Thank you to everyone who supported my swim! I heard there were over 300 visitors to our blogsite yesterday!
I still can't believe I swam the English channel. I did not think I would make it until the last 500m. I was rapidly getting very cold after the sun set at 8:11, hence the rapid pace at the end in a desperate attempt to stay warm.
The hardest part of the swim? Every minute! From the beginning I struggled to stay warm with the water temperature between 16 and 17 degrees C and the air a cool 16 at night and the wind howling across my back all day. The over 3 metres waves broadsiding me for several hours were no picnic, either. They were even more annoying a 1 1/2m when they got choppy. If you heard it was a beautiful calm night, that only lasted 3 hours and the waves were over a meter most of the rest of the swim.
What kept me going? Thinking of all the people who wished me well. Knowing I paid a lot of money and inconvenienced a lot of people and this was my only shot at this this year. I did not want to come back next year. Finally, I couldn't come up with a good enough excuse to quit. Even the "pilot" (captain) wouldn't oblige by saying that Beaufort Force 6 winds (24-26 knots between 3 and 5 pm) are not an automatic end to the swim if the swimmer is still making forward progress on the GPS. Sure, swimming on the border of hypothermia ("voluntary tolerance limit") the whole swim was very uncomfortable but I knew my body and the symptoms and I knew I could continue indefinitely at this temperature if I could keep the feedings down. This was another issue, the waves and swallowing sea water resulted in part of every feed coming up and constant nausea. At one point I could barely lift my right arm (the one being broadsided) but it turned out this was a wall and the pain went away in an hour. Both not good enough reasons to quit. My crew kept me going by creatively coming up with positive information to keep me in the game, such as "only 6 miles to a calm harbour" (well that never happened, we got blown past it.) They also put the names of many of my supporters and quotes I had collected on the white board for me to read.
How am I feeling today? Every muscle in my body aches, including ones in my chest wall and back I never knew existed. My right wrist is very sore and pretty useless. Amazingly I can lift my hands over my head (gingerly). My throat is swollen. Everything still tastes like salt water. Finally, I am tired! However, I could probably swim again in 2 days if I taped my wrist.
I would like to thank everyone in my boat crew who carried belief in my success for me when I had lost it. They missed a nights sleep, several of them threw up on the boat despite seasickness medication and they worked tirelessly for me on the rolling boat. Thank you to my land crew for blogging and driving us and all our gear home (several trips between Dover and Folkestone after midnight). A special thanks to pilots Kevin Sherman and Fred Mardle for getting me to Calais expertly. Kevin got his damaged boat to Dover at midnight after a 15 hour swim and turned right around to be there for me at 3 am. Fred offered his boat and expertise at the last minute after being out on a 5 hour swim himself the day before.
Last but not least, if you are inspired by my story, it is not too late to donate to the Good Shepherd. http://www.goodshepherdcentres.ca/News/events.htm
Marilyn
Marilyn's swim across the English Channel 2011
"For me, marathon swimming is the ultimate mental, physical and emotional challenge".
Diana Nyad, Other Shores, 1978
I've always loved swimming. I've been swimming since age 2, competitively since age 13. I'm now 54 and hoping to become the oldest Canadian female to swim the English channel; 33.2 kilometres from Samphire Hoe Beach, Dover, England to Cap Griz Nez, France. I swam Lake Ontario from Niagara on the Lake to Toronto in 1983 and from Toronto to Port Dalhousie (north to south against the powerful Niagara River current) in 1984. I was only the second person to swim Lake Ontario north to south, Diana Nyad being the first. The above quote is one of my favourites, especially since Diana at 61 was also recently trying to prove that older athletes can still achieve big goals.
Why the English Channel? I was quoted in the Toronto Star in 1984 saying my next big swim would be the English Channel. But then life happened, I got married, had 3 boys, but always kept swimming at least twice a week. Last summer, Debbie Bang challenged me to swim 26 kilometres in Muskoka. When I finished it, I felt I could have swum further. When Colleen Shields at 58 breezed across Lake Ontario last August (but was foiled by weather at the very end), I realized I could still do another big swim at my age. Swimmers in Dover say the Channel is the Everest of swims. I'm not so sure, people have accomplished longer and colder swims in other parts of the world. For me, there is something about ocean swimming that is the ultimate. The English Channel is part of world history and swimming tradition. My grandmother lived in England and took me to the beach on the channel, so it is also nostalgia and familiar. What really cemented the idea in my mind is pacing Kim Middleton across the channel in 1989. I just "woke up" last September and realized time was running out.
So I have been inspired and supported by a great many people. (Thank you!) In doing this swim I would like to inspire others to dream big and go out and achieve their goals. But, in this journey I have learned that reaching smaller training goals along the way has also inspired others. Swimming Lake Simcoe from Barrie to Orillia, 35 kilometres in 18 hours and 44 minutes is the biggest example of this, especially since the water was 13 degrees Celsius for the first 3 hours. Even if the channel weather foils me on August 21, 22, or 23, it was worth doing.
I am also pleased to be able to use this opportunity to raise money for the Good Shepherd Centres in Hamilton. They run a network of shelters and services for troubled youth, abused women and children, the dying, the mentally and physically challenged, the hungry and the homeless. They strive to support people through crisis and help them re-establish healthy and productive lives. They have been very good to my patients over the years and for this I am grateful. Please support my swim by donating to the Good Shepherd centres. Thank you. http://www.goodshepherdcentres.ca/News/events.htm
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