It’s now one week since I successfully swam the English Channel and it is now time to reflect on the last 13 days in Dover and share my story with you.
Saturday 28 July
Within an hour of arriving at our accommodation in Kingsdown, a small beachside village 6 miles north of Dover, Tony Johnston and I had a leisurely 40 minute swim in the Channel. To our delight the water temperature was surprisingly warmer than expected (17 c).
Kingsdown Holiday Village (filled with loads of toblerone houses!)
Sunday 29 JulyThe following morning Tony, Errol Goldberg, Baden Green and I headed down to Dover Harbour, the Mecca training ground for all aspiring Channel swimmers. Tony, Baden and I set off on a 2 hour training session - we were the only swimmers in the water but within an hour had been joined by 50 plus swimmers. It was then I realised that the Channel swimming community is alive and thriving.
Upon finishing my training and emerging from the water I was confronted by an elderly woman who proceeded to give me a lecture on the dangers of wearing a black cap in the harbour whilst training due to the possibility of being run-over by craft. The woman turned out to be Freda Streeter, the mother of Alison Streeter, Queen of the Channel with 43 crossings including a monumental 3 way crossing to her name. Baden and Tony had geed her up to front me as a joke but as I was being lectured I realized she was half serious and as a result have not worn a black cap since. Freda coaches many aspiring Channel swimmers in Dover Harbour from May through to September. Alison was also at the beach and to have the chance to meet her and have a chat was absolutely inspiring.
What became immediately obvious whilst talking to people on the beach was that Dad’s memory was alive and kicking and my attempt to swim the Channel had gained much interest within the Channel swimming community here - just a bit more pressure to add to list of reasons on why I just had to succeed.
We also met my boat pilot Dave Whyte and his wife Joan. We walked down to his boat, Ocean Breeze and discussed when my window of opportunity would most likely be. Dave explained that not one swimmer had swum the Channel during the previous neap tides from 20 July to 26 July due to rough seas and bad weather. This now meant that swimmers booked in for this period had two choices - go home or swim on the less favorable spring tides. Pilots do not take bookings for the springs and as a general rule only take quick swimmers because the movement of water is that much greater than the neaps and you need to have some speed about you to be able to place yourself in a favorable position to land on the French coast.
I remember very clearly dad’s principal on swimming the Channel “never let an opportunity go by”. I was booked to swim on the next set of neap tides from 6 to 12 August but told Dave that if an opportunity arose I would swim on the springs. Dave explained he had one relay and two individuals from the previous neaps and that they had preference over me but he was confident with the long range weather forecast and that my opportunity may come by weeks end.
Monday 30 July
My first meeting with Anne Steele, the 39 year old mother of two, attempting to become the first Tasmanian to successfully swim the Channel. She has an absolutely infectious personality and within 10 minutes of talking to her I felt like I had known her a lifetime. Team Steele consists of her husband Hayden, dad Bill and mum Shea. It’s a small world as it turns out - I worked for many years with her Uncle John Henderson at Qantas.
Anne also introduced me to an American from San Diego, Marc Lewis who like Anne and me was attempting to swim the Channel. Team Lewis consists of wife Suzanne, sons Thad and Evan and supporter and former Channel swimmer David Stevens-Clark and his wife Margaret. Marc shares the same birthday as me to the year, 4 September 1961.
Team Renford consists of manager Errol Goldberg, manager and support swimmer Tony Johnston and his wife Jenny and children Jesse, Campbell and Will, former Channel swimmer Baden Green and his wife Jenny and my wife Vanessa and beautiful little daughter Lily Grace.
The message I am trying to convey here is the word TEAM. Marathon swimming may be an individual sport but to be successful it is imperative you surround yourself with good people. I was lucky enough to have the best of the best.
Thank you to our sponsors and supporters - Qantas, Auburn RSL, Eastern Commercial Lawyers, Walsh's Village Pharmacy, Look Design, ADCO, Pinpoint, Maroubra Seals Club.
The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute appreciates all the donations and awareness raised throughout the Channel Challenge.
Tuesday 31 JulyAnne, Marc, Baden, Tony and I met at 9.30am for a one hour swim in Dover Harbour. It was an uneventful day until about 8.00pm that evening when I received a call from Errol who had gone out to dinner with Baden and Jenny whilst Vanessa, Lily and I were having a quiet night at home with Tony and his family. Dave Whyte had phoned Errol to say my window had moved forward and to meet him at Dover Harbour at 8.00am in the morning.
