My Channel Swim Experience
Over the last two years I
have trained to complete the ultimate swimming challenge. The 22 mile
crossing from Dover to Calais across the English Channel. I first
dreamed of doing something crazy like swimming the channel when I was
young, but the realisation and need to persue this challenge became
apparent when stood at the finish line of Ironman Nice in 2011. I was
in awe of all the athletes different shapes and sizes, ages and
abilities completing such a gruelling incredible event. The
atmosphere was amazing and everyone was beeming with pride. I wanted
that satisfying feeling and wanted to make everyone proud. I can only
swim. I decided the channel was the ultimate challenge and had to be
done.
6 years ago in 2007 my
'one in a million' dad suffered a heart attack and had to undergo
major heart surgery. A triple heart bypass, a replaced valve and an
aneurysim removed. This was the hardest most heart wrenching weeks of
my life and it turned mine and my families worlds upside down. My dad
fought so hard he came out the otherside and has since been given the
all clear. If it hadn't have been for heart research and great
surgeons he would not be alive today. It made sense to raise money
for British Heart Foundation to save lives and say thanks for saving
my dads life.
So there it was, the
challenge had been set. I booked my pilot (£2400) Fred Mardle who
was recommended to me by Paul Higgins Drysdale a fellow swimmer and
friend who had completed the swim a few years ago. In the post
arrived my registration pack (£450) which contained an overwhelming
amount of information, my official channel swimming hat and many
forms to complete. The realisation of the task in hand suddenly sunk
in.
So my training began. I
started to slowly increase my distance in the pool and continued to
train at David Lloyd masters sessions. I completed my first 5km, 8km,
10km sessions and began to feel fitter. A year passed and time
started ticking by quickly. My training increased and I was swimming
anything from 20km -50km per week. I set myself the goal of
completing 20km which in my head was half of the channel distance.
This swim took 7.5 hours and I felt fairly at ease. So the next task
was to venture into the cold sea.
Up until now my experience
of open water swimming was very limited and I had only dabbled in a
few training sessions with friends and completed one 3,8km river race
In Arundel. (which I came 28th
out of 400, 11th
girl and 3rd in my
age group). The winter was extremely cold and I began to panic that I
would not be able to get in. Previous years I had managed my first
swim of the year during late march early april. It was now May and I
started to feel the pressure. I wetsuited up, wore two hats, and
waited for a sunny day. So in may I attempted my first sea swim at 7
degrees celcius. It was extremely fresh and I only last around 5mins.
My hands and feet hurt they were so cold and I crawled out the water
feeling a bit drunk. It was very liberating but also horrid. Over the
next 6 weeks I kept trying to increase the length of time I could
tollerate in the cold sea and also ventured to Eastleigh open water
swimming lake which was a couple of degrees warmer. I eventually lost
one swimming hat and then my wetsuit at 11 degrees celcius. I built
up from 5mins to 2 hours in the sea.
For the Channel swim I had
to complete a six hour qualifying swim in sub 17 degrees, therefore I
quickly decided I needed to step up my game again. I called on a
friend Andrew Robinson who had a kayak and we did a 2 hour training
swim at hill head which allowed me to begin playing with some high
energy foods. The water was cold, but we did it and knew I need to
aim higher, so the following week we planned for a 4 hour stint. Due
to unforseen circumstances this swim never happened. I went on
holiday at the beginning of July to Ibiza on a girly holiday, which
did not seem a sensible training plan but I felt I needed the break
and it was my friends (Carli-Jean Cross) 21st
birthday. So I partied for a week and drew a line underneath. It was
now 10 weeks until the big day and things needed to get serious. Up
until this point I had lost 21lbs and felt really great. So I knocked
alcohol on the head and decided I was to be t-total for 10 weeks.
