www.HoffySwims.com

Back in training! Back to where the journey began...

2012-01-13T15:50:00.000Z

Above: Training @ Culford School swimming Pool, on August 19, 2006. The start of my first English Channel swim journey.

This week I took the plunge (sorry about the pun!) and decided to get back in the pool and see how I felt after 18 months out of the pool. So at 06:50am on Wednesday, I arrived back at my old school where it all started back in 2006, Culford School swimming pool. In the men's changing rooms, the same old face were all there. It was like I hadn't been away. Glynn who was one of the members of my 2007 Virtual Channel Swim team was the first person I saw and it was great to be back.

As always when I haven't swum for a while, I swim to see how far I can go in the one hour session from 7am to 8am. Whatever that may be is my starting point. My starting point turned out to be 50 lengths, or 1,250 Metres. Not bad, not good, but it was my starting point.

This morning I was really eager to get in again. Arriving early I was the second in the pool and my goal was to achieve 54 lengths, 4 more than Wednesday. I was therefore surprised when after 30 lengths I looked at the clock and only 22 minutes had passed. At 30 minutes I was already on 50, and so I carried on. At 07:55 I was delighted to have clocked up 100 lengths or 2,500 Metres. I was chuffed to bits to double my distance on only my second session back. Just goes to show how with good nutrition, massage and the right mental philosophy you can achieve anything, and that's how I feel right now. Focused.

As soon as I arrived home, I ensured that I practice what I preached and consumed a good quantity of protein about 1 hour and 10 minutes after my swim.

Building and protecting your muscles with protein

Swimming and indeed any exercise causes changes in the muscles, including breakdown as well as depletion of energy stores and some tissue damage. The proteins in muscle tissue are broken down into amino acids, and these are used by the body for energy during exercise. Any good sports regime will include a variety of nutrients to offset these effects and will not only rebuild muscle but build up the body's reserves of energy again as soon as possible. I use Nature's Sunshine Products (NSP) as my daily source of essential nutrients.

A complete protein source taken soon after finishing exercise is needed - ideally within 2 hours (20 minutes being optimal). If the body doesn't have this immediately available, it can take anything up to 2 weeks for the muscles to fully recover. Also, some tissue damage can occur during exercise, and protein is required to repair this efficiently.

In addition, every muscle movement involves both contraction and relaxation and a depletion of vital nutrients can lead to cramps and lactic acid build up.

I use SynerProTein on a daily basis after exercise and after my work as a sports massage therapist and diet and nutrition consultant. SynerProTein is a powerful protein supplement designed by Dr James Scala, nutritionist to NASA and the US Olympic team so I know it is good for me!

Having had two good sessions in the pool, I feel great and now can't wait for Monday when I will now have to better 100 lengths!

Mike Read receives an MBE in the Queens New Years Honour's Lits

2011-12-31T15:18:00.001Z

Above and below: Mike Read MBE (centre) back in 1980 presenting the trophies to winners of the Bury St Edmunds Swimming Club (The Bury Beavers) annual club championships. Also in the picture starting at the back, left to right: Michael Ransom, me, Cheryl Cole, Andrew (Andy) Taylor, Lorraine Smith, Stephen Alan, Angela Stevenson. Middle row: Anna Gittus, Mike Read, Melanie Berry. Front, kneeling, Nigel Stemp.

I received an e-mail this morning stating that Mike Read had received an MBE for services to swimming in The Queens New Year's Honour's list (page 44 of document). Way back in 1980, I first met Mike when he presented the trophies to us at our annual club championships presentation evening. It was there that I first heard the title "King of The Channel". He explained how he had swum The English Channel 19 times then (now 33). My best friend, Nigel Stemp and I were simply amazed at this, and it was on that day, back in 1980 that the seed was planted for me wanting to swim the channel.

In 2006 when I decided I wanted to swim the channel, I hadn't seen or heard anything of Mike in all of those intervening 26 years. However, he was the obvious and first choice for me to "Google" and try to get in touch with, and he was extremely helpful and friendly when I did get in touch. I hadn't got involved in all of Channel Swimming politics then, and didn't even realise there could be such a thing. I didn't know there were two organisations. When I found out about it all, it reminded me of the 'Monty Python' film 'The Life of Brian'. On one side you had 'The People's Front of Judea' (The Channel Swimming Association Limited) and on the other side you had 'The Judean People's Front' (The Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation). Both doing the same thing, getting people across The English Channel, but both with different sets of viewpoints, and means of doing it. I had stepped out of the cauldron of the Bury St Edmunds Town Council versus the St Edmundsbury Borough Council, straight into another quite different political arena!

