We started our endeavours at 6.50 am from Shakespeare beach, outside the harbour wall in Dover. The conditions were excellent for swimming; the waiting had paid off.
Dom put down a healthy first leg (we were doing 2 hour stints) and the first changeover went well. As we got well offshore it became apparent that the tide was running much stronger than expected.
After settling into a comfortable rhythm, Hamish suffered from an unconscious bout of homesickness and slowly peeled away from the boat, performing a 150 yard dash in a large arc that left him aiming for the white cliffs once again. This despite the best efforts of the crew to whistle him back. On realising his mistake, Hamish sheepishly paddled back to the boat to incur the wrath of the pilot. Not an activity to repeat.
Interestingly many swimmers fail because they keep swimming in circles. This seems a ridiculous thing to do, but the sea can be very disorienting (as demonstrated by Hamish's adventure) when the only sight ahead is a great expanse of blue. This combined with exhaustion and hypothermia can severely impair your ability to do the simplest of things.
As the tide turned and pushed us east, we began to make steady progress. Re-warming and feeding after each leg was essential to the success of the swim. Our erstwhile support crew of Angela and Nigel Reid (parents) and Guy (Dad) and Anna (wife) Jones were instrumental in getting us dried off and warmed up. The repeated exposure makes a 2 man swim particularly demanding as your core temperature drops dramatically on leaving the water.
Time saw us make our way into the shipping lanes. We were amazed at how busy they were. One colossal tanker passed about 150ft away across our bows – a bit close for comfort. In the water the challenges continued as Hamish swam through shoals of jellyfish (one of which had the cheek to sting him) and Dom repeatedly got himself wrapped in long strands of weed.
All seemed to be going well until 8 hours in, when our pilot projected our likely course on the chart and let us know that he was firmly of the opinion that we would miss Cap Gris Nez and have to swim for at least 24 hours. He made it clear he would not hesitate to pull us out of the water in the name of safety should this happen.
So as the tide turned and we started heading east once again we had to really start putting in the effort. It was time for all the training to start paying off. We had the added motivation of proving the skip wrong.
Things were very much touch and go as we swam into the final section of the eastern leg. Darkness set in and Hamish swam to within 1.5 miles of Cap Gris Nez when the tide turned once again. The roving light of the lighthouse on the point was very disorienting in the water, but the proximity inspired a massive effort, picking the stroke rate up by 20%.
Channel swimming is a cruel game. Never more so than when you're nearly a mile from shore, but the tide turns to thrust you back out into the channel. This process had begun for us.
Undaunted, but under the ever more pessimistic eyes of the pilot, we dug deep and managed to push ourselves out of the strong tide into the lee of the point. After further analysis of the charts and navigation equipment, it became apparent that Dom was going to make it to t
he French coast by around midnight.
We both made the trip to the beach and can assure you there is not much like the feeling of bouncing a limb off the sandon a pitch black beach in Northern France.
Invasion complete, we took a few French hostages and hopped into a dinghy to be ferried back to the boat, where we found the crew bleary eyed from the long crossing.
The ecstasy we experienced on completing the crossing is impossible to describe. After months of training and the incredible support that we have received from so many people, we were simply overwhelmed to have upheld our side of the bargain.
The swim was a great success, which was made possible only by the huge amount of support that we received throughout our journey. Amongst the many that we are indebted to, we cannot thank enough those who have been there to enable our training swims (Ma and Da Reid; Mrs. J; Pappa Jones & Jennifer; Bobbie T; Dave, Emily, Henry and Gilonne; Rach; the Sheldons and a multitude more), those wise heads on Dover beach whose encouragement was unflinching (the General, Dave & Ev, the Shingle Stomper, Irene and the paddlers) and the support crew
on the Big Swim itself.
We are also supremely grateful to all those of you who have been so generous in your donations. We are staggered by the running total, which is now in excess of £17,000, and are genuinely touched that a cause very close to our hearts has resonated with so many others. We know that the recipients are already putting the proceeds to very good use.
They have done it. The months of pies, loitering around Hampstead Heath pools and spending far too much time talking about speedos have paid off. The boys have just completed their cross channel swim and are dragging themselves onto a dark French beach somewhere. Congratulations!!!!!!!!!
