3 Weeks to Go: I’m Qualified!

The big news is that Sunday, July 6, I completed the 6-hour compulsory Qualifying Swim after just six days in the cold water.

I have been having difficulty with the cold water during this first week as the diary for the week appended below will tell, should you care to read. Two hours was my maximum before I would stiffen and experience great pain principally in the legs. Saturday, July 5, I watched some 40 would-be relay swimmers attempt their 2-hour qualifying swim (most succeeded as they have been coming down for the past few weekends, and some 25 would-be Channel swimmers kept going for the 6-hour qualifier). Most, it seems, didn’t make it.

Sunday, the same event but on a smaller scale was repeated. I decided to be part of it, although a full week or two ahead of my schedule to do so. The weather started well but the winds picked up by the third hour to cause white caps which by the fifth hour became at times horizontal sheets of water. I stopped at the third hour for refreshments. This was provided by volunteers as the swimmers come into the steep and pebbly beach on hands and knees. One official, noticing that I was shaking and already alerted to my age (they all know I am the oldest to attempt a swim), asked me if I was okay and needed to stop. He then advised me to swim close to the beach just in case. But close was rougher with breaking waves as seen at most beaches, so I stayed offshore. I came in at the end of the fourth hour, fed (warm carbohydrate-laced water and a chocolate Mars-like bar) and was no better. My condition was worse. When I tried speaking I found it difficult and so decided not to come in again in case they made me stop.

Getting to the fifth hour was hell with the cold and the weather. It was raining and now blowing a gale. But this can happen during a Channel swim, so I pushed on. I was taking too many mouthfuls of water. If a wave breaks into an open mouth in the process of taking a breath, a half pint or more of salt water will force its way down the throat – no swallowing needed. Swimming into the wind I would get two breaths out of three. Going down wind on the return leg, I would roll, pitch and yaw. On the Channel my escort boat will endeavor to shelter me from the worst of it. But I held on using every physical and mental trick in the book. One was the certain knowledge that if I succeeded I would not have to do this again. The second was that I would reward myself with an easier training week next week, and the third was the most important reason ...

This was my chance to prove something to myself and others. Ever since I began this quest I, and no doubt many others, have legitimately questioned my ability and perhaps thought that I was some old chap living an impossible fantasy to draw attention to himself and to raise money for APTA’s Foundation. Aware of such a possibility I trained harder and more scientifically than ever before. I listened to my body signals and modified my training as experience was accumulated – I am after all my own coach and trainer – not something I would recommend to others. But what if I did a Channel swim and failed? What would I and others think? Well now I am “qualified” by Channel swimming standards to swim the Channel. Of course, less than half of those that qualify get across. But from now on my effort is wholly legitimate and in my mind not a hopeless dream but a real possibility. Furthermore, it was colder and rougher than usual and while some swimmers used insulating grease I did not use any. The details of the week’s progress, if interested, is below.


Monday, June 30 (26 days to go)
I arrived at Gatwick, London, at 6:30 am from Bermuda. Via rental car, I was in Dover at my hotel by 9:00 am and spent the day getting settled in. Did a 45-minute swim in 58F (14C). The cold made me feel quite stiff. I shivered on exiting, but only for 10 minutes.

After the swim I visited the waterfront bust of Capt. Mathew Webb, the first person to have swum the English Channel way back in 1875. It took 30 years and 30 more attempts before the second swimmer got across.

In the late afternoon I directed an amphibious car/boat as to where they should exit the harbor avoiding shoals and onto a firm beach. They are a Swiss outfit with an American and a New Zealander in the support team and will try to break the cross Channel amphibious record tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 1
Met all kinds of swimmers and teams on the beach today. There was the Cambridge and Oxford relay teams that will race tomorrow – three women and three men in each team. I also spent some time with an old friend, Allison Streeter, who is the “Queen” of the Channel, having swum it more times than anyone else – 43 times! I asked her what she thinks about during all her long swims. “After the second hour nothing” was her reply. Her favorite word is “fantastic.” Wish I could consciously think of nothing. That would be “fantastic.” I have run out of things to think about.

