Loch Ness, Scotland
LEARNINGS & REFLECTIONS
This journey has been full of learnings, reflections, lightbulb moments and quiet realisations; every month there's been something new. Some are big, some small, some about swim preparation and some about myself. Many insights seem quite obvious once you know them, but you wouldn't necessarily have thought of them beforehand. I've jotted down my discoveries as they've come my way, so here they are in no particular order...
MARCH 2025
Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides
1. Everything for the support boat is to be packed in sealed, labelled boxes. The swimmer’s food, water & swim items should be in a separate box to their post-swim clothing, and crew resources kept completely separate so there is no ‘rummaging/can’t find anything’ going on - especially in the dark at night.
2. The swimmer never helps load the boat, in case of last minute injury.
3. The swimmer doesn’t know they are swimming until the evening before, when the weather forecast is out and the pilot calls. Everything should be ready every day of the tide, until the call.
5. Sun lotion is applied at your accommodation before you leave (often in the middle of the night which feels weird). Channel grease is applied at the harbour/marina or on the boat prior to getting to the starting beach. Grease is more about helping with salt water chafing, and less about the cold, as many assume.
6. Swims often start between 10pm & 4am, due to tides. This means little or no sleep that night. Swimming in the dark should have been trained for, and I’m told the sunrises from water level are spectacular.
7. At night the swimmer wears 2 green lights (back of swimsuit & cap). One flashes, one doesn’t, which tells the crew which way they are facing.
8. Swimmers should train next to a boat. At water level, boats look enormous and swimmers are often freaked out, convinced the boat is about to topple on top of them.
9. Feed quickly (in seconds, not minutes). Treading water uses energy and the longer the stop, the further back the tide will carry you.
10. Your mouth can swell and become sore and your tongue can peel, due to the salt water; a dose of mouthwash can help with that and also helps you feel fresher.
11. Due to tides back & forth, the finished route is usually an S shape - or a double S if you don't land first time.
12. The swim will be disqualified if the swimmer touches any person, or the boat, even if accidentally.
13. SIPE is a potentially life-threatening condition. Nothing can prevent it. If it happens, you’re out the water and straight off to hospital. It can happen during or after the swim. Doctors often don’t know about the condition, so swimmers carry a card explaining it, in the event of admission.
14. It's all about the 'P's:
Preparation:
PreparationTraining, training, training!
Planning:
Boat, crew, training, kit, accommodation, lots of plan Bs.
Peeing:
Learn to pee while still swimming - it’s not easy!
Pooing:
Eating lots of energy food while horizontal for hours, can cause tummy upsets as digestion is hampered. If you have to go, you have to go; at least it’s warm for a few minutes! (There’s no dignity for a marathon swimmer!).
Periods:
Let it flow, but be ready for when you stand up post-swim.
Puking:
Get some sea sickness pills for before and during the swim... and keep swimming!
Poison:
Get jellyfish stung before the day. It settles your fear and checks you don't have an allergic reaction - which would be helpful to know prior to the day!
Psychology:
Mental toughness is paramount. During training sessions, ask how warm the water is today (not how cold). Imagine you are the 1970s Ready Brek man going into the water with a central heating glow around you. Talk about swimming the channel, not trying to swim it, or your channel attempt. Just decide you are doing it!
Panicking:
Adrenaline will be high, but trust your pilots & team and remember why you are here.
Playing:
The boredom of swimming for hours on end with nothing to see, watch or listen to, leads to playing mental games. Brief your crew that if you shout out “What’s a country beginning with K?’, just answer the question. Don’t ask why they want to know!
APRIL/MAY 2025
Lake Windermere, Cumbria
1. I don’t like cold water! Well that’s a bit of an inconvenience isn’t it! Some people have a naturally higher tolerance to cold water; others find it beneficial to gain some weight/body fat, which acts as a natural insulator.
2. Hypothermia is a very real concern in the English Channel; it's the single, main reason for not finishing the swim. Fat reserves help regulate body temperature so swimmers often gain 20-25+ pounds, which can really help if they're not naturally stout. While increased body fat helps insulate against the cold, too much weight can hinder performance. So it's a balancing act. In addition to OW swimming, tolerance can be aided by having colder showers/baths, turning heating lower in winter and/or dips in a cold water plunge tub. The aim is to be able to withstand cooler temperatures than usual, before the shivers set in.
3. In July the channel is colder but calmer; in September it’s warmer but choppier, which is why many people (like me) think August is the sweet spot.
4. The swell of the sea - not waves - just the swell coming from underneath you, can actually cause swimmers to become seasick - which is a problem!
