Les Brown

Charlie and Luke

Last weekend..8th, 9th, 10th May.. Charlie and his swim buddie Luke Myers (both 9 years old)again took to the water for the benefit of others, on this occasion they were swimming to raise funds for the Prostate Cancer Charity..on each of the days they swam 50 laps of the 33 metre pool at Billingham. At the same time Lukes dad Tim rode the English coast to coast cycle ride.
To date they have raised almost £5000 on their justgiving page.

An article appeared in a local newspaper yesterday you can see it here. I will post the photographs once we get the copyright sorted. Suffice to say they did a great job and we are very proud of their efforts. Well done boys.

Jack Brown

I am sad to bring the news that poor Jack, as brave as he has been has lost his battle with Neuroblastoma, I am proud that together with many sponsors we tried best we could to help. Our thoughts and prayers are with Richard, Yvonne and his siblings..God bless and R.I.P. I cannot even begin to imagine the loss Jacks family must be feeling, the more I read and look at his innocence the more it hurts. Some things are just not fair.

Good Night and God Bless you Jack

Please see the update on Jacks website here

(photos from The Jack Brown Appeal)

The Channel Race is OFF

JUST SEEN THIS ON ANOTHER BLOG

The rumors that have been floating around the marathon swimming world for the past week are unfortunately true: the Great Channel Swim, scheduled to showcase the world's best marathon swimmers racing across the English Channel, has been cancelled.

Because the French authorities have concerns regarding the amount of potential additional traffic in the English Channel were raised, the French Coast Guard did not provide its support to stage the highly anticipated event.

Colin Hill, the Great Channel Swim race director, said, "After many months of planning, we are disappointed at this late stage to have encountered objections from the French authorities, leaving us with no alternative but to reluctantly cancel the event."

Andy Dickson's Channel Swim

Retired Police Officer Andy Dickson swam The Channel 10th September 2008, about a week after I was sent home with no window of opportunity in the immediate future..I met Andy usually in the water at Dover and once on the beach the day I came home..a true gent..well done Andy

Itchy feet

Like many other swimmers I am a member of a couple of forums, the Channel Swimmers email group and a UK based online swim club. I must say the increasing talk of open water swimming is really making me want to get in there. I just need a couple more good pool sessions under my belt (now that the back spasm has sorted itself out) and I will be ready to take the plunge again.

Other news.. I am really enjoying coaching the kids at two local pools and have had some excellent feedback from several parents, the involvement mainly came about through frustration at : A) the poor advice given to some of the young ones and B) the clear lack of enjoyment being had by almost all of them. It was obvious that most of the children were attending because they had to ie their parents insisted and were having zero pleasure.

I have tried to introduce lots of drills to the sessions with plenty of variety, providing they work hard on the drills we get to have some laughs at the end of the sessions with fun relays and alternative learning...I am delighted the different approach seems to be working with most especially Charlie, Luke, Christian and Liam. That said if you have any ideas to keep sessions fun for kids please leave a comment or email me.

edit: Charlie and Luke are to be involved in a sponsor weekend for Prostate Cancer research, 3 swims 3 consecutive days in a 33 metre pool ..more details at
http://www.justgiving.com/severfieldcyclists
I am certain that one of the girls who attends the sessions (I will save her the embarrassment by not naming her) is a born Channel Swimmer, she is only about 10 years old but has such natural economical technique.. hopefully I can get her and her parents interested, maybe in a Cross Channel Relay in a few years, before she finds beer and boys!

Prodigal Son

Being Easter time I thought the title quite apt...I finally returned to the pool this week having been out since September last year..I swam a very brief masters set with Stockton ASC and can assure you that my aerobic fitness has disappeared. Last year my swim fitness was very good, I could easy manage 1000m in 15 minutes and used to really like the 10km sets with little rest between each km.

That level of fitness is some distance away now and will take lots of time and effort to regain. When I next swim I plan to do 1000m time trial so I can judge where my training is heading.

I am entered in the Great North Swim on one of the Saturday waves. I will be doing the River Tees swim and a few others when the entries eventually open.

Now however I have a back spasm and have no idea when I will be able to get back swimming.

Hppy Easter...don't eat too many eggs!

