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Years ago when I lived in Botswana I had decided that I wanted to swim the English Channel. It literally just popped into my head. I was about 10 years old and told some of my class mates at the time that I was certain that’s what I was going to do. I enjoyed my swimming at Broadhurst Primary School in Gaborone where Mr Haggett and Mrs Shanahan made sure I swum to the best of my ability! I then went off to St Stithians College in Johannesburg for a tough intro to competitive swimming. The standard of South African swimming is exceptionally high.There I met Michael Thorpe and Julian Marsh who have both swum for Transvaal (Gauteng) and are exceptional swimmers to say the least. I also met Rob Macmahon who is a waterpolo legend. Together, these 3 gents will make up my pace team accompanying me in the water. Then there are my 2 partners in crime, Ian Galloway (England) and Kyle Harbinson (Botswana) who complete my boat crew as vital feeders, providing me with all the nutrition I will need whilst on the crossing.
Years ago when I lived in Botswana I had decided that I wanted to swim the English Channel. It literally just popped into my head. I was about 10 years old and told some of my class mates at the time that I was certain that’s what I was going to do. I enjoyed my swimming at Broadhurst Primary School in Gaborone where Mr Haggett and Mrs Shanahan made sure I swum to the best of my ability! I then went off to St Stithians College in Johannesburg for a tough intro to competitive swimming. The standard of South African swimming is exceptionally high.There I met Michael Thorpe and Julian Marsh who have both swum for Transvaal (Gauteng) and are exceptional swimmers to say the least. I also met Rob Macmahon who is a waterpolo legend. Together, these 3 gents will make up my pace team accompanying me in the water. Then there are my 2 partners in crime, Ian Galloway (England) and Kyle Harbinson (Botswana) who complete my boat crew as vital feeders, providing me with all the nutrition I will need whilst on the crossing.
After school I then took a break from the pool, getting caught up in touch rugby, athletics and marathons in South Africa. Since July last year I have been doing a certain amount of pool training but now I stick to open water.
I’ve laid off the beers, piled on the chocolate, ice cream and pies and raised my weight by 12 kilos. Just bashed the scales at 93 kilos on the dot! Fairly happy with that. Ideally had set a target of 96kgs to be certain I would be able to ward off the cold waters of the English Channel. But with the swim only a week away I’m going to focus on other aspects of my swimming. 6th August is the launch date, but I have a week’s window to set off as it all depends on the weather and if my boat skipper says it’s safe. Will be kaking bricks when the harbor flag in Dover is not waving – meaning its time to rock and roll and will get a call from my pilot saying something like, ‘Get greased up for 3am tomorrow ready to take the plunge at 3:30!’
Hope you enjoy the pics and the brief account of recent training events and will update this blog when possible. Also, if you find the time to sponsor me then it would be much appreciated. All funds go to Save The Children via a secure site (see ‘justgiving’ link on the top left of the page) and more specifically their hunger programs worldwide.
White Cliffs of Dover
I’ve laid off the beers, piled on the chocolate, ice cream and pies and raised my weight by 12 kilos. Just bashed the scales at 93 kilos on the dot! Fairly happy with that. Ideally had set a target of 96kgs to be certain I would be able to ward off the cold waters of the English Channel. But with the swim only a week away I’m going to focus on other aspects of my swimming. 6th August is the launch date, but I have a week’s window to set off as it all depends on the weather and if my boat skipper says it’s safe. Will be kaking bricks when the harbor flag in Dover is not waving – meaning its time to rock and roll and will get a call from my pilot saying something like, ‘Get greased up for 3am tomorrow ready to take the plunge at 3:30!’
Hope you enjoy the pics and the brief account of recent training events and will update this blog when possible. Also, if you find the time to sponsor me then it would be much appreciated. All funds go to Save The Children via a secure site (see ‘justgiving’ link on the top left of the page) and more specifically their hunger programs worldwide.
White Cliffs of Dover