5. Swims start at either Samphire Hoe (more common) or Shakespeare Beach, both just west of Dover, and finish at Cap Gris Nez (16 miles SW of Calais). If you land west of the CGN point, you have to navigate boulders to claim victory (ankles out the water) - hard when you’re so exhausted, and many struggle. East of the point, you walk (or crawl) out onto a beach, where people are often (dog) walking. A round of applause is typically on the cards, as is a glass of champagne from the beach cafe when they see you staggering out the sea. If you land in the quiet of darkness, your crew cheering from the boat are likely to be your only celebratory audience!
Samphire Hoe Beach, England
Plage du Cap Griz Nez, France
6. Swims start at either Samphire Hoe (more common) or Shakespeare Beach, both just west of Dover, and finish at Cap Gris Nez (16 miles SW of Calais).
If you land west of the CGN point, you have to navigate boulders to claim victory (ankles out the water) - hard when you’re so exhausted, and many struggle. East of the point, you walk (or crawl) out onto a beach, where people are often (dog) walking.
A round of applause is typically on the cards, as is a glass of champagne from the beach cafe when they see you staggering out the sea. If you land in the quiet of darkness, your crew cheering from the boat are likely to be your only celebratory audience!
Samphire Hoe Beach, England
7. The walls & ceiling of the White Horse pub in Dover, is covered in names, dates and swim times from channel swimmers and the pub is forbidden to redecorate over it. It’s a ‘thing’ to add your name to the frieze. I’d like to visit before 2027 to pick my spot, as another layer of intention and mental positivity. Some people who signed it years ago (when there were fewer swimmers) have been back to redo their entries in smaller writing, freeing up space for later swimmers.
8. Buoyancy is a huge problem. Salt water provides a natural buoyancy that can actually make swimming more difficult as you sort of float on top of the water. I experience a form of this when wearing a wetsuit, or even just my neoprene booties. With breaststroke, the natural technique brings your head & shoulders out the water (unlike front crawl) and with the buoyancy of neoprene bringing your bum and/or legs & feet up too, there’s a very real issue of backache from the curved shape that creates.
It happened when I swam the Lake District lakes last year, despite my wetsuit claiming to be breaststroke friendly (yes really - some brands claim neutral buoyancy for this exact purpose). Despite this, I still ended up curling into a ball several times just to relieve the backache. So the sea swims have been even worse. With salt water and a wetsuit, the bottom half of my body is far too high, and as for the neoprene booties, well my feet just rise out the water all by themselves - impossible to swim properly. The quicker I can ditch the neoprene, the better!
9. The aim when marathon swimming is to do as few strokes as possible in order to preserve energy. Which means it's all about efficiency of technique. Swimmers work tirelessly to hone their stroke for marathon swims. While I expect to be doing breaststroke, I need to improve my front crawl in case I get tired of the repetitive breaststroke movement and/or need to speed up to beat the tide.
10. I think I need a swim coach and a shorter-term goal. I feel slightly out of control and somewhat disheartened with the injuries I’ve gained, so I could probably do with some support, encouragement, motivation and a clear goal for 2025. I know I rise to goals I have in my sights; I learned that with running, but 2+ years away feels too far for my immediate focus. Let’s see what the next couple of months bring.
JUNE/JULY 2025
One Rainy Day at Trifarm, Essex
1. “The channel is only about two things: speed & luck” said the coach I never heard from again. While he didn’t become my coach, I do think it’s something worth remembering; speed to beat the tides and luck for the weather. 10 hours of glass-like sea is great, but if the wind picks up in the 11th hour, the swim can end very differently. I’m now more aware that what looks a calm sea as a passer-by, can feel quite a rough sea when swimming in it.
2. 3km an hour is the minimum speed swimmers are advised to aim for as a starting speed... which I naively/stupidly assumed meant for front crawl which is a faster stroke and what most channel swimmers use. My breaststroke is currently approximately 2.5km an hour, which I thought was pretty good, but leads me to my next learning...
3. The tide doesn’t know which stroke you’re doing!! (I honestly find this the funniest thing I've learned).
4. Swimmers often start to feel grumpy 4-6 hours into a swim. This is the start of your effort eating into your fat reserves. It’s advised to remind yourself that’s why you feel this way - rather than get despondent - knowing that in a another couple of hours that feeling will pass.
5. My Garmin sports watch doesn’t record my swim routes when it’s on my wrist. Because I do breaststroke, my hands are underwater most of the time so GPS can’t pick up the signal. I tried strapping the watch to the end of my tow float, only to find it trailed behind, underwater, or turned upside down.
So that’s why I bought a tow float with a handle; I can strap the watch to that which keeps it facing upwards. And when using my new bottle float, I fix the watch to the bottle handle. Oh the exciting things I’ve learned!