Mike Read was the Chairman of The Channel Swimming Association Limited, and it was with them that I successfully completed my first English Channel swim. Mike helped me along the way, turning up at Felixstowe on December 26, 2006 wearing his 'Bury Beavers' sweatshirt which he had been given on that night way back in 1980 (pictured below). He inspired me to complete my longest cold water swim at that time - 1 mile @ six degrees Centigrade. I was so, so cold, that if he hadn't been there I think I would have got out after 5 minutes! I will never forget his words when I finished the 35 minute swim. He came running down the beach and said "If you can do that, you can swim The Channel". Those words really inspired me to achieve my goal.

Above: Mike Read and I in the icy waters of The North Sea at Felixstowe, Suffolk on Boxing Day, December 26, 2006.

When I organised a 'Virtual Channel Swim' on May 28, 2007, again, he was there to be part of my virtual channel swim team which raised over £1,800 for CLIC Sargent Children's Cancer charity.

Above: Top left to right: Don Neate, President of West Suffolk Swimming Club in 2007, me and Mike Read outside the CLIC Sargent offices in Bury St Edmunds. Bottom, left to right: Me, English Channel aspirant Tom Gunning and Mike Read after completing our Virtual Channel Swim.

Whatever the politics that has gone in in Channel Swimming circles since then, and there has been a lot, all I know is this. If it hadn't of been for Mike Read's inspiring talk at 'The Centa' in Bury St Edmunds, way back in 1980, I would not be sitting here writing this post now. I would never have swum The Channel or represented my country at open water swimming. So when Mike's son asked me to write about how he inspired me, some 2-3 years ago now so that they could secretly get him an award, I was only too pleased to do so. His swimming experiences speak for themselves and so I would just like to say congratulations to Mike on receiving this award - Mike Read - Member of The British Empire.

2011 - a sparse year for swimming, but exciting prospects ahead

2011-12-29T17:35:00.001Z

Well, it's been a pretty sparse year for swimming, but with two young children, a new business to continue building and alot of time spent training in Advanced Clinical Massage in Brighton, it most certainly hasn't been boring! Apart from another swim around Brighton pier (pictured above) in September, my only swims for 2011 have been documented on this site. The problem is that I have been massaging from 10 am in the morning, sometimes until 9pm at night with virtually no breaks except for 20 minutes or so for nutrition. At 13.5 stones, I am some 2 stone (24 pounds) lighter than I was when I swum in the English Channel Relay in 2010, and this year has been somewhat of a blurr!

In the summer, I thought of a quite unique swim which I believe to be possibly a world first. I measured it on Google Earth as about 26 miles in a straight line. I found a pilot who said they would help me, and their boat is shown above. It would be really tough and would probably involve 2 changes of tide. However, I cannot see at the moment how I would be able to train for such an event. I am still thinking about this one though.

I did however, manage to complete my blog post for our 2010 Team Iryna International English Channel Relay. I started it just after the swim in 2010, but due to the delay in getting all of the team member's photos collated together, it never got finished. However, it is now finished and as it is in chronological order, you may not have realised it was there. If you click on the certificate above, or on these highlighted pieces of text, you will jump to the post. It brought back great memories finishing the post.

As I haven't got much else to do (HaHa), I have started writing a book based on my swimming an other experiences since I was five years old and joined the Bury St Edmunds Swimming Club. I have no idea how long it will take, but based on my word rate so far, it should be finished around 2020! I have provisionally called it "Journey to France...The Hard Way!". I will update the site with my progress over the next 8 years!

Lastly, I was delighted and humbled to have been include in the OpnWaterPedia website which I stumbled across by accident. Click here or on the logo above to access it.

I hope everyone has a very happy new year, and thank you to everyone who reads this site. I am still amazed that it gets around 60 unique hits per day from all over the world.

