Seamus is putting together a video of the day with interviews as well but that may take some time..... SO... The boat pilot, Peter Reed, left the ball in my court as to whether i should start. Basically it was choppy and not ideal and would get worse towards the end of my swim but the forecast was for worse to come this week. If i was unable to have started this week, i would have to have waited for a spare slot in September which was just not in my plans! So - i decided to get in there, give it a shot, and put an end to my mental and physical torture of the last few months! We went out in Folkestone (not recommended!) to carboload but ended up trying to find the least dodgy cafe and had to be satisfied with a small jacket potato! After 1hr of sleep my alarm went off, which was lucky as Seamus's was set for 12.40p.m. so this may never have happened! I had a routine to run through, got ready and then met the Dream Team crew and Peter (and his son little Pete)...Within no time at all we were off towards Samphire Hoe to start the swim in the pitch black (last quarter of the moon)listening to 8 mile ('if you get one chance, would you take it or let it slide')! and the Rocky 4 training montage on my ipod. Having been very nervous a few weeks ago, i felt relatively ready and relaxed now, wanting to get in and get started... After plastering some channel grease for the chaffing from salt water (lanolin and vaseline mix) and goose fat (why not? despite it not suppose to help! - thanks Epicure) over my torso, i was told to swim to shore. This took me about 10 minutes due to tides and i just kept thinking this is the wrong direction! At last i got ashore, cleared the water, raised my hands up for the whistle signifying the start of the swim. The water seemed quite warm initially after my long water acclimitisation programme from April but that soon changed! It was absolutely pitch black and apart from the boat and the stars i couldnt see anything. They could see me as i had 3 glow sticks attached as per the picture, and i was only about 4-5 metres from the boat. At this point i thought i would share the thoughts of another attempt which started around the same time as mine - Hi Everyone, Just to update you on my 4th attempt to swim the English > Channel yesterday!!! I took a serious Butt kicking!!! I don't know if anyone else has noticed besides me but this Swimming the English Channel is Kinda Hard!!! > > I jumped in the English Channel at 3:30am to begin my swim > yesterday. I swam in the dark at first and then in the light fighting > a really strong tide pushing me sideways down the Channel and Rough, > Choppy Water!!! It never let up!!! It was Tough Conditions!!! > > I still managed to swim 6 1/4 miles in 3 hrs. The only > problem was I used alot of Energy fighting that strong cross tide and > choppy Channel conditions!!3 hrs in I got seasick despite having a seasick patch on. I started throwing up and then I started getting cold and hypothermic! > My Body was shutting down!!! No choice but to abort the swim!!! I felt the same - it was choppy,which is hard when you cant see the swell. Initially i thought the seasickness was just extreme nerves but then i realised that nerves go soon after starting an event, and these were getting worse and worse for the first 3 hours - i was not well and this lead to me feeling the cold more and more !(Sea temperature at this point was 13.8degrees although rose to a max of 17.4 near France). As Charlie had told me to do, i just kept saying 'this is warm, this is warm, this is warm, lucky danny' which helped despite the demons trying to get in with you must be kidding - you are freezing up here! I was very tempted a few times to call it a day and wait for better conditions with those demons spurring me on to have a nice cup of tea with my crew on the boat and be back in bed within an hour! Such a battle but i managed to get over this dodgy spell and see an amazing red sunrise. Hours 4-8 went pretty well from what i can remember through English waters, the English Channel lane and the separation Zone. Soon after entering the French shipping lane i came across a load of jellyfish for about 30 minutes. Really pretty things when you know they are far enough away not to bother you! lots of colours and sizes. At one point i felt as though i was playing dodgems with them as i was having to actively avoid them one by one but luckily no stings. THe feeds seemed to be going well and although my shoulders were naturally tired, this was something i was expecting to have to fight through and my stroke felt strong. I had a quick couple of hours from 8-10 hrs in, helped for one by Martin who came in to swim with me, which made me feel confident as the French coast was getting larger during this. The sun stopped though to leave a massive downpour for a little while but that doesnt bother someone who cant get any wetter! I started to get some cramps in my hamstrings, calves and thighs at this point which was pretty new to me as i had hardly had any during the training. I changed stroke to breastroke for a minute each time which seemed to help... as i did when i took on too much sea water at one time! At 11 1/2 hrs i was told i had to speed up if i wanted to hit the Cap Gris Nez (shortest route - the coast drops away quickly each side to increase the distance) and from then on, i was given less food and drinks and spurred on to sprint all the time! This was never ending although the land was in sight i didnt seem to move as the currents were strong against me and the waves/swells were picking right up.It felt like i was needing to sprint for 4 hrs non stop after having swum over 11 hours.. Apparently the day started as a 4 on the wind scale, went to 3 for a few hours, then up to 5 and touched 6 towards the end(according to my crew). Here is the summary of what that means - 3 = Gentle breeze 12–19 km/h (3-5 m/s) 0.5–1 m Large wavelets. Crests begin to break; scattered whitecaps Leaves and small twigs constantly moving, light flags extended. 