The following week I had
my 6 hour qualifier planned feeling underprepared but enthusiastic we
headed out in what was now scorching weather on the 16th
July. I was expecting to swim around 18k but due to tides I only swam
10k. Was was very disheartening as in my head I decided I would have
to do that swim 4 times to complete the channel, which seemed
impossible. However I felt great I had completed the six hours and
was greeted by Lorraine, Andrews wife and two children Naomi and
Abigail, which really lifted my spirits, I ate, reflected and moved
on. Looking back, during this swim where the tides had changed I had
my first real experience of battling with the tides and really
struggled mentally to keep going. I also got told I had swum past a
boat which had caught a baskin shark. Two scenerios to have under the
belt for training. 4 days later on the 20th
of July I had a huge charity day planned. My intention was to swim
for 10hours in the pool. To get everyone involved I arranged for 20
David Lloyd staff members to each swim 30mins slots to hopefully help
understand the task in hand and help raise awareness. Having
completed my 6 hour qualifier just 6 days before I was worried I
would be too tired. The first four hours of the swim flew by and I
felt great. I had lots of support around me and had a bag full of
food at the end of the lane. During all my swims I had eaten gels,
bars, malt loaf, bananas and haribo which seemed to work. Hours 5-7
were really hard mentally to keep going and I slowed a lot, so my
good friends Carli and Sarah jumped in and competed a couple hours
with me.
At 7 hours someone was
sick in pool and everyone got out, I stuck to my plan and troopered
on. With 2 hours to go my parents appeared and I suddenly felt
overwhelmed. I had a little tear and then knew I could do it. So with
there support I picked up the pace and finished the 10 hours at 6pm
having swum 29km. I was greeted by a crowd of friends and felt very
emotional. Although I felt exhausted I was running on adrenaline, I
dressed up, fuelled up, and was ready for my variety performance
charity evening. I had lots of support and had a great evening with
great friends. We raised £900 which was fantastic and made the 10
hours worth while.
Having completed two
enormous swims I took a full weeks rest to fully recover, had a
couple of sports massages from Paul and Pete and planned the last 8
weeks training feeling very optimistic. I decided from this point
onwards all my swims needed to be done in the sea so I knocked all
pool swims on the head and stuck to the cold. My last few goals
included a night swim, another long sea swim, a trip to Dover and
more feeding practice. My training just seemed to tick over the next
couple of weeks. I arranged a long swim with my Uncle Matt's boat which was really choppy but great training and Me and Eddie went to Dover to suss the place out. We
met with a lady called Sam Jones who we met with for coffee and
picked her brains for a couple of hours. The most valuble information
we gathered was with regards to feeding. She recommended carbohydrate
powder called Maxim, which I used from that point onwards to get my
body used to it. Andrew and Lorraine were staying in Dorset during
August with the kayak so I took the opportunity to get a few days
training in.
On day one turned up to
two very keen organised navy kayakers, Andrew and John Ravenhall. We
left swanage beach, headed around Harrys rock and swum into Studland
Bay. I swum around 4miles and finished in the pitch black around
9-10pm ish. I had one horrible experience during his swim where I hit
an enormous patch of sea kelp. I felt like an ant I a bowel of
tagiatelle, it was squidgey and thick and I screamed a lot. I hated
it. I was greeted again by the Robinsons and Ravenhalls which felt
fantastic to hear the kids voices cheering me on the finish. The
support was great. I spent two more days training in some fairly
choppy seas which was great practice and did the same the following
week as I felt good progression and enthusiasm from the previous
week.
I now had two weeks to go
and was now half way through eating up for the event. I began to
taper, I sea swam every day for around an hour and ate a lot! I did
my last 2 longish swims of 3 hours with Debbie Lammiman kayaking at
Eastney and 1hour 30 with Richard Thomas at Horsea lake. This second
swim was horrible and the lake was full of many jellyfish. It was
great training as I had not experienced this situation yet. With one
week to go I kept eating and was now over a stone heavier and I had
stopped swimming for rest. I had a couple more massages and began to
prepare mentally for the inevitable at the end of the week. I called
my pilot to sea what time I was predicting to go and the news was
revealed that I would be starting at 3.30am! I initially panicked but
then decided this was a good time and would be better to start in the
dark than finish in the dark. This week I decided I needed to go for
a couple more late night dips to acclimatise at night time. On my
last swim whilst changing on the sea front I was stopped by two
policemen which was very amusing, I explained the situation and the
wished me luck. During my training I had also received a supportive
letter from Sir Alan Massey, I was interviewed on BBC Radio Solent
and I appeared in my grandads flying news letter. Word has spread
across the world to friends and family in Norway, Austrailia,
Switzerland, South Africa, Egypt and America!