At 06.50 this morning with lashings of vaseline fully applied Dom entered the water....and the swim began. Reports after 30 minutes of swimming were that he was doing well and spirits on the boat are high. Fingers crossed. More news soon...
All going swimmingly. Hamish's bulging belly has taken the plunge and he showed strong form...once he had started swimming towards France rather than back towards the white cliffs. The route has taken our intrepid swimmers into a shipping lane, a move that saw Dom encounter a tanker. The tanker came off worse and the swimmers crawl ever closer to France.
News just in from the boat reports that progress has slowed a bit due to strong tides. Jellyfish and seaweed are further hampering efforts but the boys are battling on. Hamish is being warmed up after his second dip and Dom has taken over on his third leg. Almost halfway...
After 10 hours of swimming the boys are still doing well with Dom currently taking the strain. They are earning their sponsorship though, battling strong tides that are threatening to jeopardize the invasion. It seems that if Cap Gris Nez is missed on this leg the swim is likely to be in excess of 24 hours.
All continues to go well out at sea but fingers are still crossed as to whether they will make it on the next tide turn. The lights have just gone on aboard the boat and the sea is flat and calm so looking good. Spare them a thought while you enjoy your Friday night drink!
The guys are 1.5 miles off Cap Gris Nez and the tide has turned sweeping them up the coast. Nervous times but the French should be wary...they are getting close and preparing to raid les supermarches to restore fat lost at sea. Lock up the cheese Pierre!
Dom has just gone back in for the final push across the tide. Hopes are high that they will have the French sand between their toes in about an hour. Hope they took their passports...cavity searches would be an unwelcome end to the challenge!
Our Swim is confirmed for tomorrow morning. We are to meet at the boat at 6am.
The week has been long and perilous.
We are champing at the bit to get swimming. This opportunity has been a very long time coming and facing up to the possibility that we might not get a chance to swim has been particularly tough. Fortunately the weather has calmed and we have been given a chance.
We shall try and keep this blog updated throughout the day tomorrow with news on our invasion of France.
We have been in touch with our pilot this morning and are
pleased to report that he has put us on standby for Friday morning. He is taking another swimmer
this evening who is attempting a two way crossing.
The current
forecast for Friday is good. We are encouraged by this, but given the familiar discrepancy between
the MET office and the weather Gods we shall not yet count our chickens.
Yesterday was another very unsettled day. Winds continued to batter the coast and whip up the sea.
Today, however, we are able to report some encouraging news.
We have woken to a gentle breeze. We hope that this is the start of the forecast high pressure system
expected to settle over the South East for a few days.
For the channel swimmer, high pressure means settled weather and gentle seas.
The sun continues to elude
us, but this is not of swimming significance (although our support team contest this issue!).
So today shall be another based in our luxurious ‘fixey’, but spirits
are up as we are beginning to believe that we might indeed be able to at least start the Big Swim
before our tide is out.
News
from our pilot regarding tomorrow is currently awaited…
Winds continue to batter the coast. The sea has been more white than green today.
Frustrated by kicking our heels up on the cliff tops we headed down to the harbour to join the Channel General and the rest of the channel swimming fraternity. No sooner had we shown our faces than the General sent us in for a sharp two hours.
We were both relieved to get back in the water, and after a couple of cycles in the washer we emerged coated in a familiar layer of murk, and feeling better about the waiting game.
The sea will not be settled enough for a swim tomorrow, but the forecast suggests that things should improve by Tuesday or Wednesday.
As planned we have made our way to Dover in preparation for
the Big Swim.
We know of only one swimmer who attempted to swim today. The seas
were still heavy
and he had to turn back
after 8 hours due
to exhaustion and sickness.
We shall not
attempt to swim tomorrow as the wind is expected to increase.
Our pilot hopes
we may be able
to swim on Monday.
He shall make the call at midday tomorrow…
Training took us back to the solent for our final team training session.
Plans of an 8 hour relay swim in the high seas were curtailed by the ferocity of mothernature. High winds that have stopped all channel swim attempts for the last week banished us to the relative tranquility of Newtown creek. Arguably we got wetter on the sail to Newtown than we did swimming when we got there.
The swim ended up being a good one though, under the close scrutiny of the local birdlife. We felt the weight of the inquisitive gaze of the many Terns, whilst two black backed guls almost frightened Hamish out of his smugglers as they swooped less than an arms length from his head. Clearly attracted by the yellow hat these birds are remarkably big at close quarters.
