1) Start With The End In Mind

Overview

In only 30 months time, it could all be over. Whether that comes in the form of success, an attempt, or - and let’s be honest here - non-achievement. And I say could be over and not will, because that depends on the Dovercoaster.

I’m talking of course, about swimming the 21 miles of the English Channel; the Dover Strait; the stretch of water between Dover and Cap Gris Nez; the shortest distance between England and France.

• Approx. 300 people attempt the channel every year.

• Approx. 60-65% of those succeed.

• As a  comparison, approx. 850 people summit Mount Everest yearly.

• 1,881 people have swum the channel to date.

• 12,884 people have climbed Everest.

As I begin these writings I’m booked to swim the Channel sometime between 9th & 15th August 2027 - a neap tide - slot 2 - with the boat Sea Satin, skippered by Lance Oram.

• The average time to complete the swim is 13.5 hours.

• The average age of swimmer is 35½.

• The most common stroke used is front crawl.

I am well over that age and hope to complete most, if not all, of the swim using breaststroke, a naturally slower stroke. So I’m older and I’m slower, and at this stage (2+ years away) I anticipate my swim may take me around 20-22 hours.

I’m considering my training as officially starting on 1st April 2025, which gives me 28 months to improve my technique, pace and cold water tolerance.

The Decision & Story So Far

2024

Jan-Mar: Lots of sitting with my broken ankle in a boot. Running was out so instead, I impulsively booked 3 Lake District swim challenges for later in the year: Coniston; Ullswater; Windermere - organised by Chillswim.

April: The boot is off! Back to running - finished my 12 triathlons in 12 months with 2 days to spare. I'd done 8 in 8 months, broken my ankle on the eve of number 9; had 3 months off in the boot, so completed the 12 by doing one a week during April (when the doctor had said I could start running again), finishing 2 days before my first one. OK so the last four were mini super-sprints to not overdo the ankle, but nevertheless, it's a recognised distance and it ticked off my goal.

I also looked for places to swim for longer than my local pool allowed. My search found an endless pool not too far away, owned by Nick Murch (& family), who happened to have swum the Channel. On hearing it had been a childhood ambition for me, he said ‘So stop dreaming about it and just book it’, which played on my mind long after I left him.

I researched the English Channel swim whimsically and learned the first thing you have to do is book a pilot boat - and they get booked 2-3 years in advance. Hmm ok, that's interesting...

May: My local lake reopened for spring and I started my 2nd year of open water swimming there on a Wednesday evening. I also found a different (bigger) lake where I went Saturday mornings.

Part impulse, part curious, part interested, I contacted all 6 CSA pilot boats, not even sure myself whether I was serious or not. Most said they weren't yet open for 2027 bookings. I admit I didn't contact CS&PF boats, mainly because Nick had talked about the CSA and how they were the original officiating body , so I had a bit of a blinkered view that IF I did it, I'd want to go with them. And that was a very big 'if'!

Joined Dover Channel Training (DCT) for information and resources, and bought the Channel Swimming Association (CSA) Handbook.

Attended 6 webinars hosted by Chloe McCardel ‘Queen of the Channel’ who has swum it 44 times. What! Why?!

22 Jun: Coniston end-to-end: 5.25 miles. It was a super sunny day; I loved every minute and finished in 4 hours 8 mins (breaststroke).

13 Jul: Ullswater end-to-end: 7.5 miles. A very different kind of day - cold and windy (spectators were wearing down jackets and woolly hats... in July!). Numerous swimmers complained of feeling cold from early on. There was a north wind which meant battling choppy waves smashing into your face as we swam south to north.

Ullswater is deep and known to be one of the coldest lakes in the Lake District, and the cold wind on an already cold, wet face didn't help. My swimming was slow against the wind and I got cold to the core as time went on. Then the shivers set in and I knew that was it. I bailed out shivering uncontrollably at mile 6 after 5 hours 34 mins, just 1.5 miles from the end.

31 Aug: Windermere end-to-end: 11 miles. A perfect day - calm and sunny. While longer than Ullswater, the weather gave me hope and optimism. The first half of the swim went really well; the water was calm and I was fine.

The only issue with organised events, is that they implement cut-off points at certain miles along the route and me being a breaststroker, am slower than many. The cut-offs for this event were at miles 5, 8 & 10. I got through the 5 mile point with time to spare, but as time went on, while I knew I'd be through mile 8 in time, I knew I'd have less of a cushion for reaching mile 10 and may not make it. So at mile 8, I decided to speed up. And that's when it all went wrong.

Putting on speed, tired me even more than an 8 mile swim already had, and after another half a mile, I was starting to shiver (linked to tiredness). Oh no, not again! Shivering is the first sign of hypothermia which is a real consideration for open water swimmers, and you can't come back from it without warming up - which you're not going to do while still in the water of course! So once again, I had to bail out, this time at mile 9 after 7 hours, 40 mins.

Sep & Nov: Contacted the 6 CSA pilot boats again. One offered a slot but didn’t receive my reply accepting it, so I lost that one. The others were still not open for 2027.

2025

1 Mar: One pilot boat lost; 3 others not yet open & 1 not replying. Stayed up until 00.01 past midnight to apply to the 6th boat who opened their 2027 books on 1 March. Didn’t get a slot!

8 Mar: Attended the DCT conference in Maidstone. There were many speakers on lots of varied subjects and I learned loads. All very exciting!

Two people there suggested I try Lance Oram (from CS&PF) for a boat as he had supported slower swimmers in the past. I hadn’t tried any CS&PF boats as I'd been hoping for a CSA one.

17 Mar: Contacted Lance Oram about his boat Sea Satin (CS&PF).

Lance offered 5 slots to choose from. Blimey! This suddenly felt very real. Was I actually going to do this? Did I really want to commit to a boat? Did I truly think I could swim the English Channel? What had started as a bit of curious fun with no real commitment attached, suddenly took on a very serious feel. So I gave it a great deal for thought - for about 10 minutes - before replying with my preferred dates!

19 Mar: Boat booking confirmed! ‘Wow! I’ve got a boat’, very quickly turned to ‘Oh sh*t! I’ve got a boat'!

25 Mar: Booking deposit paid.

I HAVE A BOAT!

And now the real work begins!

Onwards & forwards...

What have I learned over the last year?