English Channel Relay Swim
In June 2017, I swam the English Channel as part of a 6-man relay team, the Aspire 'Sea Eagles'. Our English Channel Relay Swim was logged as an official crossing, following all CSPF rules including not wearing wetsuits, despite water temperatures of around 12 degrees for much of the crossing. Setting off from Dover we swam strictly in rotation for an hour each time, crossing multiple shipping channels, battling strong currents and tides and trying to avoid jellyfish until we hit the French coastline. The crossing took us exactly 16 hours, and we became the first CSPF/CSA relay team of 2017 to successfully cross the Channel.
Following on from this swim I was asked to swim in a second relay team for Aspire later in the season, becoming the 6th person in the Aspire 'Jellyfish'. Swimming in September we were fortunate to experience much warmer waters, a beautifully calm day and very little tidal effect. We reached France 11 hours 21 minutes after we set off from the English Coastline, earning ouirselves the CSPF 'Dover Straits' Trophy for the fastest standard relay team of 2017.
I took on this challenge to raise money for Aspire, a charity who work with people affected by spinal cord injuries. Every eight hours, someone in the UK is paralysed by a spinal cord injury. It can happen to anyone ,at any time. Without warning, someone's life changes completely. Aspire exists to provide essential support, equipment and advice to people with spinal cord injuries in the UK and Ireland.
Read about my first English Channel Relay Swim (Aspire Sea Eagles) here: Bonjour France
Read about my second English Channel Relay Swim (Aspire Jellyfish) here: Why do it once when you can do it twice
Following on from this swim I was asked to swim in a second relay team for Aspire later in the season, becoming the 6th person in the Aspire 'Jellyfish'. Swimming in September we were fortunate to experience much warmer waters, a beautifully calm day and very little tidal effect. We reached France 11 hours 21 minutes after we set off from the English Coastline, earning ouirselves the CSPF 'Dover Straits' Trophy for the fastest standard relay team of 2017.
I took on this challenge to raise money for Aspire, a charity who work with people affected by spinal cord injuries. Every eight hours, someone in the UK is paralysed by a spinal cord injury. It can happen to anyone ,at any time. Without warning, someone's life changes completely. Aspire exists to provide essential support, equipment and advice to people with spinal cord injuries in the UK and Ireland.
Read about my first English Channel Relay Swim (Aspire Sea Eagles) here: Bonjour France
Read about my second English Channel Relay Swim (Aspire Jellyfish) here: Why do it once when you can do it twice
English Channel Swim Route
The shortest distance across the English Channel is from Shakespeare Beach, Dover, to Cap Gris Nez, France (the headland halfway between Calais and Boulogne). This distance is 18.2 nautical miles which is approximately 21 land miles, but due to tides and varying weather condtitions the route rarely follows a straight line. Most of the England/France swims start from Shakespeare Beach or from Abbotts Cliff between one hour before high water and one hour after high water, although the pilots do start at other times and places, depending on the tide, the weather conditions, and the swimmer's ability.
For roughly six hours the tide will take the swimmer 'up' the Channel, and then as the tide changes direction, the following six hours will take the swimmer 'down' the Channel. This up and down movement of the water is relentless and unavoidable. When traversing the English Channel, the boat pilot pays respect to the aformentioned tides when heading for France, which means the tidal affect will be perpendicular to the direction of the swimmer. It is incredibly rare for a swimmer to ever be swimming with or against the tide.
In the case of a relay swim, the swimmers will swim in strict rotation for one hour each, repeating as many times as is necessary until one swimmer reaches the French coast.
For roughly six hours the tide will take the swimmer 'up' the Channel, and then as the tide changes direction, the following six hours will take the swimmer 'down' the Channel. This up and down movement of the water is relentless and unavoidable. When traversing the English Channel, the boat pilot pays respect to the aformentioned tides when heading for France, which means the tidal affect will be perpendicular to the direction of the swimmer. It is incredibly rare for a swimmer to ever be swimming with or against the tide.
In the case of a relay swim, the swimmers will swim in strict rotation for one hour each, repeating as many times as is necessary until one swimmer reaches the French coast.
English Channel Swim Training
To prepare for the crossing, winter training took place in the pool whilst open water temperatures were too cold to swim in. From April training moved outside, and as the water began to warm acclimitisation training began to get used to swimming in open water without a wetsuit and temperatures of less than 16 degrees. The two hour compolsory swim was completed at a water temperature of 12.4 degrees.
In May our relay team came together for the first of two weekend training sessions at Dover where we swam in the harbour for the first time together, acclimistising to the cold sea temperatures and swimming for hour blocks, resting for two hours and then getting back in to replicate what we will expereince on the crossing. The potential to experience mild hypothermia is high due to lack of wetsuit and therefore having to re-enter the water after warming back up was one of the hardest challenges to overcome.
Our last official training weekend as a team was in June, also back in Dover, during which we went out for a few hours with our boat Pilot to practise change overs, swimming next to the boat, and experience the tidal pull away from land.
In May our relay team came together for the first of two weekend training sessions at Dover where we swam in the harbour for the first time together, acclimistising to the cold sea temperatures and swimming for hour blocks, resting for two hours and then getting back in to replicate what we will expereince on the crossing. The potential to experience mild hypothermia is high due to lack of wetsuit and therefore having to re-enter the water after warming back up was one of the hardest challenges to overcome.
Our last official training weekend as a team was in June, also back in Dover, during which we went out for a few hours with our boat Pilot to practise change overs, swimming next to the boat, and experience the tidal pull away from land.