Q: How far is it?
18.2 nautical miles, 21 land miles or 34 kilometres as the crow flies. Unfortunately the tidal conditions make it impossible to swim in a straight line, often adding significantly to the total distance that must be covered.
Q: Why Cancer Research?
1 in 3 people are affected by cancer at some point in their life, and there is a history of Cancer in my family
Q: Do you wear a wetsuit?
No. Wetsuits help to keep you warm, are an aid to buoyancy and help most people to swim faster. One may wear: 1 pair of Speedos, 1 hat and 1 pair of goggles. When swimming in the dark, light sticks are also permitted
Q: What does the training involve?
I have been training at weekends with the 'Channel General', Freda Streeter in Dover harbour. We share the harbour with dullard rowers and large ferries. 29 laps of the harbour is the approximate (straight line) distance to France. The harbour looks quite clean when viewed from a satellite. You can’t see the jelly fish either.
An average week currently involves about 35-40k of swimming, mainly open water. For those who like this quantified in lengths of a 25m pool (and you are the majority), that's 1400 to 1600 lengths per week. The longest single swim I have done is 6 hours (several times). This will increase until around 2 weeks before the swim when tapering kicks in.
Q: Is the water dirty/cold?
Dover harbor is certainly pretty cold and is in no danger of being taken over by Evian. At the start of the season on 1st May, the temperature was approximately 11 degrees and this will hopefully increase to 16 degrees by the end of July. The Dover area is approximately 1 degree warmer than at the same time last year, suggesting that global warming is making channel swimming slightly easier.
Q: Do you have a boat to follow you?
Yes, indeed. Several swimmers have tried without troubling themselves with the inconvenience of arranging a support boat, but they are now dead so I thought this a reasonable precaution.
Q: How long will it take?
This is very hard to predict as it is entirely contingent upon the weather, particularly the wind direction and tides. The average time is approximately 14 hours. The tides near the French coast are notoriously tricky and it is not unknown to spend 3 or more hours within a mile of the coast.
Q: How many?
Captain Matthew Webb made the first observed and unassisted swim across the Strait of Dover swimming from England to France on 24 August–25 August 1875 in 21 hours and 45 minutes. He allegedly drank brandy and beer to keep him warm. According to the Channel Swimming & Pilot’s Federation website, up to the end of 2006 there have been:- 916 solo crossings from England to France- 255 solo crossings from France to England- This including 33 2-way swims & 3 3-way swimsThese were completed by completed by 544 male swimmers & 262 Female swimmers – 806 individuals in total.By comparison, as of the end of the 2006 climbing season, there have been 3,050 ascents to the summit of Everest, by 2,062 individuals (source: Wikipedia). The world record number of channel swims is held by Alison Streeter MBE, the General’s daughter. She has completed:43 Crossings in total1 x 3-way swim3 x 2-way swims34 x 1-way swims
Q: Grease, Goose fat, et al.
‘Greasing’ is allowed although this is concerned with preventing friction burns rather than keeping warm. Checklist of areas to grease:- Chin- Under arms- Triceps- Back of the neck- KnackersThere are several grease products available, although my current favourite is Vaseline petroleum jelly.