Cheers. Hoffy. x

A swim around Felixstowe Pier - I feel a trend coming on!

2011-08-08T06:06:00.017+01:00

Above: with Luca 2 days after his second birthday on Felixstowe beach. Sunday July 31, 2011.

To try and get back into swimming in the cold water (although it really isn't "cold" this time of year) we set off in two cars to Felixstowe, which is only a 40 minute drive for us, last Sunday. It was 9 month old Nico's first proper trip to the beach, with Luca being an old hand at it after last year's Suffolk Open Water Swimming trips every Sunday. With my two proposed swims for next year still in the planning stages, I need to start training, and Brighton and now Felixstowe were setting a trend of swimming around piers. This was my small step for today - to swim around Felixstowe Pier.

Although it was a beautiful sunny day, it was quite windy with many "white horses" visible on the sea. Getting into the sea felt really cold and I am really out of touch with getting into the cold water malarkey! I headed off to the pier while mum, dad, Beccy, Luca and Nico all sat on the beach in the sun wondering why this nutter keeps getting the sea and swimming around piers!

It wasn't a long swim, but it was good to be in the sea again, although it was very choppy and the tide was strong again like Brighton. On the far side of the pier, I did as I did in Brighton which was to swim at an angle of about 60 degrees into the tide, which then sent me in a straight line along the side of the pier. The worst bit was the cold water going in my ear. It really hurt for some reason. Really hurt. Never experienced that before. Anyway, suffice to say, I completed the swim and returned to shore satisfied. It's all the start of a years worth of training again to achieve my goal of swimming one river swim in Germany, and another swim in Suffolk involving two rivers and the sea.

After the swim, we headed of to 'Old Felixstowe' in search of a pilot boat. I got some good contacts at Felixstowe Sailing Club. Hopefully I can update things shortly, but first, I must go to hospital today for a hernia operation. It's been there for about 8 years but in the past couple of months it has been starting to hurt. Hopefully I can then get in the pool in about 2 weeks time to start the training properly. Both swims will be to raise more much needed funds for St Nicholas' Hospice in Bury St Edmunds.

2 Swims in The English Channel in Brighton in 2 days - Loved it!

2011-07-16T14:30:00.013+01:00

This week I have been in Brighton again for 3 days as part of my ongoing Advanced Clinical Massage training. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Wrist and Arm Pain was the topic. During the first day, I made up my mind that I was going to swim round The West Pier, Brighton's most photographed building which was destroyed by fire in 2003 but soon to be replaced by the incredible i360.

Swim 1 - Wednesday July 13, 2011

So nearly 11 months after getting in any sort of water other than the bath or shower, I left the course at 5:30pm, headed back to my hotel, changed into trunks, T-Shirt and flip flops, and headed for the beach, towel, goggles, hat and earplugs in hand. I was on a mission. It felt strangely exciting, like something I had never done before. I walked down the beach and got ready, heart thumping 13 to the dozen at the thought of swimming right round this mighty structure in front of me.

Above: The West Pier, Brighton, by photographer Nicole Carman.

I went through my usual (when getting in cold water) routine of stepping in, bending over and splashing the cold water over me. It felt frigging freezing! Yet, it was probably about 16 Degrees C. About the same temperature as I had spend nearly 14 hours in exactly 4 years and 3 days ago on my first English Channel Swim. I kept on walking in, then took the plunge. Literally. I dived in and started swimming slowly. The stroke was fine, water felt quite warm actually, and so I headed off for my trek around the pier.

I stuck to the outside of the buoys. I assumed they were there as there was steel on the seabed after the fire. I was a bit worried as I had no idea how deep it was or how far below the surface any steel may have been. But the sea was as flat as a mill pond, and I felt OK. Not very fit, but OK. I pulled up level with the end of the pier, then turned left and swum around the back. The vast rusty steel columns were very intimidating and really quite eerie. As I swum around the back, I had a feeling of being along way out, alone and not really very sea swim fit for being out here on my own. I kept going, then turned left and headed back towards shore. It felt good. As I passed the end of the pier, I cut in and headed back to my starting point where my towel would hopefully still be laying. I made it to shore feeling very pleased, but as I stood up, I felt extremely dizzy. I kept wanting to fall over to the left. It was all I could do to stand up. Like a type of vertigo. My head was spinning. I steadied myself and just stood there until it disappeared. Weird indeed! Never experienced that before. But I had done it! I walked back to the hotel in my trunks and settled in for the night, determined to do the same the next day.

