, amazed that I had done it. After many well-dones and hundreds of texts, emails, and FB comments, I was just giddy. David and Evelyn, the owners of Varne Ridge, were fantastic and I felt great the whole rest of the day.
I slept like a log that night, packed my stuff into the car the next day, said my goodbyes (temporary!), and drove all the way from Dover to Fishguard, took the ferry to Rosslare, then drove 2 more hours to Dublin. I am really happy that my Channel did not take as long as the drive home!
So here I am, still lying in bed, still absolutely chuffed at the whole thing, and excited to see all my friends at the sea race today. No, won't be swimming, but I'll be there. I feel good. :)jgal
"Well hello there, I am currently lying in my bed in Dublin, feeling pretty good I must say, other than my dunzo shoulder. I think I need a good long rest for that to heal. So the swim details...I got the final 'you're going' by Mike Oram around 8pm on the 12th. I felt like I had won the lottery; I was dancing around like a lunatic, thinking 'Wait, you just got the go-ahead to do the hardest, most grueling thing you've ever done. Why are we dancing?!' But it didn't matter, I was ready and pumped. I made all my Maxim feed, and it all seemed a bit surreal, like I wasn't actually about to go swim the Channel.I met up with my crew, Mark Ransom (Channel Swimmer 08) and Nick Adams (multiple Channel Swimmer, including a 2-way). It was good to have them because they are quite experienced with both crewing and actually doing the swim, so that gave me a lot of confidence and security that I would be okay.
We headed down to the marina at 1:15 a.m. and got ourselves sorted. When we arrived to Sea Satin (my boat), it was empty with lights out. I was like, 'um, are they coming?' as we started to load up the boat. Then crew started to emerge from the boat. They had been asleep down there! (Naive mistake number 1). I felt pretty good. There were other swimmers and relays getting themselves sorted on the other boats, so it was a bit like a nervous party. I met some of the boat crew and the observer, and then Lance Oram (boat pilot) emerged. I felt a sense of excitement because I had heard so much about him..how he yells at you from the boat, how he's a great pilot, etc. I kind of looked at him and was like, hello. He just like, nodded and grinned at me. I thought, this is going to be good.We got all the stuff settled on the boat, then headed off to Samphire Ho around 2:20am.
I got greased up and had a nervous excitement about me. We arrived and Tanya (boat crew) told me to hop in, swim to the beach, clear the water, raise my hand, and go when the horn went off. So I got in, and squealed something along the lines of 'OH MY GAHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHH!' So I swam in quite slow, taking my time, getting my goggles adjusted. I got onto the stony beach, but apparently wasn't back far enough because I didn't hear any horn. There were a few yells back and forth, but I could barely hear a thing thanks to the crashing waves. Finally I heard loud yells and a muffled horn so I gathered it was time to start.
I made my way in and swam to the boat, and we were off!The first hour was, for lack of a better word, hell. It was very choppy and I was swimming in pitch black water with mirrored goggles (Naive mistake number 2). What was I thinking!? The boat kept feeling like it was going to crash into me, and I felt very lost swimming next to it. It wasn't so bad swimming at night, I wasn't scared or anything, but it was so incredibly hard to navigate breathing and the like because I could not see the waves coming toward me. Usually, when it's light, if I see a wave I may not breathe, or if I get water in my mouth, I can spit it out. Well this time water was going everywhere, and I felt like I was thrashing the waves. It was not enjoyable.
On the hour feed, I tried to take it on my back like Nick did in his video, but I got so incredibly dizzy that I really thought I was going to pass out. So I turned to my stomach, and took an incredibly slow feed. Also, my suit was moving because of the Vaseline, but I didn't want to touch it because my fingers would get all sticky, so I just basically let me top half hang out! I did find humour in this, as Lance was wearing a shirt that said 'Real swimmers swim naked'. So I did, in my own way! Apologies for the 'graphic' footage on the video! Hour two was much better. I relaxed a bit and enjoyed the swim more. I was still getting smashed by the waves, but I didn't really care that much. It was, after all, the English Channel. I didn't do training for a flat swim. I enjoyed hour 2, because I knew on hour 3 the sun would rise, so I had that to look forward to. The feed went down okay, and I headed off for hour 3.