So on Thursday he 12th
September my first complete day off work. I woke up, I had a bowel of
porridge for breakfast (I never have porridge for breakfast, only on
big swim days) I didnt get out of bed until 11am I went for massage by Paul Hickman and then returned to the sofa and had another nap and did some
packing. Whilst awaiting emmerdale I decided to call Fred ( my boat
pilot) to check the situation for the weekend. His words whilst
laughing were 'it looks shit sat, shit sun, shit mon, shit tues' he
said ;it looks okay tomorrow but you live in portsmouth dont you? It
looks like we will have to go next week!' my heart sank and I started
to worry, I replied 'so baisically your saying its tomorrow or next
week?' I was thinking Is only going to get colder and I dont want to
sit around waiting. He replied 'yes' I said 'what time' he said '3am'
I said 'see you in the morning' I hung up the phone and panic
set...wow this is adrenaline...i opened the back door and hung out
the balcony, my legs like jelly and my heart racing. I called my
crew, Debbie first, I knew it would be difficult to get child care,
Eddie next he would be able to get things organised, my brother who I
had to disturb mid PT client who had to travel from London and Andrew
who had to cancel some navy training on the Isle of Wight for me!
This was closley followed by a face time call to my parents and
calls to best friends Carli-Jean and Sarah.
So everyone agreed this
was the best decision and we would proceed for 3am in the morning.
Ahhhhhh. I wrote down the first thoughts that popped into my head....
I hadnt shaved my legs yet, it would be Friday the 13th,
would there be more sea monsters, I haven't got any pasta and haven't
had tea, and I havent been to bed yet! I had a cold shower to try and
calm down and packed my bags up. I awaited the arrival of my mum, dad
and aunty Linda. I spent the next hour on the phone transferring,
holding calls, texting and and facetiming my crew, parents,
grandparents, friends and well wishers. This was the beginning of a
facebook takeover and the beginning of the end of two years training
and preparation.
My parents arrived with
pasta and chicken which I scoffed down. My mum bought chips from
round the corner because they hadnt eaten either, she returned with
£10 sponsorship! This was it now we loaded up the car and headed
over to Eddies to meet the crew. We collected, Andrew, Debbie and Dan
from the trainstation and headed in convoy to Dover. We all tried to
stay at ease with Eddie and Andrew exchanging stories and joke the
whole journey there. I tried to nod off and get a couple of hours kip
but there was no chance. We stopped at the services for coffee and
bacon butties much to Debbies delight. We put the back seat down so I
could lay back properly and I managed to get 20 mins shut eye.
We arrived at Folkestone
Harbour around 2am where we unloaded the kit and anxiously awaited
Fred and Harry (his sons) arrival. Around 30mins later Carli and
Sarah arrived bringing bundles more excitement and support. They
presented the team with T-shirts and lots of messages from back home.
10 mins later a rickety old banger pulled up with a lively, possibly
drunken Fred in. He drove up, wound he window down, mumbled something
and sped off cackling. My heart is now beating 10 to the dozen, I
need a nervous wee and am feeling very anxious. We double checked the
kit, with Eddie telling stories about where he had 'profited'
everything, I stretched, dipped my hand in the water, hugged and
kissed everyone and proceeded to load the kit onto a small rowing
boat which Fred transported us on to the support boat. Everyone waved
us off and we sang 'row row row ya boat' off into the darkness. We
stepped onto an old fishing boat, unloaded the kit and I began to
prep. I fixed up my hat and goggles, apprehenisively stripped down to
my cosie (it was cold and windy) and stood pumped with adrenaline.
Debbie and Andrew loaded me up with vaseline and attached glow sticks
and lights. This was it ahhhhhh!