Swim 2 - Thursday July 14, 2011

At the end of day 2 of the 3 day course, we were all invited out to dinner by the course instructors, Rachel and Sue. This was to be at 7pm. So I rushed back to the hotel and went through the same routine as the day before, heading off to the beach determined to swim around again. When I saw the sea, I couldn't believe the difference to the day before! The tide was coming in at about 45 degrees to the pier, and the waves were huge. I know we swimmers do tend to exaggerate about huge waves, but these were big buggers, especially when you are not sea swimming fit. I didn't care, I was going in. I went through the same routine and eventually got in, literally being battered and beaten back by the force of the incoming tide.

I started to swim forward and got hit again and again by the waves. This was tough, but the worst thing was I was getting swept towards the large steel girders of the pier at incredible force. I am never sacred of the sea, but I do respect it. I decided that if I swum behind the pier, I would be swept into the steel, so I decided to swim along to the end of the pier then come back again. On the way out, I swum away from the pier at 45 degrees, which compensated for the sea coming in at 45 degrees. This meant that I swum in a relatively straight line. Clever I thought!

On the way back, I did the opposite. I swum toward the beach at 45 degrees into the tide which meant again I swum in a relatively straight line. But on the way back, the waves picked me up and hurtled me downwards, one of them pinning me to the seabed for a few seconds. I didn't panic, let it pass, then carried on my way. I arrived back on dry land, experienced the dizziness again, but not so badly, then walked back to the hotel, showered and met up with the rest of the people on the course for a great dinner.

I am really pleased to have completed these two very contrasting swims, back in the pool now until I visit Brighton again in September for the advanced sports stretching part of the course.

Feeling the urge to swim again after 11 months out!

2011-07-12T13:41:00.013+01:00

Above: Standing in front of the old Brighton Pier, June 2011, pondering my next swim.

Since March 2009, our life has been in a constant state of flux. We have had two beautiful sons, Luca and Nico, both Beccy and I have been elected to St Edmundsbury Borough Council and having changed career direction from 20 years in IT to Sports Injury/Clinical massage, I have been constantly on training courses to qualify in my chosen new career. This has taken me from Bury St Edmunds, to Grantham, to Birmingham, to London, to Dublin, and currently includes many trips to Brighton until January 2012. It was while on a trip to Brighton last month, that I decided that I needed to swim again. As I gazed across the English Channel, seeing France looming even larger than it appears from Dover, I decided on a swim I want to do, but will take some organising.

On my return to Bury St Edmunds, the first thing I did was to contact the excellent team at Culford School Sports and Tennis Centre, who once again agreed to sponsor me for my next challenge. My training base will be in the superb 25 Metre pool at Culford where it all started in 2006 when I announced to my wife that I was going to swim the English Channel. I can't believe that it was in fact 4 years ago on Sunday July 10th that I completed the first swim. Incredible how time flies!

I just have one small issue to sort out before I can start training in earnest - a hernia! I have had a small hernia in my groin for about 6 plus years. It hasn't hindered me in any way, shape or form. In fact, I swum the channel with it twice! However, due to the vigor's of my job, I have now torn it slightly and will be operated on on August 8th, followed by 10 days rest. Then it will be all systems go! For now though, I will need to start organising things to see if the swim is viable. It will be a river swim, and in Germany. That's all I want to say at present.

Off to Brighton again now. Hopefully will pluck up the courage to get in the sea. It will be tough as I haven't been in a pool or sea for all these months.

Cheers.

Hoffy.

2 Firewalks Completed - It's all about the Body and Mind...

2011-02-21T12:04:00.024Z

Above: The moment I completed my first of two firewalks on Sunday February 20, 2011 for The Stroke Association.

Yesterday I completed another of my long term goals by completing not one, but two firewalks. I handed just over £293 (inc. gift aid) to The Stroke Association yesterday, but hopefully I can add to this over the next week or so.

