UPDATE: THE BIG DAY

Thank you everyone so much for all your donations. Well - I made it, reaching the shore in just over 1 hour 45 minutes.

The sea was actually warmer than expected but fairly rough, at times akin to being stuck inside a washing machine set to 'spin', which predictably made it difficult to chart a straight course (at one point I found myself swimming back to the Isle of Wight by accident).

Overall, it was tremendous fun and there was a great sense of fellowship with the swimmers and coast guard.

But for future visits to the Isle of Wight, I'd recommend the ferry!

Thanks again for all your support and best wishes. The donations will make a huge difference to Champion Behaviours and the kids they help out.

Leo 'Phelps' Fielding

 

The challenge

I am swimming 7km from the Isle of Wight to mainland England on Sunday 5 September to raise money for the charity Champion Behaviours.

The swim itself is about twice as long as an Ironman triathlon and will involve tackling big waves, undertows, hypothermia, jelly fish, international shipping, cold shock, and environmental visibility of less than 2 feet, with no lane ropes for support and little clue where I'm going.

If you would like to support the endeavour, please read on!

The charity

Champion Behaviours delivers motivational workshops to young people aged 11-16 years old who are in danger of exclusion from school due to poor or anti-social behaviour.

Their workshops are a mix of discussions and activities, with the feedback being based on the champions – and their behaviours - that the young participants name at the start of the day. Past figures have included Jonny Wilkinson, Kelly Holmes, Valentino Rossi and Zara Phillips.

The aim is to help young people harness their natural energy in a way that contributes to their communities. I think that the progress made by this charity has been superb - they give a second chance to kids who have a rough start in life and who simply don't have the strong role models that they need to develop. And they're only a small charity - so any donations make a big difference to what they can provide.Your support will help Champion Behaviours offer workshops and sports activities free of charge to schools who can't afford to make a contribution, with the aim to help the children most in need.

The training

Those unlucky enough to have spotted me dripping sweat in the Freshfields gym early in the morning will testify that the training has been not unlike that portrayed by Sylvester Stallone in Rocky IV - the one where he fights the Russian - except perhaps without the dubious Siberian montage.

I'm training seven days a week mainly on aerobic endurance, swimming drills and stamina, strength, and dealing with the cold.

1. Aerobic endurance

My cardio focuses on burning around 10,000 calories per week through rowing, cycling and running.

2. Swimming drills and stamina

For drills, I've been slowing down my freestyle stroke to try different breathing patterns (bilateral, unilateral etc), more hip roll, high recovery, mixing up the stroke rate etc.

For stamina, I'm laying down some serious pace in the open air lido at Tooting Bec. Small steps to begin with, starting out with cold 1k swims no rest or stops, and adding about 500m each weekend.

3. Strength

I'm making my resistance training as useful for swimming as possible. Basically, it focuses on improving power-to-weight ratio and developing core strength.

4. Dealing with the cold

This started with the tap on my shower gradually turning to the blue end, as I try to reassure myself that it's all part of the fun. It's now progressed to plunging into the not-so-balmy waters of the open air lido at Tooting Bec. The cold shock is slowly getting easier to deal with and has now developed - a little - from the involuntary 'ah ah ah' yelping splashing movement (pretty embarrassing).

Freshfields have kindly agreed to match any money raised £ for £ up to £1000. Bottom line, if any of this moves you to make a small contribution - I would say, splash out - for a worthy cause that would be awesome!