The boat pulled off, it
was very unstable, very choppy and very windy and within about 30
seconds I fell over. I moved into shelter and tried to joke with Fred
acing confident and preparing mentally. We arrived at Samphire Hoe
and Harry flashed his torch onto a small stoney, very dark, very eery
part of a beach and exclaimed 'off you go then!' I hugged my brother,
pulled my goggles down, took a very deep breath and lept off the boat
into the unknown. It was freezing, very choppy and very scary. My
hand hit the floor, I stood up, cleared the water and took another
deep breath. The boat was flashing and everyone shouting 'off you go
claire' 'go claire' 'come on claire' ' you can do it'. This really
was it I wadded out through some sea weed and dove in head first.
3.44am.
I couldnt see anything
just the glow sticks on my wrists and the lights of the boat and the
shadows of my crew when breathed to the side. My heart was racing so
fast. I made I to my first feed this was at 30 minutes, I couldn't
see a thing. The crew chucked me a bottle of maxim and orange on a
piece of string, I drunk up quickly, heard plenty of words of
encouragement and swum on. The waves felt enormous, I was petrified,
I felt something hit my body which made me jump and my heart rate
shot u even higher. 2 seconds later I felt my stomach start stinging,
I popped u my head and asked 'what does a jelly fish sting feel
like?' I had been stung already, which did not set me at ease. I kept
on ploughing through what felt like tsunami waves. I knew the sun
would be rising around 6-6.30am which was around 2 hours, so I was
very aware of the time. It felt like ages and I was worried how long
I was going to be swimming for I wishing he sunrise up and wishing
the time away. As the sun rose the light on my eyes was horrible and
I could start to make things out. I kept thinking my hands were
fish/seaweed, I could make out how big the waves were and I could see
clouds, sea gulls, the boat outline and my crews faces and to my
disappointment the white cliffs behind me. However I was 2 hours
done, 3 feeds later and feeling fairly strong but aprehensive. The
next few hours seemed to drag, I spent most of the time telling
myself that I was and convincing myself I could do it. Andrew
apparently turned to the crew and said 'in my experience Claire will
have a wobbly around around 3 hours' and with that 3 hours on the
dot....(me) 'I fucking hate this, this is horrible, don't ever do
this'. A few more words of encouragement and some smiley faces and I
was off again.
Around 6 hours I was very
aware that I wanted to be half way and kept asking how how far it was
and was I on for 12-16 hours? Yes I was, I was flying at this point.
I began to feel cold and a bit emotional. I think this must have been
the point where your body starts to use fats and no carbs, I stopped
kicking and apparently looked a bit blue with very swollen eyes. I
had some warm maxim and some malt loaf and tried to pick up my speed
again. I was bored so tried to lighten the mood by playing a game.
'guess the swimmer'. 3 of the crew knew lots of members of david
lloyd and I impersonated their swimming. I also proceeded to sing the
wheels on the bus thanks to Rhys Evans for putting in my head a few
days before, and also que sera sera reminding me of my grandma.
Everytime the sun tried to peer through the clouds I strangely felt
like she watching down over me. The sea began to calm and with that
the sun came out brefly. The boat still looked very unstable and to
be glad I was relived to be in the water and not on board. Still
hating every minute of the swim I tried to look on the lighter side
and tried to focus on all the calories I would be burning. I asked
the crew 'do I look skinny yet?'. They laughed and ushered me
onwards.
Things began to get really
tough, I became emotional, doubt set in, and the waves picked up
again. I tried to focus on all my supporters, all the kids I wanted
to inspire, all the people following on the tracker, my family and
all the people I wanted to prove wrong. I could now smell bacon, I
didn't know whether this put a smile on my face or made me really
annoyed that he crew were eating, but it did seem to amuse them that
I could smell it. Having said that the crew had agreed not to eat in
front of me and they were amazing at taking I in urns o always have
someone looking down at me. They took photos, videos and shouted
plenty words of encouragement, every now again I heard bellowing from
the cabin 'come on Clairey you can do it' from Fred. He apparently
said that he knew I could it and would take about 15 hours. At this
point I was heading for a very good time and looking nearer 12,5
hours. The crew told me I was in french waters and in my head I felt
like I should nearly be there, the reality was, I was only half way.