Why had my opportunity come so soon you may ask? Well Dave had successfully guided the relay team across on Monday, had an Aussie fail after 5 hours on Tuesday and the last swimmer standing in my way had failed to show up from Scotland. Wednesday would be my turn to tackle the “the old ditch” as dad affectionately called her.
Wednesday 01 August
I was nervous, apprehensive but above all quietly confident. I had a new motivational force which was now overriding all the other reasons for wanting to swim the Channel. Three Australians had failed in the two previous days and I was determined not to be the fourth.
One of the Aussies who failed was Scott Cavanaugh. Scott swam bravely for 14 hours and 14 minutes before being taken from the water by his support crew. He made it to within 1.4 miles of France at the 13 hour mark but due to the change in tide was 3.0 miles off France at the 14 hour 14 minute mark. This is what can happen to you on a spring tide. Scott would be the first to admit that his speed is not conducive to swimming on a spring tide but he was given no choice as he was one of many swimmers who due to bad weather and rough seas was unable to swim on the previous neap tides. Scott’s heroic swim may have ended in failure but there was one big positive, Scott proved to all and sundry that he has the ability to successfully swim the Channel and I for one hope he returns for another attempt and finally climbs his personal Everest.
After good lucks and goodbyes on the wharf at Dover Harbour by my extended support team Errol, Baden, Tony and I along with James Talia and Sam the cameraman from Channel Nine boarded Ocean Breeze at 8.45am for the short journey around to Shakespeare’s Beach. The majority of dad’s swims commenced at Shakespeare’s Beach so I had a great feeling of following in his footsteps or should I say arm strokes, which made me feel tremendously proud.
The call was made to commence greasing me up as we were only 15 minutes from start time. Errol, unlike in the Audely swim, remembered to bring latex gloves and had the dubious honor of greasing me from head to toe. Many a joke was made as he concentrated on my groin region. The Channel Nine camera was rolling throughout but I am advised that footage ended up on the cutting room floor as it was unsuitable to be shown before 9pm.
I tied dads wedding ring to my cozzies and pinned a St Jude’s medal, given to me by four time Channel crosser Steve Yates, also to my cozies. It is sometimes the little things that can make all the difference and having dad’s wedding ring and the St Jude’s medal really helped to calm me down in the moments before the swim began.
I dived into the water for the 50 metre swim to Shakespeare’s Beach to officially begin my swim. Vanessa, Lily, Jenny Green and the Johnston family had made there way from Dover wharf to the beach to wave me goodbye once again. I ran up the beach kissed Vanessa , turned towards the sea and upon the sounding of the escort boat horn at 9.23am ran into the water to commence the journey of my life.
Shakespeare's Beach
Thirty weeks of preparation, training and sacrifice had come down to the 35km that separates England from France.
Like with all endurance swimmers I had put a lot a thought and practice into my feeding regime. I had sought advice from many people including coaches, sport dietitians and former and current swimmers. In the end I decided I would swim for 1 hour and 15 minutes before my first feed. This would consist of 1 GU mixed into 500ml of water. The 2 hour feed was 50ml of High5 (4 part carbs, 1 part protein) mixed with 500ml of water. I would alternate this routine every 45 minutes for the rest of my swim. My main concern at feed time was to ensure that I, a) drank every drop of the 500ml; and b) did not vomit any back up.
The water temperature was not as kind as I had experienced in Dover Harbour. The temperature for my swim ranged from mid 15 to low 16 degree Celsius.
I kept looking over my shoulder for hours on end and the White Cliffs just would not disappear. Mentally I knew that if I could not see the White Cliffs then France would be within my grasp.
As the swim progressed I found myself getting giddier and giddier with each feed due to swimming horizontal for 45 minutes and then being vertical for a minute or so at feed time. Kevin Murphy, the current King of the Channel with 34 crossings, had pre-warned me that this could happen and suggested I keep my feed times to an absolute minimum. I found myself not wanting to stop for my feeds but knew that if I was going to reach France I had no choice but to stick to my game plan.
There were increasing periods of wind against tide which was creating quite a chop. It was not hindering my progress but it was becoming increasingly annoying as you have to really concentrate on your stroke whilst at the same time trying not to swallow any water. Swallow too much water and you will vomit and this in turn will diminish the probability of a successful crossing. It was Kevin Nielson who had drummed into me the importance of keeping my stroke together.
Tony joined me in the water for 30 minutes at the 4 hour 15 minute mark as we entered the shipping lanes. The English Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and we were not disappointed with mega cargo tankers coming within 50 metres of us. The swell of these tankers did not really bother me but it certainly made it uncomfortable for the guys in the boat.
