Swim Cancelled – Weather the Sole Arbitrator – I’m Coming Home

The neap, the phase of the moon that gives low tides and thus low currents, is slipping away and day after day swimmers are waiting to go but the weather does not oblige. The neap ends Friday and after that only strong swimmers can go. There is one ahead of me with my Pilot and no assurances as to when and if he will be able to try. So with a heavy sense of disappointment at not being able to get a second chance I have to recognize that this is Channel swimming and for me it’s over.

My disappointment does not compare with one mature Indian lady whose family scraped up what they could to help her meet her life-long goal – only to have spent a month in Dover unable to get even one swim on the Channel.

However I retreat knowing that I did my best and that even if I had this one last chance there was no guarantee of success. Marathons and triathlons are rarely cancelled but Channel swimming is very weather dependent. I shall not be back again next year, for this level of training I know I cannot maintain. My enthusiasm for one last shot was building during these last few days since I had taken my wife Catherine’s advice to stay out of the water and rest the shoulder – as she correctly stated, “You have done enough training,” and added, “Your last successful swim was after three weeks of rest on medical orders due to the jelly fish tentacle you inhaled.” [I was met by an ambulance following a 14 hour, 10 minute swim and rushed to hospital struggling for each breath].

It’s been a rewarding dedication of time and effort. What began as a private and personal undertaking became a public and professional challenge when I realized the opportunity to raise funds for much needed physical therapy research through the national Foundation for Physical Therapy.

Additionally, my effort has been published in numerous newspapers and a dozen or more magazines and with mention on radio and TV helping to raise the awareness of physical therapy/physiotherapy. For instance I expect to be live on Radio New Zealand tonight. At each opportunity I have stressed that we are the profession of choice for the restoration, maintenance and enhancement of human function. I have stressed that there is no need to slow down at middle age and that in fact by maintaining a fit, healthy and productive lifestyle there is much more that can be enjoyed.

So while swimming across the Channel to become the oldest has not been achieved, perhaps we can say that the effort has been successful. I can also reflect on the fact that I have swam the Channel twice before. And, this year, set a world record as the oldest person to have made the attempt! So I shall try to hide my disappointment and hold my head high.

I do want to send my sincere thanks to all those who wished me well and who have shared this experience with me. I have received numerous emails and best wishes, wonderful quotes and inspirational thoughts, many from people I have never met. I have enough material to write a manual on how to swim the Channel and have been encouraged to do so.

While a solo swim of the Channel is over for me there is a distinct possibility that the University of St. Augustine just might arrive with a relay team in a year or two.

Best wishes,

Stanley V. Paris
Dover, England