The amphibious team broke the record formerly held by Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines) by 40 minutes. Incidentally, Catherine and I were in Plymouth in 1986 when Sir Richard broke the cross Atlantic speed record in the Blue Riband. We had arrived from America the day before him on our sailboat Dreadnought III.

I had two swims today. The first of 45 minutes went well. The second, later in the day, of 1 hour caused me to feel very stiff and as though I was fighting myself – especially the left arm. After the swim I shivered for 45 minutes. Trying to tear open a packet of sugar to add to a cup of tea, the sugar was scattered everywhere except into the cup!

Wednesday, July 2
The temperature is the challenge. You will recall that almost a year ago I began in the gym. Then I trained up in fresh water doing two 8-hour swims. Then I adjusted to the sea water with a 7-hour swim. Now it’s all about the cold. My age does not help. It’s known that older people have this problem with blood circulation and the cold. (After all, it’s older men who use Viagra! No – Viagra will not help a swim and in fact would work against it). Twenty-two years ago the cold was a factor when I last swam successfully but now it’s the main problem. Can I acclimatize?

I worked out stretching in the health club in the early morning. I scheduled 2-hour and 2-hour swims, but could not make it. Lasted 1:30 on the first. Felt great at 30 minutes but by 35 minutes the shivers started and by 1 hour it was a painful struggle with stiff muscles and aching jaw. Thawed out quickly in a hot bath. Later in the day went in for an hour – not to swim but just to help acclimatize/condition to the cold. I walked around at neck high water exercising my arm rotators. Again the same story: shivered for an hour afterwards. I had a massage session principally on my back and left shoulder. The young lady at the hotel's health club has excellent hands and can find the tight and tender areas.

Thursday, July 3
Gym again, weight 190 lbs. (13 stone, 7 lbs). Completed a 2-hour and a 1-hour swim today. Tomorrow I plan a 3- or 4-hour swim. Part of my mental training has to been to post at least two weeks in advance what it is I intend to do. There has been a lot of learning and thus to have a fixed schedule set months ahead would not accommodate to that learning. But at the same time I can’t enter the water and then decide when it’s time to quit. I have to decide days in advance and then to see if I can reach or exceed the goal.

Friday, July 4 – Happy Independence Day, America (Not celebrated here in England!)
Having a little upset tummy again and so left the swim till mid-afternoon whereupon I did the 3 hours as scheduled. I have brought some dishware and some oatmeal that I can make with hot water, which along with fruit will allow me to have a breakfast closer to that to which I am accustomed. These English breakfasts with their sausages, bacon, eggs, tomatoes and fried breads leave me too heavy.

Saturday, July 5
On the beach at 9 am. Channel swimmers from all over UK, relays and solos come for their training. They have been doing this each Saturday and Sunday for the last six weeks. At first they swam just half an hour twice a day and now several hours each of the two-day weekend. These are called “Qualifying Swims” and a certificate is issued on a successful completion. By my schedule I am not yet ready, having great difficulty in breaking the 3-hour mark. But tomorrow I shall try. Everyone has been most encouraging. They know I am after the record for the oldest and wish me well.

I didn’t swim today. Rested, hiked up a hill and through the countryside and carbo loaded with a spaghetti dinner and bread. I was interviewed for a swimming historians tape recorded at the Hubert House.

Sunday, July 6 (20 days to go)
Awoke at 6:30 am, carbo loaded with Oatabix (new cousin of Wheatibix) and went to the beach for the 6-hour swim

Details of the swim are above. Sufficient here to say it was a success! I will sleep well tonight and late tomorrow morning – and enjoy an English breakfast.

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I am attempting to become the oldest person to swim across the English Channel in order to raise money for physical therapy research. Learn more in the links below.

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