I have thought long and hard about this post, heck I even
wrote it while I was still in England but never posted it. I read through it
again last night and decided that it wasn’t what I thought, it wasn’t really
anything. So with a clear head and after being back at work for a few days I
decided to start over, so here you go.
I left for Europe on September 11, in order to get rid of my
Jet lag and hang out with my family for a few days before having to be in
England. The plan was to do pretty much whatever everyone wanted as long as I
was able to swim about a mile to a mile and a half every day. My first swim was
kind of a shocker, I showed up at the community pool with my brother in law and
let’s just say I was reminded I was in Europe straight away. I made it out of
the dressing room and to the pool and everyone was doing heads up breast except
for about 3 people. I hopped in with them and I know I am not a fast swimmer,
but wow. It took me about 52 minutes to swim a mile and I hurried to the car to
head back to my family’s place. I talked to Theiry about my options as to where
else I could swim and he showed me a river that was within walking distance
from his house. That was where I was going to swim from here on out. It was
awesome to swim there I got to see the barge traffic going up and down the
river as I swam, the water was cold at about 58 degrees and it felt awesome.
Ariving in Amsterdam
The time had come for us to start our way to Dover for my swim;
we drove to Calais France to board the ferry to Dover. On the way I could make
out the white cliffs and it hit me. I looked at the water that I would be
swimming in and the distance. I was in awe and humbled at the same time. We got
to Dover and found Varne Ridge where I would be calling home for the next
several days. We got some dinner and I headed to bed. The next morning I was to
pick up Gords from the train station it ended up that his flight was delayed so
it made him latter than expected. I didn’t get much don except for some much
needed shopping for my feeds and the day was done. The next morning me and
Gords went down to meet with the CS&PF crew at the marina to pick up some
swag that we had ordered and to swim. I was able to meet Irene and Freda, they
were some of the nicest people in England. After our mile swim we went back to
the trailer and started looking at the weather and decided some time Saturday
would be my best window to swim. I finally got a hold of my Pilot and he told
me it looked good to go at 2 am but he would confirm with me after 4 pm when
the weather source he used updated. I
took a huge breathe and looked at Gord’s and all my nerves that I had been
holding in hit like a ton of bricks. Gords and I let everyone know back home
and I went back and tried to sleep. Paul called and confirmed I was to meet him
at 1 am and in the water ready to swim at 2
Happy Gords
At the marina we took a few pictures and got everything
settled onto the boat. Paul gave everyone the safety briefing and what he
expected of me, then the observer said what he need to say and we were off to
the starting point. After about 15 minutes the Observer told me it was my 5
minute warning. I started to get ready and slimed myself thick with grease,
hurried and gave my mom a kiss and Chandra as well. I teased that when I hit
the water I was going to squeal like a little girl then I would be fine. When I
jumped in I let out a little squeal and realized I was in such a zone my
butterflies had gone and it was swim time. Josh was right he said when I hit
the water all my nerves would be gone. I swam to shore raised my hand to signal
I was ready to go, I got a flash of light from the boat and I stepped in the
water and took off. The first several hours swimming were uneventful I stopped
for my first feed after an hour and from then on it was to be every 30 minutes.
I was just swimming away and felt like I was in a good groove and just after
the sun had come up all hell was about to break loose. I knew I was going to
get stung by some jellies but I had know idea how many stings I would have the
opportunity to experience over the next several hours. The jellies would come
in waves every 10 or so minutes they would get stuck on my eyebrows and then
under my arms then down to my legs. It wouldn’t hurt while they were on me it seemed
but as soon as the moved to another body part the pain would set in. I tried
swimming next to the boat, just behind the boat and everywhere else I could
think of to no avail. My lips were numb from the stings and I was afraid that
my crew would think I was getting hypothermia because I couldn’t talk and my
speech was slurred. It came to the point that for every sting I would just
power thru it and quit my complaining. At one point I looked up and could see
France pretty clearly and asked Gords if I was going to make 16, he said if I
hurried. Then the push was on he would point to a section of water on the side
of the boat and wave me to hurry an swim there, I would get there and hold pace
for as long as I could the boat would pull away and he would motion the same
thing this went on for a few hours and at every feed I really needed it.
Sometime during all of this I told them I was starting to get a little cold and
asked to warm my feeds up. This worked wonders for my brain and me. I felt like
I was sprinting just to have the boat speed up and force me to keep up the pace
a little longer. The next thing I knew Gords was in the water with me again and
I thought I must really need to pick up the pace so I put it in my mind that I
was going to keep up with whatever pace he put me at and I remembered what I
was told at the harbor “head down bum up feed to feed” so that is what I did I
sighted and cold still see the hills of France and it looked to me I had about
another 3 or 4 miles to go. I liked over to Gords and seen he had his gopro in his
hand and thought I was getting closer
but I had know idea how close I really
was until I looked over at him again and he was walking, the hills I was seeing
when I would sight were about 3 to 4 miles away. I just couldn’t see the beach
was right in front of me. When I got close enough I could touch the ground it
was all I could do to stand up and hold the weight of my body. I hadn’t stood
up in about 17 hours and I looked like I was drunk. I stumbled out of the water cleared the edge
of the water and raised my hand in success. I had so many emotions going thru
my mind, so I just laid down in the sand and smiled. I was going to make a snow
angel but I was to tired I guess cause I didn’t do it. I got back up and
followed Gords and found a shell (there were no rocks) stuffed it in my suit
and headed back to the boat. The boat ride back to the marina was kind of
funny, everyone was a sleep except for me, I dosed off here and there but I
could not sleep. The thing I had been training for over the last 2 years was
done. All the long hours at the pool and early mornings at the lake the time
spent away from my family was over in just under 17 hours of swimming. I truly
was sad that it was all over, not that I got to spend more time away from my
family but a goal that I had set for myself was complete. I’m over that now and
working on my next adventure and will let everyone know when I decide what is
next for me swimming wise. There is no way in any shape or form that I could have
done this without the support my wife gave me. I told her that I wanted to swim
the English Channel and she was beside me pushing me the entire time. Without
her support I could not have done this swim. With that said there is one more
of those I couldn’t have done this without you people and that was my Coach and
friend Gordon. He gave me the tools I needed to make it to France he gave me
the guidance and the workouts, he was the one pushing me in the pool and
swimming with me in the lakes at 3 and 4 in the mornings. Without Gordon I couldn’t
have made it to France. Thanks Gords. To everyone else out there that might be thinking
of swimming the English Channel or any other huge swim. Let me tell you this
was by far the hardest and most mentally challenging thing I have ever done.
Make sure your family is behind you and you have their support. Make sure you
have the tools to help you and most of all make sure you don’t cheat yourself
in your training and put the time in and you will also be successful.
Gords and I getting ready to see the Captain Webb Movie