Arriving at The Haberden, home of The Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club, at about 3:45, I queued up with about 80 other potential firwalkers to hand over our sponsorship money, and sign our disclaimer. As I walked in, the fire was built and lit ready for us to commence at about 5:15pm.

Above: The team from UK Firewalk build and light the fire ready for about 80 firewalkers to do battle with both body and mind.

After a very interesting and informative training session with two time Guinness World Record Holder for the greatest distance walked on fire - Scott Bell, we all walked out onto the Bury St Edmunds 1st XV Rugby pitch to the cheer of the quite large crowd, took our shoes off and queued to await our turns. The ground was absolutely freezing. I think taking our shoes off was designed to make our feet numb to the pain of the fire. It really did make them numb.

Above: The fire is well alight, the crowd was cheering and it was time to commence the firewalk!

Scott Bell started us off by showing how it was done; stand at the start of the fire, mental focus - picturing yourself completing the firewalk before you have even started it (much as I did many times on my channel swims), a big breath - in through the nose and out through the mouth, then...just walk across totally focussed on the job in hand (or should I say under foot?!).

It looked easy, he walked across and everyone followed, one by one to large cheers of the crowd for every successful firewalk.

Eventually it was my turn, and I went through the mental routine as described above, and as I had in fact been doing many times in my head in the days leading up to the firewalk using NLP visualisation techniques.

Deep breath in...focus...and...walk!

It went very quickly. Scott had measured the temperature at 533 Degrees Centigrade. That's HOT where I come from! But having mentally prepared for it, apart from a small bit of charcoal catching in between my left foot toes, I didn't feel a thing. The body can cope with whatever you throw at it, as long as your mind is in the right place. I enjoyed it so much, I went back and did it again!

My feet were as black as black can be afterwards. Even today after washing them last night, and bathing them this morning, they are still quite black. But no pain, blisters or after affects. Just pleasure at having completed the firewalk and having exceeded my £250 target for The Stroke Association.

Thank you to my family and friends who turned up to watch (Beccy, Luca, Nico, Mum, Dad, Terry, Viv, Mike, Monica, Julie & Dave) and for those who sponsored me. But it's not too late to sponsor me. Just click on the link below and donate securely online on my JustGiving web page.

www.JustGiving.com/HoffysFirewalk

No swimming at present, so I am doing a Firewalk to raise funds for 'The Stroke Association'

2011-01-24T12:25:00.011Z

Above: On February 20, 2011, I will be walking across 1300 Degrees F Coals for 'The Stroke Association'.

2010 was a strange year for swimming for me. It is important, that when you set yourself a goal, you are totally focused on achieving that goal. For both of my English Channel swims, this was the case, but for my 2010 swim of The Wash, it simply wasn't. We had a multitude of personal issues which were more important than swimming. The biggest of these were the fact that Beccy and I were waiting for our second child to be born (Nico - October 27, 2010) and that I was going on a multitude of courses to help us build up our Personal Wellness business. Looking after my family and my business had to be my no. 1 concern and so although I completed The Great East Swim, The Great London Swim and a successful English Channel Relay, it ended there. I haven't been in a pool or the sea since September and am not sure what lies in store from a swimming perspective at present. I am happy with this, and I am sure I will be back, but not at the moment.

Valentines Firewalk for 'The Stroke Association'

That said, having been a charity fund raiser for as long as I can remember, I couldn't resist being able to tick another little goal off my list, as well as raising funds for a cause close to home. On Sunday February 20, 2011, I am going to complete a firewalk for 'The Stroke Association'.

What is a stroke?

A stroke is a brain attack. It happens when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted. Most strokes occur when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to the brain. Some strokes are caused by bleeding in or around the brain from a burst blood vessel.

My Dad.

In 1990, 6 months after retiring, my dad had what is called a TIA (transient ischaemic attack) sometimes called a mini-stroke. For many hours he did not know where he was, where he had been that day or anything you told him literally 10 seconds previous. Just over 10 years later in 2001, he had a full stroke which affected his speech, and right arm and leg. He has never fully recovered and requires a zimmer frame to walk. But he was one of the lucky ones as you will see below.

Facts about stroke

Every 5 minutes someone in the UK has a stroke. Each year an estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke. Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the UK. A quarter of a million people in England and Wales are living with long-term disability as a result of stroke.