I was a bit nauseous at this point, even when the sun came up and I could see the waves better. I just focused on staying close to the boat, and found an odd comfort in watching the boat pilot watching me. I didn't feel so alone, I suppose.Well I knew the sun came up, but it was hidden behind dark clouds so I was a bit disappointed. Then the rain storm came. I kept my hand out of the water a bit longer to make sure, and yes, it was raining. The waves were a bit violent at this point, and I really felt like I was going to puke. I kept telling myself, over and over, 'You can puke the rest of your life, just hold it in now.' I must have said that 2 thousand times. My mind was a bit weird; I felt so focused on not hitting the boat, swimming powerfully, and not puking that I didn't think of anything else, really. In my longer swims, I enjoyed so many long conversations with myself, and had some great thoughts come to me when swimming. Well not in the Channel! It was survival mode for me.
At 5 hours Nick told me I was halfway through the separation zone. I was like, ok what does that mean. (Naive mistake number 3- learn how the Channel operates!) He and Mark were like, halfway! Well okay. That seemed alright. Keep swimming.At 6 hours I was tired, really really tired. I thought to myself, I'll take this hour off, go nice and slow, then build back up again. I was in so much pain that I was feeling mentally down. My shoulders, arms, elbows, hands and fingers were aching with a pain that is hard to describe. I felt so bloated from the feeds, even though I was peeing quite regularly. I began to resent the boys when they came down with feeds. I was like 'No! Not that again! I can't handle any more!' I kept thinking 'feeds are fuel' but it was no use, my body did NOT want any more Maxim! At the 6 hour feed, Nick suggested Mark to offer me a swiss roll. Mark kind of put it in my face and I was like 'GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!' Just the thought of having that in my mouth made me barf a little. I do not know how people eat food in the Channel. Thoughts of people eating peaches, swiss rolls and jelly babies made me gag, so I tried my best to get away from those thoughts! So I swam, then Mark appeared in his suit at 6.5 hours. I got really agitated at this point, because I thought this meant I was going way too slow, and Lance had told him to get in to speed me up. I almost said 'Don't get in, I'll go faster!' but just left it.
Failure thoughts entered my head, and I told them to shut up, but I was exhausted, so I felt a bit sad at this point. Mark apparently swallowed a lot of water, and I swam as fast as I could to show the crew I was not deflated just yet. Mark got back on the boat a couple minutes later and I swam on, feeling pleased that I was back by myself. Around 7 hours the sky cleared, and the sun started to peek through the clouds. The waves calmed significantly, and the swim became a lot more enjoyable, as painful as it was at this point. I had a mini celebration with myself, because 7 hours was the longest I had swum thus far in my training, so it was a new record! Lance yelled something out the window rather loudly, so I sped up while laughing. I could also see my reflection off the side of the boat, so I was happy to have myself as company! I kept staring at myself, and thought I looked pretty okay given the beating I endured a couple hours back. The feeds were still horrific; I just could not seem to get more than a tiny mouthful into me, and I was sick of them taking so long. All I could say to myself at this point was 'Relax', which was a hypnosis technique Mairead gave me from a recording I have listened to for a few weeks. It worked brilliantly, and I felt my entire body relax every time I said this. France was getting closer and closer, but still seemed quite far away.
I was trying to gauge how much I had left, so at 8 hours, I asked if I'd 2 more to go. They didn't seem happy with this question! Lance yelled at me to stop chatting and just swim. I kind of snarled at him and took off, wanting to know how much left I had. It's not that I wanted to give up. I wanted to know where I was in this mad thing! I couldn't tell if I had a kilometre, a mile, 5 miles or even 3 nautical miles left. (Naive mistake number 4- wtf is a nautical mile? I kept trying to remember Mike Oram's emails describing all this information I should have learned by this point, but nothing solid came from my noggin.) So I quoted Nemo for the 5000th time, and said 'Just keep swimming'. What I didn't tell them was I had a pretty secret goal of going under 10 hours. Of course, I didn't broadcast this because hello, what if it took me 12 or 14 hours to complete? I'd be embarrassed. So I really just wanted to know if I was in contention of getting my goal.
