I have been really gone and done it this time!
Having survived my swim across the Solent to the Isle of Wight last Summer, you might of thought that I had the sense to put my trunks back in the drawer, and left them there until holidays....but no! Encouraged and inspired by my family and by the lads and lasses at Malmesbury Marlns ASC where I help out a couple of times a week poolside, I have been really gone and done it this time!
The BIG one! The English Channel!
With a trial weekend in the cold waters off Dover back in September and more recently a full medical both completed, I'm committed to swimming from Dover to France in a relay team of six people. There will be six teams swimming at the same time - not a race but a wee bit of competition does seem likely! At its very shortest it is at least twenty two miles from Dover to Calais, but it could be much longer if we miss the tide on the other side. All Channel swims follow an "S" course as the tides carry the swimmers up and down the Channel but missing the tide can add another long dogleg to the task. We will be attempting our crossing sometime in late-August - the exact date depends on the sea and weather conditions so we have a week-long "slot" to go for it.
We each will swim for one hour in a strict rotation - once we have started we cannot change the sequence or "fill in" if anyone in our team simply can't go on. If anyone does have to stop then we will be disqualified and will all have failed in our challenge so, when we are hanging over the lee rail of the support boat and they say it is our turn in ten minutes, I guess the men will separate from the boys and the feisty women from the girls. So, the first two rotations will be OK- even fun - but the third, after twelve to eighteen hours on the small support boat, will be tough. I'm prone to sea sickness too! Lummy! We could take anything between fourteen to twenty-plus hours to complete the challenge.
The sea temperature is expected to be around 16C/61F, surrounded by jellyfish, in pouring rain and rough seas, dodging tankers!
So, I beg you good folk to sponsor me - I have to raise a minimum of £1,350 to make the swim viable. Once again, here is the place to go to sponsor me - and don't forget to tick the "Gift Aid" box as that will allow Diabetes UK to recoup the basic rate tax you will have already paid of your donation. You do need to be aware that not only may we fail due to human weakness, if for example one of us is finding feeding the fishes more alluring than another hour of tough swimming in rough seas, but the weather and sea conditions may be so bad for the whole of our week-long "slot" that we simply cannot start, let alone complete, our swim.
We are all now training hard and this entails many, many lengths in the pool, with frequent hour-long swims in unheated seas and lakes, where the temperature is still only around 12C/54F. So, even if in the event "force majeur" stops us from making the crossing, your sponsorship will still have been for something pretty demanding.
Diabetes UK require us to raise £1,000 by Friday 22nd June, with the remainder by mid-September, so - please - do respond to this my simple plea. The work of Diabetes UK saves lives and greatly improves the quality of life for the many thousands who suffer from the disease.
I do hope you will feel able to support me in this challenge. My best wishes to you all.
The BIG one! The English Channel!
With a trial weekend in the cold waters off Dover back in September and more recently a full medical both completed, I'm committed to swimming from Dover to France in a relay team of six people. There will be six teams swimming at the same time - not a race but a wee bit of competition does seem likely! At its very shortest it is at least twenty two miles from Dover to Calais, but it could be much longer if we miss the tide on the other side. All Channel swims follow an "S" course as the tides carry the swimmers up and down the Channel but missing the tide can add another long dogleg to the task. We will be attempting our crossing sometime in late-August - the exact date depends on the sea and weather conditions so we have a week-long "slot" to go for it.
We each will swim for one hour in a strict rotation - once we have started we cannot change the sequence or "fill in" if anyone in our team simply can't go on. If anyone does have to stop then we will be disqualified and will all have failed in our challenge so, when we are hanging over the lee rail of the support boat and they say it is our turn in ten minutes, I guess the men will separate from the boys and the feisty women from the girls. So, the first two rotations will be OK- even fun - but the third, after twelve to eighteen hours on the small support boat, will be tough. I'm prone to sea sickness too! Lummy! We could take anything between fourteen to twenty-plus hours to complete the challenge.
The sea temperature is expected to be around 16C/61F, surrounded by jellyfish, in pouring rain and rough seas, dodging tankers!
So, I beg you good folk to sponsor me - I have to raise a minimum of £1,350 to make the swim viable. Once again, here is the place to go to sponsor me - and don't forget to tick the "Gift Aid" box as that will allow Diabetes UK to recoup the basic rate tax you will have already paid of your donation. You do need to be aware that not only may we fail due to human weakness, if for example one of us is finding feeding the fishes more alluring than another hour of tough swimming in rough seas, but the weather and sea conditions may be so bad for the whole of our week-long "slot" that we simply cannot start, let alone complete, our swim.
We are all now training hard and this entails many, many lengths in the pool, with frequent hour-long swims in unheated seas and lakes, where the temperature is still only around 12C/54F. So, even if in the event "force majeur" stops us from making the crossing, your sponsorship will still have been for something pretty demanding.
Diabetes UK require us to raise £1,000 by Friday 22nd June, with the remainder by mid-September, so - please - do respond to this my simple plea. The work of Diabetes UK saves lives and greatly improves the quality of life for the many thousands who suffer from the disease.
I do hope you will feel able to support me in this challenge. My best wishes to you all.