Persistent force seven winds provided our bellies with an excellent opportunity to practice digesting salt water; a factor only soothed by the judicious distribution of malt loaf by Team Reid.
Nerves aside, we now feel in a good position to take on the swim, but the weekend has highlighted how vulnerable our efforts are in the face of the elements.
News has arrived from over thepond. The aforementioned Dordogne based wing of our fundraising department have smashed their way into our financial records with a tremendously successful fundraising day.
They raised was a staggering 2000 Euro.
Rumour has it that activities included baguette fighting, garlic crushing, beret tossing, stripey pant wearingand snail eating.
We are enormously grateful to Alison and Alan (the in-laws) for masterminding the day and to all of the Rosbifs and Frogslegs who donated so very generously. Photos of the day have made their way through the channel tunnel:
This weekend marked a significant point in our training - the last time we shall go to Dover before the Big Swim.
Hamish will not miss the gruellingcommute from Bristol to Dover. Neither of us shall miss the 5 O'Clockstarts.
We were joined in the grey and rain by Pappa Jones and Si "The Original Fat Boy" Bennet. Guy marshaled the essential feeding duties whilst Si stood in with some generous lubing.
The concurrent Dover Regatta saw some heavyweights of the swimming world put us to shame. The magnificent Newfoundland Dog Team displayed their rescuing prowess, dragging 10 bodies out of the sea on a single rope. We developed canine jealousy of their webbed feet and rugged coats.
Most importantly we were signed off by the Channel General as being ready to swim. Her advice to us:
Les amis du quatre-pied have been busy in la belle France.
Madame et Monsieur Phillips, Dom's in-laws who dwell across the Channel, and their band of merry rosbifs are anticipating our arrival on their shores with a bonanza of epic proportion.
On 1 August, they will gather chez Phillips for an afternoon of tomfoolery en Francais. We hear that Alison has been working her socks off to gather in the punters with promises of a gargantuan feast, a raffle and a swimming relay to rival the Big Swim.
We are very grateful
for all their support from across the seas. Look out for photos soon!
We are steadily developing our repertoire of destinations swum.
Our shoulders are currently feeling the strain with one of Dom's being particularly naughty. We have both been on visits to the physio who has spanked them back into shape.
Our Challenge of the week was to swim around the Isle of Wight. Our attempt was spearheaded by Nigel and Angela Reid (parents of the aquaquadruped) and facilitated by Mrs Jones, Miss Sanger and significantly the Sheldon family who generously lent us the good ship Icepops. Our plan was to swim the 64 mile circumference in 4 legs over the week.
Dom started events in the Solent on Monday, racing off the mark with the flooding tide. He powered his way past Hurst Castle and tucked into Alum Bay before building up the courage to "thread the needles". We were all made to feel very small as Dom charged his way between the great chalky pillars. 3 hours into the swim Hamish plopped in and began the arduous journey down the 'Back of Wight'. With few landmarks to break the swim time passed very slowly, but steady progress was made and, as evening drew in, the sea settled to a wondrous calm and a school of fish frolicked playfully across Hamish's bows. A halt was called in the evening after 8 hours of swimming and we sped back to the mothership for feeding and sleep.
The tides on Tuesday necessitated an early start, and we had to change our plans for the day due to adverse weather forecasts. Sadly this was a taster of things to come. The day saw us swim from Bembridge to Cowes and we were challenged by a progressively strengthening wind a concoction of scum, weed and other nasties floating their way out of Southampton water.
By Wednesday the wind was approaching gale force and the sea was whipped to a frenzy so we called a rest day and focused on feeding our hungry bellies and resting our aching shoulders. On Thursday we managed to complete the Solent leg of the swim, but winds were still too strong on Friday to head around to the back of the Wight again and we decided to attempt a double Solent crossing. This was narrowly thwarted by the biggest seas we have encountered to date, but the two hours we each spent swimming in strong winds and breaking waves will prove vital when it comes to dealing with what the Channel may throw at us.
The week has brought home how much you are at the mercy of the conditions when attempting big sea swims. Despite not quite swimming all the way around the island, the week has taught usinvaluable lessons for the Big Swim.
