I am swimming the Channel with a group of 6 others  - largely made up of Welsh doctors, hence the charity being 'Heart Research Wales'. It was an old friend and former fellow reprobate medical student from Oxford, Alex Chase (now an esteemed cardiologist in Swansea) who roped me into this - over a text and without mentioning the fact the swim is to France AND BACK.

You swim for an hour and then sit in a boat for 6 hours until your next go. The shortest distance between Dover and Cap Gris Nez is 21 miles, though currents can mean you have to swim further, as the coastline at the Cap drops away on either side. The crossing time for a team is around 13 hours, so I anticipate doing 1 or 2 swim segments each way, maybe up to 4 in all, depending on the conditions.

Four hours of swimming might not sound that hard, and I'll admit I thought this on receiving that initial text from Professor Chase (especially as I thought it would only be two). Now I know it will be a lot harder than I had imagined. These are just some of the issues:

1. Dealing with the cold (wearing only 'budgie smugglers', goggles and swimming hat) is really hard. They say getting fat helps, but although peanut butter has become a friend, I have only gone from 13 stone 4 lbs to 13 stone 7 lbs. There is no getting away from it - I will be cold.

2. The 'green mirk' view (or black mirk at night) and the strange mind games that being in the deep can play. 

3. Choppy waters, sea-sickness and jelly-fish.

This will be tough, both physically and mentally, much more so than swimming three or four hours in a pool. I would appreciate any donations you can make to 'Heart Research Wales', so I can at least console myself that my struggle is helping others.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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