I swam through shipping lanes that were full of rubbish and oily
waters, and I all I could smell was fumes from boat blowing in my
face, it could probably have even made me high. I passed some
enormous ships, the biggest one I saw looked more like a huge pier
than a boat. I remarked 'ooo thats a big one' and it was probably the
only boat that made me feel a tad uneasy. They felt like the were
close enough that had to slow down, obviously we would never
collide, but it felt like it.
Andrew guided me around an
enormous jellyfish, it looked liked it had dreadlocks and then
shortly after I saw a fairly small electric blue one too. The crew
thought I was seeing things, but I wasnt. So my arms are now in agony
they are killing me, I started pumping up on painkillers. My tongue
was stinging, my armpits were chaffing, the waves were growing, doubt
was high and I was crying a lot, my crew had to get me through this
next vital half hour. It was vital as at this point I was heading for
Cap Griz Nez, the shortest route from England to France, but I needed
to pick up the pace to beat the tide.
I tried, I really tried,
my arms were in agony but I increased my stroke rate above 60. the
crew could see land and began to get excited, but I just didn't feel
it. I was exhausted and in a lot of pain and just didn't feel I was
getting any closer at all. So I turned out that I actually couldn't
beat the tide and we had to start heading for a beach. I had 1 mile
to go. It felt like a lifetime. The land was just not getting any
closer. I thought it was all in my head until I was informed it took
me 3 hours to do the last mile.
I suddenly realised I was
going to make it. I gave my brother a smile and powered on, still
crying with a mixture of relief, pain, pride, enthusiasm, nerves,
adrenaline and apprehension. My arms at this point felt like they
were attached only with pieces of string and my crew were still
telling me to go faster. It was such a mix of emption at this point.
Excitement and pain, pride and nerves... was I about to actually do
this?! I had my last few feeds. I was nearly there. I was tired. I
didn't want to lift my head to see how far I had to go, I just wanted
to get there. I began to breathe about every 8 strokes because it
hurt to turn my head and I just didn't have the energy. I tried to
sprint again, it felt like I was sprinting, but I probably wasn't. I
saw Dan and Debs start to prepare to get into the water so I knew I
was super close now! They hovered on the edge of the boat with
wetsuits on and glow sticks attached as it was drawing dark again.
They both jumped over board. I think they were a bit shocked with the
conditions, Dan certainly was as he was doing head up breaststroke. I
seemed to be well in the zone to finish now, so even though I had
been swimming for well over 15 hours now I dug deep and even managed
to speed off without them. Nothing was going to stop me now so I
didnt look back once and just belined for the beach. Im sobbbing
again now, my heart racing, my arms screaming, adrenaline pumping, I
was going to do it. 800M to go, 700m to go, 600m to go, 500m to go,
400m to go, 300m to go, 200m to go...final sprint, my hand hit the
floor. I wanted to swim in far enough to make certain I would stand.
I slowly stood u, very wobbly I stumbled up the shore to clear the
water. It felt like a desserted island, I felt like I was on castaway
or something. Dan and Debbie cheered, I swore, then turned hystrical
with relief, pride and overhelmed with emotion. I did it!!! I swam
all the way to france! Next thought was I needed to find a stone, I
needed good looking trophy stone. I couldnt see anything because I
was crying so much. My brother finally reached me and gave me the
biggest hug, we both sobbed a bit more, he popped the stone in his
wetsuit and we waded back out to the sea. Yep more swimming I now
need to get back to the boat. We very slowly plodded back through the
annoying waves. The next thing that crossed my mind was that I needed
the toilet and couldn't wait to get warmed up on the boat. Little did
I know, I got pulled onto the boat and greeted with open arms, hugs,
kisses and huge smiles from my crew.
I felt incredible. Lost
for words. My crew wrapped me up and sat me down. The boat sped up
and we began the worst 3 hour boat journey I have ever been on. I
felt very cold, pumped with adrenaline, I needed to get out of the
wind, so I moved into the cabin. Fred and Harry were giving me praise
and relief set in. the boat was rocking all over the place, I started
to feel a bit dizzy I needed to lie down. I moved back outside in the
cold wind and lay down on the bench with my head on Debbies lap. I
now felt sick, 'bucket please' say hello to my protein shake. I was
sat with my head in the bucket for the next hour. This was horrible.