We would like to thankTeam Reid and Mrs Jones for their tremendous support, without which we would not have got anywhere.
The now familiar Dover Harbour played host to our first open water race (and Hamish's first race ever) this weekend.
Sixty competitors from around the globe lined up for the three event extravaganza, pitting themselves against one another and the elements. The day was made up of races over 5 mile, then 3 mile then 1 mile - all in quick succession.
Pre match nerves were running high between the two of us as we were genuinely worried that we would not be able to finish all three, but these were quickly set aside as we found ourselves wrestling our way to the first buoy amongst the churning of many arms.
Cold but satisfied, we dragged ourselves out (some sooner than others) after the 5 miler to the welcomeattendance of Anna and Anna who dried us off and poured hot chocolate down our throats. All swimmers will tell you that having a support team to supervise your re-warming is of fundamental importance to all cold water swimming as the conditions incapacitate you.
The 3 miler came all too soon - this, the most feared of the three races, lived up to it's billing and was a real
struggle. Nevertheless we made it back to the beach and focused hard on re-warming for the final push. Despite falling well short of our desired notch on the thermostat we plunged in for a final lap to complete what was a great day, and get out reveling in the fact that we were not going to have to subject ourselves to another session.
Highlights of the day were finishing, not coming last, getting lapped on lap 2 of 5 (Hamish), meeting Mike Read (previous King of the Channel) and our superb support team.
We have mentioned in previous blogs that we have been training in Dover. What takes us to Dover is the official channel swim training, bossed by the Channel General herself; Freda Streeter.
Those even remotely familiar with channel swimming will know the name Streeter. Freda's daughter Alison is a living legend in channel swimming with a record 43 crossings under her belt - including 3 two-ways and 1 three-way! We have been fortunate enough to meet Alison and she is as friendly and unassuming as all true heroes are.
So we go down to the beach at the weekends and Freda sets us our task for the day along with the 30 to 50 other swimmers. What she says goes and those attempting to get out early without a good excuse (such as a missing limb or sudden blindness) are summoned to explain themselves.
The collective channel swimming wisdom is supreme and the advice we have received invaluable. There is a great team who are down every week helping the swimmers, including Barrie who is chiefly responsible for the lavish application of Vaseline to all swimmers who need it!
This weekend Freda upped the bar to 4 hours. To say that our swims were tough would be understating the penetrating abilities of the cold. It is something we have to become accustomed to and in the words of the General "The road to success is always under construction".
Hamish went for a jaunt to Guernsey whilst Dom battled it out in Dover. The plan was a training swim from Guernsey to Sark with a friend called Tom Beaver. Tom is attempting the "Arch to Arc" this summer - a truly colossal challenge (see his website here).
The swim was 8 miles as the crow flies and took a bit under 4 hours with the help of the tide. The day was a great success and an excellent taster of what the Big Swim shall offer up.
A bank holiday paddling off the Wight taught us a lesson in navigating through seaweed. Throughout the weekend we felt the cold pretty badly and disappointed ourselves with no more than 1.5 hours in the drink. We know this is not good enough.
This weekend we attempted our first crossing of the Solent.
Since there is still a bit of a nip in the sea we decided to do this attempt in our wetsuits. This is a decision that we subsequently paid for with our neck skin.
We were blessed with perfect conditions for the attempt, which was made possible by an heroic support team aboard "Ashers II" skippered by the wily sea fox Dave Coke.
We started out from Keyhaven and soon found ourselves whisked into the middle of the solent by a fair tide. After no time at all it seemed that Fort Victoria was within touching distance and it all seemed rather too easy.
As the flooding tide took over we suddenly found ourselves crabbing our way towards the needles and certain doom, but with encouragement from the team continued to plod on in the hope that we might get to the shore before the channel.
Fortunately after a good deal of hard swimming we made it to the shelter of Colwell bay and managed to make our way ashore to the bemusement of some die hard sun-worshippers and some enthusiastic crabbers.
In all the crossing took 1hour 40 mins and was possibly 3 to 4 miles, but we're not exactly sure about this.
We are enormously grateful to our support team, in particular Dave and Ashers II. The crossing has highlighted how vital a good support team is to a big sea swim.