I think just after 8.5 hours, Nick joined me in the sea. I was so confused because I wondered if it was time to swim in. I really had no idea how close I was. It was then that Lance told me I'd just a mile and a half to go. But I was wondering, was this a nautical mile? I needed kilometres! So I figured the longest it could be was 3k, and I knew I could do a 3k. I knew the Channel was in the bag, and I felt pretty relieved. I've spent basically 2 years wondering if I could do it, and to know I was almost about to prove myself, well, I felt good. It was a great feeling.At 9 hours Mark came down with a feed, and I kept wondering, when will this feeding crap end!? I only drank half of it, as I could not avoid puking at this point. I heard a reaction from Lance, but left it. I quoted Cartman, saying, 'Screw you guys, I'm going home'. I don't know, it made sense to me at this point? Delirium to the max, folks. Nick was keeping a very fast pace, and at times I just wanted to stop so he's stop so I could tell him to slow down. I was all over the place mentally, so I just kept saying 'relax, stop puking, look at your reflection, stop looking at France.' The co-pilot was cruising along beside me, and he stuck his bare foot in my face. This made both of us laugh a little. (May as well have fun, right?)
At 9.5 hours, Lance said the words I wanted to hear for the past, well, 9.5 hours. 'This is your last feed.' A lot of the Channel swimmers talk about this as being a heroic, celebratory time full of joy and happiness. Me? I was like 'Thank f*ck for that!' France was so close that I could feel it. The water was so warm, and the rocks became unmeshed, if you will. I drank about 2 sips of the feed, said a final 'Screw you, Maxim!' and swam as fast as I could. At 9:45 I knew I'd be in within 15 minutes, and I felt pretty dang good about myself. I swam over to a rock, eager to end it, and as I climbed up Nick goes 'You need to clear the water, come over here.' I was like not this again! So I belly-flopped into the water (ha), swam over to this stony beach on Cap Griz Nez, and stood up. Sirens from Lance's boat went off, and I was like OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. I hugged Nick, then fell down. 9 hours 51 minutes was on my watch. YES! Mark swam in with the camera, and we got some shots/video of me on the French coast. We picked up rocks from the shore, and I stuffed them in the pants of my suit. Of course, a freaking SEAL had to be right in the water where we finished, trying to steal my glory once again. (Why do I have such a history with these creatures?) So I said goodbye, waved to some fishermen, and got back in the water. I went under a few times to kind of stretch out and be submerged. It felt SO good.
I sat on the deck in my swim suit for a while, just staring at the vast amount of water ahead and behind me. It felt great. I was not to keen on the 3-hour boat ride back, as I was so nauseous, but burping seemed to do the trick, much to the guys' dissatisfaction. :) We saw 2 dolphins on the way back, the gay sharks that they are. Lance came to give me a hug and kiss, and I felt wholly indebted to him and his crew, as well as my crew. It was just, amazing. Not many words can describe it. I was more than anything happy to be finished with it, relieved that I had conquered my biggest challenge of my life.
When we got back, I felt alright! I was a bit seasick, and stumbled around the rest of the day, but I didn't feel utterly exhausted. Just a bit sore, and a bit happy. :) When we drove to Varne Ridge, an American and an Irish flag were flying. THAT felt good. I felt so proud and so elated. My flags were flying high, and a banner was on my caravan window, congratulating me on crossing the Channel. I looked back to the water, amazed that I had done it. After many well-dones and hundreds of texts, emails, and FB comments, I was just giddy. David and Evelyn, the owners of Varne Ridge, were fantastic and I felt great the whole rest of the day.
I slept like a log that night, packed my stuff into the car the next day, said my goodbyes (temporary!), and drove all the way from Dover to Fishguard, took the ferry to Rosslare, then drove 2 more hours to Dublin. I am really happy that my Channel did not take as long as the drive home!