6. There are several swimmers who have completed the English Channel, then advertise themselves as a coach. I’m sure some of them may have gained additional knowledge/training and gone on to become great coaches; I’m equally sure that some know what worked for them, which doesn’t necessarily mean they’re in a good position to advise what will work best for others.
7. I’ve had cuts, burns, blisters and scars through swimsuit straps chafing, and for some reason, it’s been mainly my left side. I need to find a swimsuit that doesn’t do that. Until then, I’ve learned to put blister plasters over the area to stop further sores when swimming.
8. The EC swim incurs substantial logistical costs, totalling in the region of £10,000-15,000. Expenses include: registration fees; pilot boat; boat support crew; equipment; channel-medical; travel & accommodation for training swims in Dover and during the event - for myself and the support team; interim practice events and 2 years of channel-specific swim coaching.
9. I’m hyper-mobile! I never knew my backwards knees and twizzly, upwards elbows had a name. During my stroke assessment I learned this is actually helpful for swimming. Well, well... who knew?
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2025
1. Marathon swim-training is often measured in time, not distance. And ‘long’ swims are often split over two back-to-back days. Many channel swimmers aim for a 7 hour followed by a 6 hour sea swim on consecutive days... more than once leading up to the big day.
2. Vast expanses of water, when swimming alone, freak me out!
3. Earplugs help with managing the cold. When cold water enters the ear canal - which is close to the brain - your brain says ‘Aha, I’m getting cold; better warm up’. So it increases blood supply to that area, taking heat away from your core, making you feel chilly. Earplugs stop cold water getting too close to the brain, so heat stays at your core.
4. Many swimming earplugs are not great. Plastic ones become sore after several hours or don’t stay in; foam ones swell in the water and irritate or fall out. The best ones I found are Mack's mouldable silicone ones you can squidge in to fit your exact ear shape.
5. Swimming in a wetsuit feels like swimming in a sumo wrestler costume (especially with breaststroke). I’d forgotten how restrictive and heavy it feels on my arms, making them tire really quickly, although I will add here that some swimmers prefer being in a wetsuit, insisting it helps them swim faster (I’m guessing they’re front crawlers).
6. I’m still no good in cold water and wondering if I’ll ever be okay with it. Some open water swimmers seem fine in 15° or less (15° is officially ‘cold water’ in OW terms). Many aren’t of course; I just wish I fitted into the initial category.
7. One or two degrees up or down makes a huge difference in the feel of the water. It doesn’t always feel that way outside, as air temperature can be wind dependent too. But submersed in the water, it’s definitely noticeable. 20° feels VERY different from 17°.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2025
Loch Tummel, Scotland
1. Your core body temperature continues to cool up to 30-45 minutes after you’re out the water - which is why, when I’d finished Windermere, no longer in the water, back at my car (with thick dry robe, woolly hat, scarf, mittens & socks), with car heating and fan on maximum, I finally succumbed to full blown shivering. Once out the water, the blood circulating in your extremities - that’s become cold - returns to your core, causing it to cool even further. This effect is called Afterdrop, and can cause people to get hypothermia, even after after exiting the water when you think they’re warming up.
2. Clear goggles are needed when swimming at night/in the dark. Sounds obvious? Not when I’m packing my usual gear on autopilot. Tinted goggles are great for bright daylight and sun, acting like sunglasses, but you can’t see a thing when it’s dark! And when the swimming pool decides to dim the lights for ‘atmosphere’ late evening, when I’m mid-length... IT’S NOT HELPFUL!
3. I’m not good without a plan! Being post-Windermere, but pre-coach commencement, I’ve felt in limbo. I’m creating my own training schedule, but no idea if I’m working on the right things in the right frequency. While I know I need to work on speed, technique and cold exposure, I’m not sure if I should still be doing endurance swims too, and if so, how far/number of hours. The days of doing 4, 5 & 6 hour training swims (in August) seem long ago.
4. Face-freeze hurts! It’s a very real thing, a bit like ‘ice-cream headache’. Getting your body into cold water is one thing; getting your face in, is quite another. The skin’s cold receptors send signals to the brain, causing blood vessels in the head to rapidly contract and expand as the face is submerged. This triggers pain (stabbing, aching, numbness, tingling), and can lead to breathlessness, involuntary gasping, physical incapacitation, cardiovascular strain and panic. I own a neoprene balaclava can you believe, which actually does help with the cold around the head and face.
5. Gentlemen, this one's for you. Have either a full beard or be clean shaven. Stubble can become dry, brittle and abrasive when exposed to sea water, which strips natural oils from the body's skin and hair. Aside from that feeling irritating and uncomfortable, it can act as sandpaper, chafing the shoulders when turning the head to breathe, causing a painful rash and in some cases, raw or bleeding skin lesions. Salt water exacerbates skin sensitivity; even freshly shaven, if the stubble starts to grown back during a long swim, it can start to rub.
