THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT
Those of you who know me will already know that I love open water swimming and completed a solo Channel swim in 2004 (14 hrs 15 mins) and a two-way Channel swim as part of a relay in 2005 (a very long time!). After a year off to get married, buy a house and other land-locked activities, I'm heading back into the sea.
The challenge this time is swimming around the channel island of Jersey. It's about 44 miles in circumference, but the swim doesn't take as long as you'd expect for that distance, thanks to fast moving tidal shifts which give you a helping push some of the way round. Most swimmers of my ability take around 12 hours, which isn't bad for 40+ miles! No wetsuit, no flippers, no stopping and resting: just like a Channel swim, it's case of just a swim cap, swimsuit, goggles..and non-stop swimming!
Once I'd made the decision to give this swim a try, I thought I'd use the opportunity to raise some funds for Samaritans at the same time. Samaritans offer confidential emotional support to anyone in crisis and despair, particularly those experiencing feelings which may lead to suicide. It's my chosen charity, so please dig deep when you sponsor - just as I will need to when I reach about mile 30 of the swim, no doubt!
UPDATE 18/08/07 After waiting all week on Jersey in very unseasonal windy conditions, I finally got the chance to attempt the swim yesterday. However, in hindsight it was probably too windy even at the beginning (there is a limit to what the pilot boat can safely cope with in terms of wind force) and, far from dropping as per the forecast, the wind picked up during the swim. I got almost half-way around Jersey in 5 hours before the crew on the boat called a halt to the swim on safety grounds. The boat's engine was cutting out, they were having trouble keeping her straight alongside me and having trouble seeing me at times. Whilst the swim is a solo swim, it is a team effort and everyone's safety - mine, the crew's and the boat's - has to be taken in to account. The skipper's word is always final on any swim like this, so when he said it was too dangerous, I had to get out. I feel that I could have swum on (in many ways it was better in the water than on the boat!) but I couldn't go on without my pilot vessel.
WHAT NEXT? I haven't trained all year and spent all of my spare time and money just to get halfway around Jersey! So I am waiting to be allowed another go. However this does rather depend on the weather playing ball. There are two more Spring tides on which I could swim before the end of the season (around 15/16 and 29/30 Sept). I will keep you updated. PLEASE cross your fingers that the wind dies down enough to let me get all the way around! I am desperate to do this swim.
UPDATE 10/7/07 Last weekend I did a six hour training swim in the sea on Saturday and another six hours in the sea on Sunday. This means that I've now done a "split swim" of 12 hours - equal to the longest time the Jersey swim might take me (barring an extremely "bad day at the office"!) I am also swimming Windermere in a few weeks (hopefully on 30th July) - that's a fresh water lake swim of 10.5 miles. This is partly as training but also partly because if I don't get to get away on my Jersey swim due to bad weather (always possible - cross you fingers that this doesn't happen!), I'll still have something to show for all of this training. Windermere is a "classic swim" and one that I've wanted to do for a while anyway.
UPDATE 27/7/07 I'm off to swim Windermere in Cumbria on Monday - it's 10.5 miles and I'd like to do it in around 6 hours. I've no idea what temperature it is....or which end I start from....or anything really ha ha! It's mostly a training swim, but will also be another swim to do off the back of all of this training! I should be starting at about 9am on Monday and will update people when I finish. :-)
UPDATE 1/8/07 I swam Windermere on Monday (10.5 miles). It was a much tougher swim than I predicted it would be (although quite why I tried to second guess it I'll never know. I'll learn one of these days!) I was swimming straight into a headwind from hour one onwards. It took me 6:41:10 and was a very tough swim.
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Samaritans will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor me now!
Many thanks for your support.