So here I am, still lying in bed, still absolutely chuffed at the whole thing, and excited to see all my friends at the sea race today. No, won't be swimming, but I'll be there. I feel good. :)jgal
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Saturday, 8 August 2009
1 year on
It is hard to believe its already exactly twelve months to the day since I took that stupid decision on 8th August 2008. I find it amazing that the year has passed so quickly, to summarise (after 080808) as you know I returned to Dover in the September for a more realistic opportunity, however the weather put pay to that and I never did get a reasonable shot at the swim. After that I returned home feeling completely depressed with the whole swimming episode and basically stopped training in anyway, shape or form, my body fat as a result shot up and that much desired belly I was wanting arrived without effort!
I had been active enough at work and didn't feel to bad physically, albeit my core strength has disappeared resulting in almost constant lower back pain. Around a month ago I finally got around to joining another gym, where I have been using the pool, initially I was struggling to even swim 1km but my condition seems to be coming back slowly, my times are way off after such a long lay off but that is understandable...though I am happy with the progress to date.
Enda Kennedy spoke to me the other day on email and questioned if I might be returning to Dover next year, but I told him without a lotto win it would be almost impossible as I am still recovering financially from 2008!
I am however enjoying being back in the water and will be doing the Great North Swim in September after a week in the sun with KGB and the kids.
What I really need to do is sit down and set some targets so that I have a clear goal to train for...
Goodness knows what the next year will bring.
I had been active enough at work and didn't feel to bad physically, albeit my core strength has disappeared resulting in almost constant lower back pain. Around a month ago I finally got around to joining another gym, where I have been using the pool, initially I was struggling to even swim 1km but my condition seems to be coming back slowly, my times are way off after such a long lay off but that is understandable...though I am happy with the progress to date.
Enda Kennedy spoke to me the other day on email and questioned if I might be returning to Dover next year, but I told him without a lotto win it would be almost impossible as I am still recovering financially from 2008!
I am however enjoying being back in the water and will be doing the Great North Swim in September after a week in the sun with KGB and the kids.
What I really need to do is sit down and set some targets so that I have a clear goal to train for...
Goodness knows what the next year will bring.
Friday, 3 July 2009
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Michelle Macy in her own words
I have long been an admirer of Michelle Macy from the States, she swam the Channel in 2007 and has since swam many marathon events...yesterday she again swam the Channel...below, in her own words Michelle tells how the day unfolded...She is a fantastic person with the heart of a lion...enjoy..but be warned it is emotional.
I’m sure that this news will potentially come as a shock to most people. Two years ago, I swam the Channel for the first time. Two days after that I signed up to swim it again. However, I had a new goal. I wanted to swim the Channel three times in one go. Yes that is right swim first from England to France, turn around swim back to England, and then do it one more time. Yes, it is crazy. Only 3 people (2 men, 1 woman) have accomplished it before and many have attempted. At the time I signed up, I wanted to do something GREAT in my life. Give my family and me a reason to look at something and say that I did THAT. Yes, I understand that I had just swam the Channel in just over 10 hours, but somehow that didn’t seem enough. Some may think that I was seeking fame, but it wasn’t that at all. I wanted to make my family and friends proud of me. Hell I wanted to make myself proud of me.
Yes there was a part of me that wanted my name to be remembered among the great American marathon swimmers like Gertrude Ederle, Lynne Cox, Marcia Cleveland, and Marcella MacDonald. So since 2 days after my first Channel swim, I’ve been training and planning. I had the most amazing trainers, friends, family and sponsors helping me along the way. People who gave up their time and resources to help me reach my goal. I also had the best Channel pilots.
After all the preparations and training, we all headed back to England. Though I felt physically the strongest I’ve ever been something seemed to be missing. I was enjoying my training swims in the water so I tried to push that other “off” feeling away. I was so happy when we got to talk to Reg and find out that the swim was early in the tide and when he looked at me and said “You’re looking fit”. I would finally get to find out how the story ended. Just like a pick-a-path book, the story could end in many ways. I guess I never imagined the way that my swim would end.