In contrast, a full beard acts as a natural barrier, protecting the face from jellyfish stings and UV sun rays, offers light insulation against cold water and is softer when rubbing against shoulders.
DECEMBER 2025 / JANUARY 2026
An Evening Run Near Home
The Arabian Sea from Oman
Grumbles
Grumbles
1. Training in OW temperatures of 10°C or less is pretty pointless. It's fine for well-being or fun, but no meaningful training can happen at those temperatures. An intense hour (or more) in the pool is far more beneficial and productive than a quick 15 minutes in low OW temperatures.
2. Your crew will likely notice your struggles with the cold, before you do. It’s important to brief them on the tell-tale signs - ‘The Umbles’
An approximate guide for reference...
37°C - Average normal body temperature
38°C & above - Fever
36°C & below - Hypothermia begins
Stage 1: Grumbles (Core body temp. 32° - 35°C)
Are you moaning and complaining about everything?
The swimmer experiences a negative mental outlook and shivering.
Stage 2: Fumbles (Core body temp. 28° - 32°C)
Are you playing with your goggles or swimsuit straps, procrastinating after a feed?
Fine motor skills are impaired, making it hard to use hands. Shivering continues.
Stage 3: Mumbles (Core body temp. below 28°C)
Are you mumbling, slurring words or talking gibberish?
Slurred, slow or incoherent speech. Shivering continues.
Stage 4: Stumbles (Core body temp. below 28°C)
Are you losing co-ordination, struggling with balance or keeping to a straight line?
Loss of co-ordination; inability to walk or move properly unaided. Shivering continues.
Stage 5: Crumbles (Core body temp. below 28°C)
The disorientated state you enter as you quickly go downhill towards serious harm.
Potential loss of consciousness and collapse as blood pressure drops; cardiac arrest risk.
Can no longer shiver. Severe, life-threatening emergency. Dr. Nick Murch
Grumbles
Fumbles
Mumbles
Stumbles
Crumbles
3. Choose a support swimmer with care. I asked someone at the DCT conference if they’d consider being my support swimmer (given he was totally responsible for getting me on this Channel journey 18 months ago!). But I hadn’t considered their swimming against mine. He’s a super fast front crawl swimmer, who answered “You know, it’s hard being a support swimmer”. I got the message! Given I’ll be a slower breaststroker (and even slower than slow after several hours), he would struggle to keep to my slow pace, especially as a support swimmer has to keep behind/level with the swimmer which would no doubt be frustrating for him. If he inadvertently overtook me, my swim would be void. While it’s often hard to speed up from your natural pace in sport, it’s also hard to go slower.
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2026
Lakeside Cabin, Mid-Wales
1. My front crawl is better than I thought it was, and, better than it was. I received two different compliments from strangers in the pool about my technique, which boosted my confidence. And I've definitely improved my stamina through Emma's drills.
2. Chlorine dries out my hair, skin and nails and it's not pretty. I've never noticed it before, but then I wasn't swimming 5 times a week before. I now put conditioner on my hair under my cap before I swim, I moisturise (a lot) after swims and I've had to buy nail protection oil as my hand and toe nails are splintered and frayed down to the nail beds.
3. Surprisingly, I seem to have found time for all the swims (so far). I wasn't sure I'd be able to fit in 5 a week when it was first mentioned. I'm sure there are challenges around scheduling to come, but so far so good. Fortunately, the pool I use is open early mornings until late evening and I don't have to book as is the case elsewhere. So I'm able to slot swims in between work, piano lessons, show production and life. I think the challenges will come when I'm back in open water, when lake opening times and sea tides have something to say about when I swim.
4. I need more cabin time. I loved the downtime, relaxation and 'me' time I felt at the lakeside cabin. I can't remember a time when I switched off quite so completely. Lack of tech obviously helped, but for once I wasn't living by the clock.
A friend of mine calls it 'sliding' (to the next thing)... back from the pool with 10 minutes to spare before sliding into a piano lesson; off to an appointment but must be back in time to slide into that Zoom call; the workshop is finished and there's just time to make that call before sliding into a production meeting. My life is all about what time it is.
Even as a teenager I had a packed lifestyle. Numerous times my Mum would shout after me that I'd catch my death, as I waved cheerio and peddled off to somewhere on my bike, with wet hair I hadn't had time to dry. I've always thrived on being busy and having lots to do, but as swims increase, my downtime will be even more important - not just for physical recovery, but for my sanity!