8–12 mph 2.5–3.5 ft 3.4–5.4 m/s 4 = Moderate breeze 20–28 km/h (6-8 m/s) 1–2 m Small waves with breaking crests. Fairly frequent whitecaps. Dust and loose paper raised. Small branches begin to move. 13–17 mph 3.5–6 ft 5.5–7.9 m/s 5 = Fresh breeze 29–38 km/h (8.1-10.6 m/s) 2–3 m Moderate waves of some length. Many whitecaps. Small amounts of spray. Branches of a moderate size move. Small trees in leaf begin to sway. 18–24 mph 6–9 ft 8.0–10.7 m/s 6 = Strong breeze 39–49 km/h (10.8-13.6 m/s) 3–4 m Long waves begin to form. White foam crests are very frequent. Some airborne spray is present. Large branches in motion. Whistling heard in overhead wires. Umbrella use becomes difficult. At the end it certainly felt like a 6 whether it was or not, and i seriously thought the pilot might call it off if i didnt make progress. I didnt follow the boat at this time as i thought the boat was being blown off course away from the headland whereas i was countering it - in reality the boat knew the tides, i didnt and wasnt thinking straight, and i was being sucked along the coast by the tides about to miss the headland.... it took all i had, and i really was running on empty for hours, singing there's no easy way out from the Rocky 4 soundtrack, to make it through and just get to the headland. French land... what a feeling! 15 hours 30 minutes officially. I was pretty emotional at a few points when Seamus was showing me large pictures of Bertie with 'come on Daddy' on etc realising how proud she would be in the future. That spurred me on a lot. I was very emotional when i had cleared the treacherous rocks to hear the finishing whistle from the observer, Steve. BUT then... i got home and turned on my phone - i have never been so emotional bar getting engaged and the day Bertie was born - due to the level of support. I had no idea. Seamus could only put a few texts up as they came in so fast and he had other 'jobs' to do and ways to motivate me. I received over 500 texts from over 100 different people with reports of at least 8 offices effectively all following my progress as well as some radio 2 listeners (as Chris Evans mentioned it - thanks Ash :)). Amazing support, and i broke down just realising, not only the size of the challenge and end to an amazing period of my life, but the level and quality of friends out there. People went out of their way for me and that meant so so much more than words can say. It is hard to thank everyone at this stage although i will aim to over the coming weeks. The initial list has to include - MY Crew, Dad and Bernard- obviously - so much hard work. I would never have made it without their support, persistence and focus. My mum for her hard work in preparing everything and all the support photos etc (she knows!)... Martin for swimming with me when times were tough. You were there to experience what i went through, the toughness of conditions, the jellies etc Seamus - for keeping track of the day, really motivating me and watching over me all the time which makes a real difference when you are in there alone. Charles - amazing levels of information and support for me in the past few months. You went well beyond helpful and i am so grateful. Other past channel swimmers - nothing is too much and it is a wonderful community to be among. Joycie - helping me with putting on weight and turning me away from my Chimp instincts when i was suffering mentally at the last hurdle of training. Shame you couldnt be there on the day. Laura,Liz, Ian for swimming with me. Martin again for training with me. Alex for taking me out on his boat and keeping an eye on me to give me some feel to choppy waters. Andy for making the effort to see me off from Samphire Hoe despite missing each other! Pilot Pete and pilot Little Pete for their friendliness, professionalism and general attitude and experience. MOST of all - my loving wife, George and daughter Bertie. I know i have had to change my life to make this a success and i aim to make up for any lost time now. She has been very tolerant of a very demanding training schedule and supportive all the time through my ups and downs. Also, for her amazing blogging on the day despite her worries... If i have missed anyone out - i will definitely add this in when i have more time to run through this and my notes made immediately afterwards. SO - no challenges for a while... I had put on exactly a stone for this challenge to counter the cold so have to lose that. Charlie Noble lost 16 lbs during his Channel swim last year so i thought losing the weight wouldnt be a challenge - so i weighed myself this morning and i have lost NO lbs - yes that is right none.. so that is my next challenge.. lose a stone! I AM A CHANNEL SWIMMER, a very exclusive club, and i am over the moon. if i can ever be of help to anyone in this endeavour, then please let me know. PICTURES include night swimming, dream team crew, i will add others and some videos later on including battered and beaten me with Seamus and little Pete at the end.. i really do look like i have been in the ring with Tyson!