We arrived at the boat as scheduled, Reg, Ray, and another boat captain Andy King were all set to guide us on this adventure. Mikee Philips was the observer and I was happy to see another friendly face as he was the CSA observer on my first crossing. We loaded up the boat and set off for the start. Samphire Hoe, the land created from the Chunnel dirt, was the start of the swim. On the way there, I was busy with preparations; sunscreen, rashguard, etc. I was ready when it was time for me to jump in the water. And the first 2 hours of the swim were going really well. I had turned off everything except what was necessary to swim. I so far had chosen the right path in this story.
It was the third hour that I began to notice that “off” feeling becoming stronger. Since we marathon swimmers have plenty of time in our heads I decided to explore this feeling and deal with it and move on. It seemed to me that the question that needed to be answered was “why are we doing this?” The original answer is above…the lasting accomplishment. Giving me something to be proud of in myself. The answer that I got while in the water was; Think of all the time, resources, energy that trainers, sponsors, family, friends have put into this swim. You can’t disappoint them. They have expectations. My next questions was “What about your expectations for yourself, Michelle?” I could definitely remember my original intent, but I no longer felt the fire that went with it. It was then that I realized that my path on this story was about to change. I guess the only way for me to put this is that I was an injured athlete. Yes, the physical muscles were all fine due to all the work that the trainers and I put in, but it was my soul, my heart that was injured.
In an earlier post I mentioned that my mother and father are my moorings. And they are, but 6 weeks ago I became adrift. I thought that I could overcome this feeling of being lost. To find that fire within me to keep this swim going. But the flame was not there, my heart wasn’t in it. My soul was aching. At the three hour feeding I told my crew “We have a problem. I’m fine physically, but my heart hurts. I will finish this part of the swim, as that is the right thing to do, but I don’t think I can go on.” So for another 8 hrs 26 minutes I swam.
After reaching France, my fabulous crew asked me to continue swimming. I did…for a very short period of time. I came up for a feeding and I saw the waves and fog in front of me. It seemed to be taunting me by matching my internal environment. Jane, Katie, Cathy and Jeff were amazing! They did everything that they could to keep me going forward to the next feeding…to the next five minutes. They all had the heart that I was lacking and I had drawn on that to make it across the first time. But the fire also had to come from me for this swim to be a success.
It was me and me alone that called off this swim. It was me that had to make the choice to touch the boat and end the years of hard work. It was the path that I had to take at this time. I know it is not the path that ended the story the way that I wanted to or that I believe anyone wanted.
After changing clothes and laying down for the return trip to England, I finally felt like I rested. There was some quiet. I don’t regret my decision yesterday. I’m hoping that as time passes that I never will. I had 8 hours to really think the decision over. An athlete can force themselves to do only so much without a fire burning within. I am not the first athlete or even person that this has happened to and I surely won’t be the last. I have seen many an athlete falter and fail after years of hard work and thousands/millions of dollars spent. I can see those clips that are played on TV in my head. It is these athletes that give me my inspiration right at this moment. Most of the clips of the athletes show great pain and suffering, but not to long after that I’ve seen the clip of their renewal and success.
The one athlete story that sticks in my mind is Paula Radcliffe. I watched her 2004 Athens marathon. I stumbled and cried with her. I sat down with her on the curb and wept. I also had the good forture to watch her months later (via computer) stride triumphantly to the finish of the New York Marathon, which she has done two times since.
My dad emailed me yesterday and said “6 weeks before your first Channel swim, your mother told you she had cancer and yet you swam. 6 weeks before your 2nd Channel swim your mother passed away and yet you swam. Many others would not have done the same. I’m proud of you”.
This is my time to regroup, reset the course, refind my center and my mooring and then move forward. I know that there will be comments about this swim and perception about what went wrong and some of them may not be that kind. Regardless, I plan to dust myself off and begin to accept that while overall this was an unsuccessful triple Channel crossing it was a successful solo crossing that took a lot of guts on my part.
