Thanks for everyones kind words & support! Here are a few pics from my Solo swim and one with me and Eric Hartley who pilots the boat Pathfinder - I have more photos to come from the Relays earlier in the week. Grant (who was in the ACDC Relay on Monday) was AMAZING as my support crew. Paul who was INCREDIBLE - he didnt sleep as he communicated with Grant and Eric from Australia and updated FB. Eric (pilot) and Gary (co-pilot) worked very hard to get me cross so quickly on a large tide and support Grant. As you can see the water very flat most of yesterday. The water temperature was 18.3 Celsius and the air temp peaked at 19 Celsius - I was close to overheating at one stage. The water temperature has been very, unseasonably warm all Channel Swimming season!!! I covered 46km, which was much longer than usual. I was clocked at 4.5km and 5km during slack tide (no tidal assistance). Every Channel swim is different and I have learnt even more from coaching and crewing the Relays and swimming another solo. It was good to practice some new feeds and to get so much pacing feedback from my crew (Thanks Eric & Grant). The last hour was awesome as I have never finished in France in darkness and I got to look ahead and see the beams of light from the Cap Gris Nez light house beckoning me to shore! I have never visited the Cap as a normal person would and I want like to go there one day with Paul but without having to swim there first and just reflect on this incredible journey of swimming and friendships:) This was my fifth Channel swim but the 1st time I have not turned back for England - it was quite strange getting back on the boat. I have gotten to meet so many new people this year - the Dutch Team who did a Double Relay Crossing to raise funds for leukemia, Nick an Englishman who swam a Solo, Otto who became the oldest person to swim a solo of the English Channel just a few days ago and I have also just come back from seeing Charlotte into shore (also from South Africa) who completed a Solo in 20hrs - she is still a teenager! And Roger and Tracey... and Liz & Hugo and Mike and Graham... And how lovely it was seeing some old faces from the Beach Crew and Dinos... Before I first swam the Channel I was very goal focused all I could think about was getting to France and then finishing in England... but over the years I have realised there is water and land masses everywhere but there are few places where your swim can transcend history, culture, international boundaries and which promotes such camaraderie and friendship with people from across the globe. As they say life is not just about the destination - but how you get there - the journey - and I am so blessed to have met so many amazing people along this journey most especially my AMAZING husband Paul as we both embarked on our Channel swims in 2009. I look forward to preparing and supporting the 2015 & 2016 Relays and Solos! The journey continues :) .....
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 19:46:17 +0000
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