What is The Stroke Association?

It is the only charity solely concerned with combating stroke in people of all ages. They want a world where there are fewer strokes and all those touched by stroke get the help they need. Their mission is to prevent strokes and reduce their affect through providing services, campaigning, education and research. The Stroke Association helped my dad, and so now I will be helping raise funds for them.

I will be doing a firewalk for The Stroke Association on Sunday February 20, 2011. The firewalk will involve walking barefoot over a 5 - 6 metre strip of burning hot embers reaching temperatures of 1300 Degrees F. A fire-team builds the fire, and when it has burned to red-hot embers it is raked level and prepared for the walk. I will remove my footwear and walk across the coals!

Please sponsor me...

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and sponsor me now @:

www.justgiving.com/hoffysfirewalk

Thank You.

Paul Hopfensperger (Hoffy)

Body and Mind Studio Sponsors the 2010 St Edmundsbury Sports Awards

2010-09-29T20:45:00.018+01:00

Paul and Beccy Hopfensperger of Body and Mind Studio presented the 'Unsung Hero Award' at a glittering ceremony to celebrate Abbeycroft Leisure’s St Edmundsbury Sports Awards on Sunday September 26, 2010.

The award, sponsored by Body and Mind Studio was presented to Terry Wright, a volunteer coach at West Suffolk Swimming Club, at Bury St Edmunds Corn Exchange in front of 320 guests from the St Edmundsbury sports world.

Above: The Body and Mind Studio 2010 'Unsung Hero Award' trophy.

Now in its fourth year the awards celebrate the outstanding sporting achievements and performances of individuals and teams from St Edmundsbury at local, regional, national and international level.

The 2010 winner Terry Wright was nominated with the following information “When Terry’s eldest daughter joined the West Suffolk Swimming Club he was quick to offer help. Now all four of Terry’s daughters and his wife swim with the club and Terry has become an irreplaceable volunteer. When a broken lane holder reel prevented the club using anti wave ropes Terry dismantled it, took it to his workshop, and repaired it and the club was back in action within five days. Despite having dyslexia, Terry self funded a UKCC level 2 coaching award and is now part way through his level 3 swimming coach qualification. He is a volunteer coach on poolside for up to 10 hours. Terry is also a keen fund raiser and just 18 months ago Terry and his family raised £1,000 for the club in a sponsored swim. For Terry nothing is too much trouble”.

Above and below: Body and Mind Studio Managing Director, Paul Hopfensperger, presents Terry Wright with his trophy.

Paul Hopfensperger of Body and Mind Studio, said: “As a personal wellness and sports injury company, we are delighted to support the St Edmundsbury Sports Awards this year. The dedication that these men, women and children have to their chosen sport and their achievements in the sporting world representing St Edmundsbury are inspiring, and to present it to someone from my specialist sport, swimming, is simply fantastic!”

Above: Paul and Beccy Hopfensperger with Terry Wright and his trophy.

Michelle Banfield-Curran, Abbeycroft Leisure’s Sports Development Officer and organiser of the St Edmundsbury Sports Awards, said: “We are grateful to Body and Mind Studio for their support of our 2010 awards. Without our sponsors this event could not take place and the hard work and dedication of these sports men, women and children would not be recognised publicly.”

www.BodyandMindStudio.co.uk

'Channel Buoys and Gulls' on BBC 'Eggheads' Friday September 24, 2010

2010-09-23T16:21:00.005+01:00

After over a year's wait, the big day is here tomorrow, Friday September 24th, 2010 - "The Channel Buoys & Gulls" take on the mighty 'BBC Eggheads'! Click here for original story.

When?: 18:00 on BBC Two (except Northern Ireland (Analogue), Wales (Analogue))...

'Team Iryna International' - English Channel Relay - July 04, 2010 - England to France, 12 Hrs. 44 Minutes!

2010-08-25T07:53:00.007+01:00

Above: The route of the 'Team Iryna International' English Channel 6 person relay team, consisting of the following simmers in swim order: Pawel Nowak (Poland), Paul Hopfensperger (England), Carl Willis (England), Iryna Kennedy (Ukraine), Katja Waldorf (Germany) and Julian Bennet (England).