So to start this healing process and to restart the fire, I will swim. It won’t be a long swim, but I will return to swimmers beach in Dover, put my suit on, and shove off from shore. That is what I’m going to do.
Thank you to Reg and Ray: You can’t find better pilots. I only wish that I could have been the swimmer that we all needed yesterday as I would have loved to provide them with another swim to add to their already phenomenal legacy.
To Mikee Philips and Andy King: Thank you for coming along on the journey. I know it wasn’t what anyone expected, but you were kind throughout my whole swim. To my trainers, coaches, medical professional team: We did all the right things and the body was there. I’m the healthiest and strongest I’ve ever been. You have all taught me so much about what it takes to build an athlete. I know that with our continued work, I’ll only become better. Thank you for being a part of my life.
To my friends and family: Thank you and I love you. You have been there for every crazy adventure and I’m guessing you will be there for the next one. Thank you for all the love and support.To Jane, Cathy, Katie, and Jeff: Thank you for coming along on this ride. You have been there for it all and for that I can’t thank you enough. I know that I can never repay all the generousity that you have shown to me. I love you all. And thank you for having the heart on this swim. And to my sponsors: Thank you for helping me chase and live my dreams. Without your support, I wouldn’t be living my passion. Thank you for believing and seeing that I’m worth it.
I’m sure that this news will potentially come as a shock to most people. Two years ago, I swam the Channel for the first time. Two days after that I signed up to swim it again. However, I had a new goal. I wanted to swim the Channel three times in one go. Yes that is right swim first from England to France, turn around swim back to England, and then do it one more time. Yes, it is crazy. Only 3 people (2 men, 1 woman) have accomplished it before and many have attempted. At the time I signed up, I wanted to do something GREAT in my life. Give my family and me a reason to look at something and say that I did THAT. Yes, I understand that I had just swam the Channel in just over 10 hours, but somehow that didn’t seem enough. Some may think that I was seeking fame, but it wasn’t that at all. I wanted to make my family and friends proud of me. Hell I wanted to make myself proud of me.
Yes there was a part of me that wanted my name to be remembered among the great American marathon swimmers like Gertrude Ederle, Lynne Cox, Marcia Cleveland, and Marcella MacDonald. So since 2 days after my first Channel swim, I’ve been training and planning. I had the most amazing trainers, friends, family and sponsors helping me along the way. People who gave up their time and resources to help me reach my goal. I also had the best Channel pilots.
After all the preparations and training, we all headed back to England. Though I felt physically the strongest I’ve ever been something seemed to be missing. I was enjoying my training swims in the water so I tried to push that other “off” feeling away. I was so happy when we got to talk to Reg and find out that the swim was early in the tide and when he looked at me and said “You’re looking fit”. I would finally get to find out how the story ended. Just like a pick-a-path book, the story could end in many ways. I guess I never imagined the way that my swim would end.
We arrived at the boat as scheduled, Reg, Ray, and another boat captain Andy King were all set to guide us on this adventure. Mikee Philips was the observer and I was happy to see another friendly face as he was the CSA observer on my first crossing. We loaded up the boat and set off for the start. Samphire Hoe, the land created from the Chunnel dirt, was the start of the swim. On the way there, I was busy with preparations; sunscreen, rashguard, etc. I was ready when it was time for me to jump in the water. And the first 2 hours of the swim were going really well. I had turned off everything except what was necessary to swim. I so far had chosen the right path in this story.
It was the third hour that I began to notice that “off” feeling becoming stronger. Since we marathon swimmers have plenty of time in our heads I decided to explore this feeling and deal with it and move on. It seemed to me that the question that needed to be answered was “why are we doing this?” The original answer is above…the lasting accomplishment. Giving me something to be proud of in myself. The answer that I got while in the water was; Think of all the time, resources, energy that trainers, sponsors, family, friends have put into this swim. You can’t disappoint them. They have expectations. My next questions was “What about your expectations for yourself, Michelle?” I could definitely remember my original intent, but I no longer felt the fire that went with it. It was then that I realized that my path on this story was about to change. I guess the only way for me to put this is that I was an injured athlete. Yes, the physical muscles were all fine due to all the work that the trainers and I put in, but it was my soul, my heart that was injured.