I was then flung of the bench onto the floor from huge waves crashing
into the boat. Eddie sat me in a deck chair with both himself and
debbie holding it down. I nodded off at upright with waves crashing
cold water down my back. We were all huddled on the boat, Debbie as
chief pillow, Eddie as chief 'peg her down' Andrew wrapped in a foil
blanket and Dan asleep. We finally arrived at Dover and the support
welcome party were in Folkestone. Thank goodness we were back on
land. We had time for a quick rinse in a warm shower, toilet break
and changed from soaking wet clothes into my wooley hat and onsie.
Within a flash 4 cars pulled up and out jumped family, friends,
balloons and banners and emotions were flying again. I dont think
there was a dry eye in sight it was electric. I hugged Fred and just
took a couple of minutes to enjoy the moment and soak up the
atmosphere, then headed off to the cottage in Dover.
When we arrived I
collapsed on the sofa had a small portion of chips and a sausage and
attempted my first cider in 10 weeks. It tasted really strong and
made me feel a tad sick and really hurt my tongue. So I took the one
sip and left it there. Emotions were still running high and I was
still In shock I actually did it, it didn't feel real. I then logged
onto my facebook and checked my phone. Wow 240 likes on one post, 280
notifications, emails, sponsorship, texts and messages. The support
was incredible and I was in floods of tears again. The words people
had written made me feel so special and loved and I couldnt believe
the commotion I had caused. My family continued to ask lots of
questions and I was very quickly ready for bed.
The next morning I felt
like I had been hit by a bus. I woke up to a picture of a ship and
waves at the end of my bed which made me chuckle. I then burst into
tears again, I couldn't believe I had actually done it. I went
downstairs, my knees hurt, my ankles hurt, I couldnt move my arms, I
had tenticle marks on my stomach, chaffed armits and nipples, a
swollen red wave battered face and worst of all a sandpaper,
ulcerated, swollen, peeling tongue. My phone did not stopp buzzing
and I was still emotional. I was starving in the morning, I polished
off half a pack of ginger biscuits a bacon and egg sandwich and two
pieces of toast for breakfast, which was probably understandable seen
as I burnt in the region of 14000 calories. Sarah had to bath me and
Carli got me dressed due to my aching immobile shoulders. We had a
very slow start to the morning as we had not gone to bed until 2.30am
and had been awake for 48 hours before oh yeah and I had swum the
channel!! We spent the afternoon shopping and did some more eating
too. I had a large chicken mcsandwich meal in mcdonalds with a side
portion of nuggets and a milkshake. Again the girls got me changed in
shops and I bought a celebration dress. In the evening we headed to
Dover to a famous pub called the white horse, where all channel
swimmers sign their names on the wall. I was officially a channel
swimmer...my name was on the wall. I had steak for dinner and treacle
pudding too. I also had 2 ciders which went down a treat compared to
yesterday, although my tongue was still very sore. Me, Carli and
Sarah popped over to the sea front briefly to take a couple of photos
whilst it was still light then headed back to the cottage to start
the real celebrations. We popped my dads 25year old champagne and
played drinking games until the early hours. After 4 ciders and some
champagne, my tongue swelled up and was now extremely painful, and
with that I dosed up on painkillers and hit the sack.
That night I did not sleep
well at all, I was very achy and very uncomfortable. I moved down to
the sofa and tried to nod off again. We got up, I was sill achy,
very tired and my tongue had now started to peel. Still feeling
emotional, still astounded with the messages of support flying in, we
packed u and headed home. I had the most fantastic weekend I never
thought I could achieve what I did.
I am a Channel swimmer.
13/09/13
I can't thank my crew, my
family and my friends enough for all their support. It means the
world to me and not words can explain how it felt on the day and
feels now.
Thank you.
Debbie Lammiman, Eddie
Seabourne, Andrew Robinson, Daniel Humphries, Sarah Roberts,
Carli-Jean Cross, Mum and Dad. All my family and friends. Love you
all X x x x