Mick Helps

Welcome...not

My attention was recently drawn to a French movie titled 'Welcome' by Philippe Lioret. Briefly the story relates to a Kurdish male who wants to get into England, the red tape and complications result in him locating a swimming teacher and the subsequent plan to swim to England (wearing a wetsuit). There have been a number of good reviews, though I doubt any of these viewers are actually swimmers. The trailer is here.

From what I have seen it will be worth a watch but will not be a patch on my favourite Channel Swim production, the true and tragic Two Swimmers. I still have this on VHS from when it aired in the UK on Channel 4 in 2007. I have mentioned this documentary previously however it remains one of the most compelling pieces of TV I have ever seen.

Stockton ASC

Last evening (Wednesday 18th March 2009) Our local swimming club held a night of sponsored swims, the monies raised being donated to CLIC Sargent (Caring for Children living with Cancer) whilst it is not Neuroblastoma, we were delighted the kids agreed to give it their best shot. KGBs daughter Lottie, who until recently was terrified of water and is yet to recieve her 25 metre certificate, let alone breach the 'deep end in the big pool' swam a brilliant 26 lengths covering 700 metres!

Charlie swam too and despite being tired after his first 50 lengths continued after a brief rest and completed 70 lengths (1750m) ...fantastic effort by both of the little people am sure you will agree. Making us very proud of their determination to swim for the benefit of others less fortunate. Well done and thankyou to all who signed their forms.

ENGLISH CHANNEL RACING IS BACK

REVIVAL OF CLASSIC GREAT CHANNEL SWIM RACE AFTER 50 YEAR ABSENCE

World class competitors from around the globe will, this summer, contest the first Great Channel Swim race for 50 years between England and France. The revival of the classic endurance event from Dover to Calais will take place when the tide is expected to be most favourable in a window between August 19th and 24th. Eight elite male swimmers, headed by Bulgaria’s Peter Stoychev who holds the world record time of six hours 57 minutes for the Channel swim and six women
will be invited to take part.

"I'm sure this revival of what was regarded as one of the world’s classic distance races will capture the imagination of the public," said Brendan Foster, Chairman of organisers, Nova International, the sports marketing agency, who staged the first Great North Swim last year.

Foster added: "We are in discussions with some of the worlds leading distance swimmers and the initial feedback is that they are very interested in getting involved in such a historic challenge.

"I am delighted that Cassie Patten, last summer's Olympic Games 10 kilometres open water swim bronze medallist, will carry British hopes and I'm sure she won't be overawed by either the opposition or the distance."

The roots of present day Channel swimming go back to 1875, when Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to successfully cross the channel from Dover to Calais in a time of 21 hours and 45 minutes. However it wasn’t until 1950 that top class international swimmers from around the world were recruited to take part in the first Daily Mail International Cross Channel Swimming Race.

Egyptian Army Lieutenant Hassen Abdel Rehim and Eileen Fenton, a 21-year-old religious studies teacher from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, were the first winners, their victories capturing the imagination and admiration of the nation. Only nine of the 24 starters - a third of them women - completed the gruelling 22 mile distance across one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

The second race saw a local success with Sam Rockett, the manager of Folkestone Pool, reaching the shore first as 18 of the 20 entrants completed the swim, thrilling the huge crowds watching from the start and finish landmarks of Shakespeare Beach at Dover and Cap Gris Nez in France.
Holiday Camp founder Billy Butlin also funded the swim in the 1950’s and for a
number of years Egyptian swimmers were dominant.

However, the Suez Canal crisis of 1956 and the political tension it created saw Butlin take the controversial decision to ban Egyptians, which saw him receive a Government rebuke from the Foreign Office for getting involved in international affairs. He subsequently withdrew funding, instead donating it to other sporting events and the Channel Swim once again become an individual challenge.

Now Nova International, who also organise the Bupa Great North Run, the world's biggest half marathon and Britain’s biggest open water swimming event, the Great North Swim, are determined to ensure the Swim re-enacts the excitement it provoked in its golden years half a century ago. There will also be two relay boats of between 6 and 8 swimmers competing on
the day of the event. To build upon the occasion there will be a Great Channel Swim Relay with 12 boats comprising six to 10 members, on standby from August 20 to take to the sea on the first available good day following the main race.

GNS 09

Entries are now open for Britain’s biggest open water swim which will be staged on 12th and 13th September and forms part of a series of Great Swim events taking place across the UK.

More info at http://www.greatswim.org/