In an earlier post I mentioned that my mother and father are my moorings. And they are, but 6 weeks ago I became adrift. I thought that I could overcome this feeling of being lost. To find that fire within me to keep this swim going. But the flame was not there, my heart wasn’t in it. My soul was aching. At the three hour feeding I told my crew “We have a problem. I’m fine physically, but my heart hurts. I will finish this part of the swim, as that is the right thing to do, but I don’t think I can go on.” So for another 8 hrs 26 minutes I swam.
After reaching France, my fabulous crew asked me to continue swimming. I did…for a very short period of time. I came up for a feeding and I saw the waves and fog in front of me. It seemed to be taunting me by matching my internal environment. Jane, Katie, Cathy and Jeff were amazing! They did everything that they could to keep me going forward to the next feeding…to the next five minutes. They all had the heart that I was lacking and I had drawn on that to make it across the first time. But the fire also had to come from me for this swim to be a success.
It was me and me alone that called off this swim. It was me that had to make the choice to touch the boat and end the years of hard work. It was the path that I had to take at this time. I know it is not the path that ended the story the way that I wanted to or that I believe anyone wanted.
After changing clothes and laying down for the return trip to England, I finally felt like I rested. There was some quiet. I don’t regret my decision yesterday. I’m hoping that as time passes that I never will. I had 8 hours to really think the decision over. An athlete can force themselves to do only so much without a fire burning within. I am not the first athlete or even person that this has happened to and I surely won’t be the last. I have seen many an athlete falter and fail after years of hard work and thousands/millions of dollars spent. I can see those clips that are played on TV in my head. It is these athletes that give me my inspiration right at this moment. Most of the clips of the athletes show great pain and suffering, but not to long after that I’ve seen the clip of their renewal and success.
The one athlete story that sticks in my mind is Paula Radcliffe. I watched her 2004 Athens marathon. I stumbled and cried with her. I sat down with her on the curb and wept. I also had the good forture to watch her months later (via computer) stride triumphantly to the finish of the New York Marathon, which she has done two times since.
My dad emailed me yesterday and said “6 weeks before your first Channel swim, your mother told you she had cancer and yet you swam. 6 weeks before your 2nd Channel swim your mother passed away and yet you swam. Many others would not have done the same. I’m proud of you”.
This is my time to regroup, reset the course, refind my center and my mooring and then move forward. I know that there will be comments about this swim and perception about what went wrong and some of them may not be that kind. Regardless, I plan to dust myself off and begin to accept that while overall this was an unsuccessful triple Channel crossing it was a successful solo crossing that took a lot of guts on my part.
So to start this healing process and to restart the fire, I will swim. It won’t be a long swim, but I will return to swimmers beach in Dover, put my suit on, and shove off from shore. That is what I’m going to do.
Thank you to Reg and Ray: You can’t find better pilots. I only wish that I could have been the swimmer that we all needed yesterday as I would have loved to provide them with another swim to add to their already phenomenal legacy.
To Mikee Philips and Andy King: Thank you for coming along on the journey. I know it wasn’t what anyone expected, but you were kind throughout my whole swim. To my trainers, coaches, medical professional team: We did all the right things and the body was there. I’m the healthiest and strongest I’ve ever been. You have all taught me so much about what it takes to build an athlete. I know that with our continued work, I’ll only become better. Thank you for being a part of my life.
To my friends and family: Thank you and I love you. You have been there for every crazy adventure and I’m guessing you will be there for the next one. Thank you for all the love and support.To Jane, Cathy, Katie, and Jeff: Thank you for coming along on this ride. You have been there for it all and for that I can’t thank you enough. I know that I can never repay all the generousity that you have shown to me. I love you all. And thank you for having the heart on this swim. And to my sponsors: Thank you for helping me chase and live my dreams. Without your support, I wouldn’t be living my passion. Thank you for believing and seeing that I’m worth it.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
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