On the previous Sunday Dave asked me what sort of pace I expected to swim so he could plot a course to suit my speed. I told him that I was an honest 4km an hour swimmer and could and would keep that up for the duration of my crossing. This basically equates to about a 10 hour swim. I had told all at home that I expected to swim somewhere between 10 and 11 hours. Privately I believed I was capable of breaking the 10 hour barrier.
Dad had spoken about going through pain barriers or fatigue periods as it is now more commonly known. I could feel a discomfort that grew stronger as the swim went on but I never went through a fatigue period at any stage. I think it was my heavy workload in the lead up to my Channel attempt that spared me from these fatigue periods or at least minimized the effect when they occurred.
At about the seven hour mark the White Cliffs had disappeared into the background and the French coast was in sight. By the eight hour mark I felt I could almost lean out and touch France. I had made a point not ask the question “how far do I have to go” but at the 10 hour 15 minute feed stop and with the French coast seemingly no closer after 2 hours of swimming I finally asked. Errol replied 1 hour 15 minutes and Baden said 1 hour 30 minutes, Tony jumped into the conversation by pointing out that I was not heading to the nearest land but in fact was swimming across the changing tide and heading down to Cap Griz Nez, which was miles in the distance to the right. It was at this point I realized that I was in for a 12 hour swim. I just exploded and yelled out to everybody on the boat “what the fuck has gone wrong?”. Baden quickly replied that nothing had gone wrong and that it was just the way it is and to put my head down and keep swimming. My logic was that I had done my job - swum hard, done good as legendary rugby league coach Jack Gibson would say. Baden was right and I was wrong, I more than anyone should have known that you swim the Channel on her terms and today she had decided that I would have to work hard to earn my Channel swimming stripes. Having said that I swam the rest of the way with a really angry head on.
At the 11 hour 30 minute mark with the light fading, a night stick attached between cap and goggles and with the possibility I was going to miss the Cap I decided that I had had enough and increased my stroke rate from 68 to 78 leaving Baden in my wake. It was time to finish the job that I had started some 12 hours before. I was now swimming faster than at any time during the swim. It’s amazing what the body can tolerate when you get the shits.
So at 9.33pm after 12 hours and 10 minutes of swimming, covering close to 55km and with Baden and Tony at my side for safety reasons and the escort boat 300 metres out to sea, I climbed upon a rock at the base of Cap Griz Nez in complete darkness to become the 45th Australian to successfully swim the English Channel.
I had visualized looking to the sky and crying with built up emotion but the truth is whilst Baden and Tony were kissing and hugging me I was too stuffed to care. I asked if I could sit on the rock for a moment to recover before swimming back out to the escort boat. I’m sure if I had to swim for longer I could have but upon finishing all my energy deserted my body and the boys had to help me back to the boat as I was unable to swim. I was physically and mentally spent.
Dad swam the Channel 19 times from 19 attempts. I am one from one. That is 20 from 20 for the Renfords, not bad if I say so myself.
Murph's Channel swim chart
Thursday 02 AugustArrived back at Dover harbour at 12.30am, greeted by the whole support team. Two baths and one shower to get the grease off and into bed at 3am. Did not get a very good nights sleep due to muscle soreness. Every time I rolled over I woke up in pain.
Friday 03 AugustA light swim in the morning and a celebration dinner at an Indian restaurant in Deal in the evening. I can not believe how well I have recovered.
Saturday 04 August
Team Renford disbands. The Johnston’s head for Paris, the Greens to Bath, Errol to Rugby.
Sunday 05 August and Monday 06 AugustLight swimming sessions with Anne and Marc in Dover harbour as they await their window of opportunity.
Tuesday 07 AugustA lovely footnote is that both Anne (10 hours and 58 minutes) and Marc (11 hours and 6 minutes) successfully crossed the Channel. I was honoured and privileged to be asked by Anne to be her support swimmer. The observer on Anne’s boat (observer is a nice word for someone who is actually on the boat to make sure you don’t cheat) commented that in 10 years of observing Channel swims she had never seen anyone emerge from the water in France feeling so fresh. That is a great testament to Anne’s preparation and toughness. I was able to feel the elation of a successful Channel crossing that I had missed on my swim. I was also able to take a rock from the shores of France as a memento of a hard job done well.
Wednesday 08 August
Anne, Marc and I meet at the White Horse Hotel and continued the recent tradition of writing our names on the wall as successful Channel swimmers. I also took the liberty of posthumously adding dad’s name and his feats next to mine.
Alison Streeter's message on Whitehorse wall
Marc, Murph, Ann and David at the Whitehorse
