Sam (our official Channel Swimming Association Observer) met us in the car park and took us down to our boat Sea Leopard. Stuart (our pilot) and Gary (the crewman) then helped us board Sea Leopard with our ridiculous amount of stuff (which included coke and lemonade that Alice had laboriously made flat the day before so that it wouldn't make us feel ill when we drunk it!) After a safety briefing and all too quickly for our belief we were off out of the harbour and Alice, the first to swim, began to get ready. At this point everything became a reality for us all and the realisation sunk in that we were finally getting to attempt our challenge and that the task ahead of us was a very hard one!
At around 1.10am Alice jumped off the boat (we always went for the jumping in method as opposed to slowly descending the steps at the back of the boat as it got the process of getting over the coldness done a to quicker!) Following regulations Alice was wearing a standard swimming costume, hat and goggles, as well as Vaseline to stop any rubbing and 2 lightsticks, one attached to her hat and the other to the back of her swimming costume. The boat halted about 200m from the British shoreline and Alice jumped in and swam to sure. Having completely cleared the water and after a signalling horn from the boat she entered the water at 1.15am - our swim had begun!
Following the rules we each swam one hour, with the next swimmer having to over take the previous swimmer in the water before the previous swimmer could climb out. The water was around 16 degrees Celsius, although rose by a couple of degrees as we neared the French coast. It wasn't until around 5.30am (during Josie's first swim) that the sun began to rise and we could see anything while swimming. Once the sun did properly rise the water was incredibly clear and we could see to our full arms length while swimming. In terms of seeing wildlife we saw nothing while swimming apart from plankton (as they glowed in the darkness) and a flying fish during Amy's first swim as it jumped towards the boat.
During the first half of the swim our main problem was seasickness. Despite following advice and taking sea sickness tablets long before we swam all of us apart from Poppy (lucky girl!) suffered with it to various extents. Alice and Amy in particular really suffered and both did amazingly to get back in the water and do their second (and third in Alice's case) swims. Throughout the challenge the sea sickness did begin to lift, in part due to the fact that we started taking on food which we were being advised to do but which felt anything but attractive at the time. However, by the second half of the journey we were all well on the way to recovery and beginning to get back to the smiling and all singing team who had boarded the boat in the harbour!
The coldness as expected was also an issue - although at least this one was expected unlike the sea sickness! We had all packed enough layers so that we could pile hoodies on someone once they returned to the boat after a swim and we developed a good system of jumping on a returned swimmer with towels, forcing them to change immediately into dry clothes and they attempting to make them eat and drink something. We had been warned that despite taking piles of food on the boat we wouldn't consume a lot of it and this became true. As all five of us have healthy appetites we took an abundance and huge variety of food on the boat and barely consumed any of it, even when the worst of the sea sickness passed!
The middle part of the swim when we seemed equidistant from Britain and France certainly seemed the longest. The excitement of the beginning of the swim had died, France didn't seem to be getting any nearer and the sea sickness had kicked in for most people! Crossing the shipping lanes was fine due to the expertise of the crew with us, and it was interesting to hear them on the radio to the huge tanker ships coming towards us in the distance and then them having to change their course for us! We also saw plenty of ferrys ploughing back and forth between France and Britain, albeit at a much quicker rate than us! Stuart, Gary and Sam were an incredible team to have onboard. Not only did they give us the best possible chance of success with their expert navigating, but they also helped us to look after one another, looked out for us, kept us calm at times and provided copious amounts of very welcome cups of tea! We really could't have done it without them and are very grateful for ally heir encouragement, support and expertise which were invaluable to us throughout the swim!
As we began to near France the excitement began to grow again as we realised that we could actually complete our challenge successfully - and also the worst of the sea sickness began to disappear! We began to swim with more determination as the coast became clearer, particularly when told that the tides began to act in our favour as we heard the coast. The weather (at last!) was good for the swim. It was relatively smooth, apart from the odd more choppy patch such as the one in the middle of the channel when turbulence is created between the shipping lanes and near the ferry crossing points, and it only rained for around 40 minutes at around 5am lightly. Although the sun didn't make a full appearance it peeped through the clouds every so often, particularly near France, and there was good visibility for the whole trip - including a nearly full and wonderfully clear moon when we set of in the darkness.
We all swam 2 hour long swims (one in darkness and one in daylight completely by coincidence) apart from Alice, who as the order had to stay the same had to swim three times meaning that she started and ended the swim. Having overcome major seasickness (which had meant she had been leaning over the back of the boat and occasionally falling asleep there for a large proportion of the journey), she swum with amazing determination when we signalled to her that she could finish the swim. Unfortunately the swim was finished on rocky land as opposed to a beach so the rest of her weren't allowed to jump off the boat and join her on French land - however we screamed and cheered n the boat as Alice ploughed through the last of the water and climbed clear of the water onto the rocks - we had done it!
Back on the boat there were huge celebrations all round! Sam (our official observer) declared that we had successfully completed the swim in an incredible 10 hours and 50 minutes! None of us could believe that despite both the expected and unexpected challenges, and over the last week of waiting we had managed to complete the swim and in such a fantastic time! After Izzy tried and failed to spray the cava all over us we settled back into the boat, all singing and dancing again, to enjoy our success on the 2.5 hour boat trip back across the channel which we had just conquered! The feeling is inexplicable and we couldn't stop grinning and hugging each over as we took in what we had managed to achieve.
Once we arrived back in Dover, most of us amazingly having managed a nap at some point on the way back, we unloaded our bags from the boat and said goodbye to Stuart, Gary and Sam - the most amazing team to be with in the world, the ones who had to put up with our singing as well as the sickness, and the ones who undoubtedly enabled us to be successful in our challenge - thank you so much to them, we would never have done it without you and are extremely grateful for everything you did! We were then told to head to a local pub where all swimmers are allowed to sign the walls as proof of their swim. Despite our exhaustion by this point we managed to find the pub and do just this which was an excellent way to end the day and celebrate what we had achieved.
All in all it was one of the most surreal days any of us had ever had! We had overcome so many hurdles during the last year, week and day and had managed to complete our own challenge. We are all immensely proud of ourselves and each other for what we have achieved together and will certainly never forget any of the experience of it!
For all of the photos please see http://www.flickr.com/photos/challenge521 (and please bear in mind that we will each upload our photos, but that it may take a couple of days to do so!)
Thank - you's:
Firstly to Stuart (whose Sea Leopard blog can be found at http://www.sealeopardcharter.com/), Gary who helped out onboard the ship, and Sam our observer - all three helped us out in so many more ways than their official duties and made our swim not only successful but also unforgettable and for the most part enjoyable!
To Mark Evison http://www.markevisonfoundation.org/ - without whose support we may never have been able to fund and so undertake the swim.
To all of the local schools, clubs, newspapers, car boot sales, Tri2 swim lake and other organisations who supported us and helped to fund the swim - we were overwhelmed by how many people took and interest and helped us achieve our goal.
To all of our friends, acquaintances and family who also donated (http://www.justgiving.com/Challenge-521) and who no doubt heard us moaning at various points in the last 14 months about various things to do with the swim, and particularly in the last week when things were so uncertain at times.
And finally for all those reading this blog - which has received phenomenal interest particularly over the last week - and has been a recent key source of portraying information to you all!
If anyone has any questions at all about the swim or would like to know further details about it please contact one of us, or email challenge521@hotmail.co.uk
Thank you again to everyone,
Love from 5 very exhausted but very proud girls
Alice, Amy, Izzy, Josie and Poppy
