One Foot in the Wave 2 - Record Breaking Channel Swim.

January 22, 2020

After almost two years of planning, we finally arrived in Dover for our great channel relay swim challenge. Our aim was to be the oldest standard 6 person relay team to swim the English Channel. The average age of our six swimmers on the date of our swim, Monday 12th. September was 75 years and 187 days. Our oldest swimmer Robert Lloyd-Evans from Poole will be 80 next month in October, Bob Holman from Affpuddle is 77, Linda Ashmore from Weymouth 75, Bob Roberts from Weymouth 74, Kevin Murphy from Dover73 and Parviz Habibi from Surbiton 70.
These were all very experienced open water swimmers but youth was not on our side. Parviz and I had swum the channel solo just once, Linda had done it twice and holds the current record for the oldest lady to swim the channel. Kevin Murphy, a living legend, has swum the channel a staggering 34 times, the most by a male swimmer and is the current King of the Channel. Bob R and Robert were previous channel relay swimmers.
We were at Dover Marina at 11pm on Sunday evening and we made our introductions as some of us in the team were meeting for the first time. Simon Ellis and his crew Maz Critchley were sailing our boat High Hopes and a lot was to depend upon their skill and expertise as our swim progressed. Lisa Jupp was the official observer on the boat for the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation under whose rules we were swimming. Lisa was so encouraging and supportive of our swim, friendly and a guiding spirit!
We left the marina and headed for our start point Abbotts Cliff between Dover and Folkestone. As soon as we left the outer harbour it became clear that the weather was not in our favour. The wind was around 11 knots and gusting to 15 knots or more, great for sailing but not for swimming.
Parviz was to start our swim from the beach. He descended the steps and lowered himself into the water. It was 30 minutes past midnight when he swam to shore to start the swim. He had to walk out and then get back in. Soon we could see he was having difficulty breathing and with his timing as the waves swirled about him. Often he would revert to breaststroke as he took in sea water and was literally retching in the water.
It was a very unpromising start and the weather was to continue in this way for the first 12 hours as each of our swimmers took their hour long stint. Linda was next in, followed by Bob R, me, Kevin and then Robert. At different paces all swam brilliantly in the conditions. And we all felt we just had to hang in there until the wind dropped and our luck changed.
At around 6am the sky began to lighten and daylight appeared. With all our swimmers having taken their first swim we were now on our second one hour stint. Progress had been slow as we edged out into the channel and were being pushed east by the prevailing spring tide. We eventually ended swimming in a huge w shape as we were pulled one way, then the other by the prevailing tide.
For the second 6 hours we made slow but sure progress across the busy shipping lanes edging closer and closer towards the French coast. Soon, around lunchtime the sun began to shine and the sea flattened and calmed. We were now swimming in relatively good conditions but another problem was soon to emerge. We had been very close to the Calais ferry lanes, a definite no-go area for our small boat. As I got in for my last hourly swim I was told to swim hard to maintain our position just outside the ferry area. When I climbed the steps after my swim I was congratulated for maintaining our position. It is the first time in my life that I was praised for going literally nowhere!
We were waiting for the tide to turn which it did soon after and first Kevin and then Robert completed our swim. Robert landed at Sangatte beach roughly halfway between Cap Gris Nez and Calais. Coincidentally, Sangatte was where I landed 30 years ago and where Kevin finished his last channel solo swim.
There was of course euphoria as the rest of the team swam behind Robert onto the beach. It had taken 17 hours and 57 minutes and no one faltered during that time. It was a huge effort by the whole team and we felt quite rightly proud of ourselves. We had done it and were now, subject ratification, the oldest team to swim the English Channel, a world record! I also felt that it was great that Robert our oldest swimmer was to be the one to take us to the finishing line.
When we all landed on the beach we were greeted by four French gendarmes. Did we look like illegal immigrants? We would of course have been rather elderly ones if we were! Would we be required to swim back to the boat for our passports? Thankfully they were rather friendly policemen who sent us on our way without as much as a warning! However, they did stay a little while to make sure we went back to the boat.
We had decided to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK through our Just Giving webpage https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ofitw2 We have raised well over our target £2,000 so far but would welcome further donations for this very worthy cause.
It was just a fabulous roller coaster of a day with a triumphant ending. We certainly did it the hard way but no one faltered and I believe we deserved our success in the end. We came together as individuals but have ended up as good friends. What could be better than that? I am now a fully retired channel swimmer, Diana simply will not allow me to think of returning and for once in my life I need to do as I am told!