WOW, where do I start. Well after a very disturbed sleep due to nerves we all set off from various locations on the long trip down to Dover trying not to think about the torturous swim that lay ahead of us. All week Rebecca T has been providing us with weather forecasts and up to date water temperatures and unfortunately none of them left any of us feel particularly optimistic.
Upon arrival we were greeted by a thick mist and approximately 100 other channel swimmers who had all turned up for the opening of the season ready to sign on and dip there toes (and the rest) into Dover harbour. Whilst we were queueing for our registration cards we got chatting to a guy called Dan Martin who I will refer to from now as Atlantic Dan. Atlantic Dan is taking part in a world triathlon, which involves him becoming the first man ever to swim the Atlantic Ocean (hense our nickname for him). The Atlantic will be approximately 6 degrees and Atlantic Dan has had to put on quite a few extra stone in weight for this event, so after a few jibes about our lack of sea swimming blubber he left to get ready to join in the harbour swim.
We donned our new wonder woman suits posed for a few photos (photo shoots are becoming quite a regular occurrence so make sure you check out the gallery), then took it in turns to have a random person with a blue glove and a rather large tub of Vaseline rub the contents onto various parts of our body and finally made our way down to the water front.
The sight of 100 people dressed only in swimsuits making their way into the very cold water must have looked impressive. Most people went for the running/brisk walk entry, I personally found getting in very difficult and edged my way in up to my waist and then took some encouragement from my sister Mandy to make the final plunge. We swam approximately 2.5k in total heading out to the harbour wall and back again. At first the pain of the cold water is all you can feel and can only manage a few practise dips at putting your face in as that seem to be the hardest part, but slowly your limbs start to go numb and you can get your head down and start swimming. I really struggled with the cold as we got back towards the shore and started to feel quite unwell. My heart rate had slowed right down and I was overwhelmed with the urge to sleep. This worried me a fair bit as my body was shouting at me to stop but my mind was still telling me that stopping in the middle of a freezing cold sea could never be a good idea. Mandy was there again with encouragement and we both eventually made our way on to the shore and got wrapped in towels. I struggled to speak coherently but once out the water was definitely feeling better. The other girls who were out and dressed already helped us get out of our wet costumes and into some dry clothes.
It was a very strange feeling once you were out of the water as you have a few minutes where you regain the use of your body and can stand up, walk, pick up things but you then hit another wall where all these functions are suddenly lost again and you have to hold on to people so as not to fall over and a collection of people are helping you dress. You start to shiver quite violently and after kindly being handed some hot ribena from Hannah had to give it back as I was unable to hold the cup still enough to not spill it all.
We all decided not to stay and do the swim again in a couple of hours time and made our way back to our separate cars to start the journey back home. Now I imagine my next description will be true of all the cars returning from Dover that morning. Most of us were accompanied by at least one parent who had volunteered to do the driving and slightly unexpected dressing ritual, now these parents had not been in the sea and therefore remained a normal temperature. After our brief dip in the baltic sea us swimmers were still quite a few degrees colder. This leads to the slightly difficult situation of what temperature you have the car at. Our car had the heating on full blast, heated seats and us all still shivering covered in blankets, our parents on the other hand had now removed most of there clothes and were frantically fanning themselves whilst trying not to overheat. Unfortunately it takes a good few hours to get your body temperature back up to normal so a heads up to anybody who may decide to join us on one of these trips, no matter what the weather is doing outside, bring your summer clothes for the way home. Definitely think there was a few strange looks on the motorway on the way home as people drove passed the car and saw half of us in woolly hats and blankets and at least one person stripped to their underwear. If you spot one of these cars in the future then you will know where they have been.
2.5k in 9 degree sea swim...............check!! Well done girls!!
A big thank you to all the parents who came down to Dover and helped with driving, drying, dressing, feeding, watering, photo taking and general moral support, it was very much appreciated.
