swimming the English Channel
Sam Penny's journey to conquer the Everest of swimming
Let's just say that cold water was my big mental challenge. Being a Queenslander, I don't really get to experience real cold water. I had heard so much about cold water acclimatisation, hyperthermia and general bad stories. I just didn't know how my body and mind was going to react. World Record holder, Trent Grimsey was holding his Cold Water Camp in Melbourne and I was nervously waiting for the time to come. Four days of many many hours of swimming in Port Phillip Bay. We flew in and quickly did an introduction with all 30 swimmers. Some were swimming the channel this year, a small number, like me, next and a few relay swimmers as well. People had flown from all over including some from overseas. What a mad bunch of people I was about to meet! Day 1 2 hours of fluid testing to see how much fluid we lost each hour. I lost 500ml in an hour which needs to be replaced. On a 10hr swim, that's a lot! having just stepped off the plane and into the cold water, I did not feel great. My right thigh (VMO) started cramping after just 15mins. This was a clear sign that I was badly dehydrated and that swimming was going to be painful. I got through the 2hours and felt quite warm in actual fact! But then again, it was sunny, 26degs and 18degs in the water. Very unusual for Melbourne in mid-April. At dinner, we heard from Channel Swimmer and nutritionist, Tara Diversi. Helen and I have so much to learn about everything! It's not just get in, swim and have an energy drink. There's body composition, fast acting, slow acting, everything! But she has also done some very cool stuff so to listen to her made us feel confident that we were with the right people to increase our chance of a successful crossing. After dinner with everyone, we had a night swim. We pinned glow sticks to our swimmers and off we went into the dark for 75mins. I found it quite easy probably because I often where very dark goggles that make everything like an eclipse. Off to bed, ready for an early start. Not before I tried to hydrate as much as I could. All today I didn't feel comfortable in the water. I cramped in both sessions. Hopefully tomorrow is better. Day 2 After yesterday's effort, I was nervous about today. We had a 4 hour swim planned where we have our first opportunity to test our nutrition and feeding plans. Luckily we had an expert in Tara Diversi there to help. Helen and I felt very unprepared and clueless. So I just swam and left Helen to ask all the questions about nutrition. Off we went out of the Brighton Baths and into the bay, around a marina and back. Each lap took just over 30mins which was perfect as my feeds were meant to be at that frequency. It was a beautiful day and the water was warm-ish. The wind picked up which made about a third of the swim very choppy, but the rest was pleasant. Helen gave my my drinks each lap. Some were almost like syrup. My favourite was Ovaltine and coffee. That was a very welcome surprise 3hours in! The rest of the drinks were Endura and Staminade. The Staminade was very fast acting which was apparently what I needed. I was face down so I didn't really find out why. I just swim. I was craving a big steak. After a morning of nothing but carbs, I needed protein. We drove and found a steak and a glass of wine. We debriefed everything that we had learned in our morning session and then headed home for a quick nap. Later that afternoon we did a 1hour technique session in the Brighton Baths. This piece of ocean is like a giant shark cage. The waves can come through, just not the nasties. Across the pool are some lane ropes so it was like a 1hour squad session. Kind of fun. At dinner, Trent Grimsey got up and spoke. What an inspiring bloke! Even though he holds the record for the English Channel crossing in 6hr 55mins (average time is 13hrs 32mins!), his whole journey was one to motivate you to never give up. A common theme with his story was how he would constantly ask people what went wrong for them and then he would make sure that never happened to him. His ability to analyse a race or his training is nothing I have ever experienced before. If you ever get to hear him speak, it's worth it! So unassuming. His brother, Cody, was sitting at our table and had goosebumps listening to him speak. Wow. Day 3 So... this was an interesting day. We had an 8 hour swim planned but the weather turned nasty! We arrived down at the baths at 6.30am for a 7am start but it was clear this wasn't going to happen. The wind was gusting up to 60km/hr and forecast to get worse. We all went to the coffee shop and await further instructions. At 7am we went back and started to get ready. The decision was made by Trent that we would do laps in the Baths and not go out into the bay. Each lap was about 300m. We stood around for an hour in the cold as the Brighton Baths management didn't want us to swim as they thought it was too dangerous. We didn't think so as we had a highly experienced crew along with about 25 support crew. By the time we jumped in at 8am, I was starting to shiver. The wind had picked up and the apparent air temp was just 7degs! The wind picked up even more and we saw gusts of 90km/h at one stage. Wow! Yes, let's go swimming! Because I only breathe on my left, I was breathing into the centre which meant I had to sight every 10 strokes to make sure I wasn't going to run into another swimmer, pilon or stairs. This coupled with the wind, swell and cold made life very exhausting very fast. The first thing I noticed that my back got very cold. The air temp and wind was making it freeze. I just couldn't warm up. The chop meant I couldn't get into a rhythm. This meant that I couldn't swim harder for heat. I just got colder. I wasn't having fun. It was cold. My stroke was terrible and at no stage did I feel great. I got to 4hours and called it quits. I couldn't do this anymore. I was starting to shiver and I had the shits with it. There were about a dozen left in the water. I sat in the steam room watching the last swim it away. To swim the Channel, we all need to do a qualifying swim of 6hours in cold water. This was meant to be it. After 20mins in the steam room I stopped shivering. Just 25mins later, a massive squall came through with hail so the decision was made to pull the rest from the water. I didn't need to have a qualifying swim as I'm next year. But for those aiming at this year, this was a disappointment. That afternoon and night, Helen and I debriefed over three bottles of wine. I was disappointed in myself. I was beaten. Helen said she was proud of me but she also knew I wasn't that happy with my performance. We analysed and discussed so that we don't have a repeat of that for our future long swims. Day 4 Our last day and also our coldest. The water was 15.8degs and the temp was about 10degs. We were all feeling tired after 3 big days. I jumped in and quickly realised that this was bloody cold! We were swimming in a protected section behind the marina which turned out to be brilliant! This is when I felt my best. Everything came together. It was a shame it was just a 2hr swim. Although it was cold, I never felt cold. I felt strong, and wanted to keep going. I felt I could do 6-8hr, but we had a plane to catch. All-in-all, this was a great experience. Some harsh conditions which you would never normally go out it. But training in harsh conditions will make the Channel easier. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. My fear of cold water has gone and I can't wait for winter and potentially to do the qualifier when the others do.
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AuthorSam Penny is attempting to swim the English Channel in August 2018. Follow his journey here. Archives
August 2018
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