During the trip our nourishment was monitored and administered by the renowned nutritionistEmily Measor; navigation through the treacherous waters was masterminded by Henry "the sextant" Marsh; Rob Tyrrell took some time out from the olympic team to coach both in and out of the water; whilst Gilonne Traub took general responsibility for the smooth running of things and added some vital French flair to the effort.
Although pleased with this achievement, swimming for ten times as long with no wetsuits on is starting to intimidate us...
Hamish is winning in the overall weight gain stakes, tipping the scales at a gargantuan 14 stone these days.
Dom remains a few kgs lighter (mainly due to his chicken legs) but is pleased to be sporting a shapely corporate belly in keeping with his new corporate lifestyle.
It has been a big month for the big swim.The realisation that our channel attempt is now less than six months away has jolted us from our contented stupor of over-eating.
Having manned-up since January, we are pleased to report that during our Easter training bonanza we exposed our bare flesh to icy open water.Howling north-easterly gales and the windmilling arms of your striving BigSwimmmers whipped the seas off North Cornwall into a frenzy.
Our efforts failed to raise the temperature, which stubbornly hovered below 11°C.Twenty-five minutes in the icy drink numbed our pink bits and sent sharp pains shooting through our skulls.Hamish went purple.
Our appetites for distance in the pool are growing along with our appetites for fat on the plate.We laid down a strong 4.5km swim in London, a milestone which Hamish has recently destroyed with a big 6km showing on his lonesome.
We do not feel complacent in our achievements to date. The next stage is terrifying.We need to swim long in cold water.
This weekend saw us take on the Hampstead Heath Lido.
With it being mid-winter we were expecting a chill, and put our wet-suits on accordingly.
We plunged into the fresh 6 degree water to be met with a new variety of pain the seared through our hands, feet and faces.
We lasted approximately 30 seconds.
We repeated the whole thing a few times and by the end had managed to conquer a couple of lengths of the lido as we grew accustomed to the cold.
We were soon dealt a free lesson in manliness when an astute octagenarian ambled over in nothing but his speedos, dived in, knocked off a couple of lengths, got out and casually strolled off.
The moral of the story is that we are Soft and need to Man Up considerably before we become channel contenders.
On the plus side, Hamish is in danger of having learnt to swim, although this is suspected to be a simple fantasy.
We are happy to report that we have booked our swim aboard Seafarer II, skippered by Chris Osmond. He is a registered pilot with the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation.
We are lucky to have lined up the second swim in the week starting 23rd August 2008. It is forecast to be one of the best tides of the year for swimming.
The Solent was the setting for our inaugural plunge into English waters last weekend.
Under the austere gaze of the Needles aboard our Mothership ‘Coriander’ (skippered
by the Grizzled Seadog Cap’n Nige and fuelled by a hearty broth from merciless First Mate ‘Big Ange’ to the amusement of Fair Sea-Maidens Anna and Rach) we plucked up courage and plunged into the deep.
The sea leapt up and met us with bang; stealing all the air from our lungs and function from our limbs – all this despite the thermal rash vests we had worn as a precaution.
At 16.8 degrees hardened Channel swimmers would think of it as a pleasant bath, but the speed with which it cut to our bones provided a stark reminder that our skinny bellies shall need some serious work before we can begin to tolerate the cold that we shall need to endure.
We did manage to warm up after a few strokes and we had a good swim. Dom of course offered a masterclass in strokeplay whilst Hamish admirably churned up water in the rear – however, we are not convinced that getting that much water through the body is in fact as efficient as letting it flow past the body.
We are pleased to report that a documentary of the Big Crawl made by Jules 'mine's a burger and chips' Stevens shall soon be aired on Sky tv's 'CurrentTV' channel. It shall also be available on the internet.
Since the Big Crawl, Hamish has struggled. The event took it’s toll more heavily than either of us had imagined.
He remained bedbound for the week after the crawl, unable to eat, sleep, walk or concentrate any urine, whilst it took almost two weeks to shake off the malingering nausea.
by an 
ia was within touching distance and it all seemed rather 
some die hard 
has highlighted how 
Emily Measor; navigation through the treacherous waters was masterminded by Henry "
We have succesfully undertaken a week of open water swim training in Sri Lanka under the close supervision of Mrs Jones. 
The sea leapt up and met us with bang; stealing all the air from our lungs and function from our limbs – all this despite the thermal rash vests we had worn as a precaution.