I'd also like to say a special personal thank you to Mandy who was a complete star and I couldn't have done it with out her. Thank you Mandy.
Written by Rebecca Johnson
Upon arrival we were greeted by a thick mist and approximately 100 other channel swimmers who had all turned up for the opening of the season ready to sign on and dip there toes (and the rest) into Dover harbour. Whilst we were queueing for our registration cards we got chatting to a guy called Dan Martin who I will refer to from now as Atlantic Dan. Atlantic Dan is taking part in a world triathlon, which involves him becoming the first man ever to swim the Atlantic Ocean (hense our nickname for him). The Atlantic will be approximately 6 degrees and Atlantic Dan has had to put on quite a few extra stone in weight for this event, so after a few jibes about our lack of sea swimming blubber he left to get ready to join in the harbour swim.
We donned our new wonder woman suits posed for a few photos (photo shoots are becoming quite a regular occurrence so make sure you check out the gallery), then took it in turns to have a random person with a blue glove and a rather large tub of Vaseline rub the contents onto various parts of our body and finally made our way down to the water front.
The sight of 100 people dressed only in swimsuits making their way into the very cold water must have looked impressive. Most people went for the running/brisk walk entry, I personally found getting in very difficult and edged my way in up to my waist and then took some encouragement from my sister Mandy to make the final plunge. We swam approximately 2.5k in total heading out to the harbour wall and back again. At first the pain of the cold water is all you can feel and can only manage a few practise dips at putting your face in as that seem to be the hardest part, but slowly your limbs start to go numb and you can get your head down and start swimming. I really struggled with the cold as we got back towards the shore and started to feel quite unwell. My heart rate had slowed right down and I was overwhelmed with the urge to sleep. This worried me a fair bit as my body was shouting at me to stop but my mind was still telling me that stopping in the middle of a freezing cold sea could never be a good idea. Mandy was there again with encouragement and we both eventually made our way on to the shore and got wrapped in towels. I struggled to speak coherently but once out the water was definitely feeling better. The other girls who were out and dressed already helped us get out of our wet costumes and into some dry clothes.
It was a very strange feeling once you were out of the water as you have a few minutes where you regain the use of your body and can stand up, walk, pick up things but you then hit another wall where all these functions are suddenly lost again and you have to hold on to people so as not to fall over and a collection of people are helping you dress. You start to shiver quite violently and after kindly being handed some hot ribena from Hannah had to give it back as I was unable to hold the cup still enough to not spill it all.
We all decided not to stay and do the swim again in a couple of hours time and made our way back to our separate cars to start the journey back home. Now I imagine my next description will be true of all the cars returning from Dover that morning. Most of us were accompanied by at least one parent who had volunteered to do the driving and slightly unexpected dressing ritual, now these parents had not been in the sea and therefore remained a normal temperature. After our brief dip in the baltic sea us swimmers were still quite a few degrees colder. This leads to the slightly difficult situation of what temperature you have the car at. Our car had the heating on full blast, heated seats and us all still shivering covered in blankets, our parents on the other hand had now removed most of there clothes and were frantically fanning themselves whilst trying not to overheat. Unfortunately it takes a good few hours to get your body temperature back up to normal so a heads up to anybody who may decide to join us on one of these trips, no matter what the weather is doing outside, bring your summer clothes for the way home. Definitely think there was a few strange looks on the motorway on the way home as people drove passed the car and saw half of us in woolly hats and blankets and at least one person stripped to their underwear. If you spot one of these cars in the future then you will know where they have been.
2.5k in 9 degree sea swim...............check!! Well done girls!!
A big thank you to all the parents who came down to Dover and helped with driving, drying, dressing, feeding, watering, photo taking and general moral support, it was very much appreciated.
I'd also like to say a special personal thank you to Mandy who was a complete star and I couldn't have done it with out her. Thank you Mandy.
Written by Rebecca Johnson
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