Leaving London following my inaugural (and possibly final if we have to wear wet suits again!) British Gas Great London Swim, I headed down to Dover while Beccy and Luca headed back to Bury. Tomorrow morning I was going back into The English Channel for the first time since my 2008 solo. I was really looking forward to it.

Arriving at 'Swimmers Beach', King of The English Channel, Kevin Murphy and one of the relay team members, Pawel Nowak, were just getting out of the water after a 6 hour training swim. Pawel is training for his solo attempt later in the summer. Kevin invited me round to his flat in Dover for dinner with his wife Jane, and after a trip to Tesco with Kevin, Pawel and his girlfriend, we were cooked a wonderful Polish style meal. It went down a treat. I then headed off to Varne Ridge to find Iryna and her family who were going to give me a bed to put my head down for about 2.5 hours. I went out like a light only to be woken up by the alarm clock at 1am. This was it, we were off!

Above: (Left to Right) Carl Willis, Iryna Kennedy, Pawel Nowak and Julian Bennet waiting to board the support vessel, Sea Satin, piloted by Lance Oram.

Above: (Middle) Katja Waldorf board Sea Satin with Julian and Carl.

Above: Just some of the large quantity of water and food required to support 6 swimmers across The English Channel.

After being explained the rules of a Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation English Channel Relay, I helped Pawel get ready. He was going to swim first, so that he knew what it was like to start a channel swim, and swim in the dark. This was in preparation for his solo swim later in the summer.

He dived off the boat, swum to shore and at 02:47 Hrs. British Summer Time on Sunday July 04, 2010 he set off from Shakespeare Beach heading for France.

Each swimmer has to swim for an hour in a pre-determined order which cannot be changed during the swim. The next swimmer enters the water on a signal from the official observer. During the takeover, the new swimmer must enter the water from behind the swimmer in the water and swim past the preceding swimmer. The previous swimmer should exit the water as quickly as possible with the entire takeover taking no longer that 5 minutes. I got ready to enter the water...

Feeling slightly nervous, slightly excited, I waited for the signal from the observer....then at 03:47am, I dived in behind Pawel, looked up for him and swum past him to start my first hour in the channel as he got out.

As it was only an hour, I decided to just sprint. It was fairly chilly initially, but once I had got going it was fine. I found a good pace and just set about doing my job.

Above: Pawel gets out after his first of 3 swims. The electronic guidance system plots our course.

As I swum, I could see that the sun was slowly rising on the horizon. It was beautiful, if not rather red. "Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning" I thought. As we found out later, I was right!

The next swimmer in was to be Carl Willis. He prepared himself, and went through the same routine as I did.

Above: Carl Willis prepares to enter the channel as the red sky looked stunningly beautiful.

...my last few strokes at full pace, as Carl approcahes me from behind...

I then had a total of 5 minutes from the initial siren to grab on the back of Sea Satin, and haul myself out of the channel.

Back on board it was a surreal experience as I was not used to getting out after just an hour and watching others swim. It had been a great swim. Really enjoyed it, and couldn't wait to get back in again. Poor Katja however, had been really sick while I was swimming. She was really suffering.

After Carl's swim, Iryna entered the water at 05:47 Hrs. to do her first hour. This was her relay team and it was a big moment for her as she dived in The English Channel for the first time. As can be seen from the photos, we were now in the shipping lanes.

She did her first leg admirably, until at 06:47 Hrs. Katja entered the water for the first time. I was a bit worried about her as she had been so sick, and was worried about the cold. However, she did a great job! A really good, strong swimmer.

Next one in after Katja, was to be Julian Bennet. He couldn't wait to get in! He entered the water and swum up behind Katja at 07:47 Hrs. and started his first leg...

Katja hauled herself up onto Sea Satin and wrapped herself in her towel. She was really cold. Shivering profusely.

I encouraged her to get dressed as soon as possible so that she could warm up. She got dressed and laid at the bow of Sea Satin feeling cold and very sick again. Meanwhile, Julian ploughed on, on the journey to France...

Katja with Carl's sister on board Sea Satin after her first swim. Our pilot, Lance Oram and his assistant (I didn't actually get to ask his name - apologies) did a great job and played excellent music all the way across the channel.

We went through the entire cycle for the second time with the swimmers in at the following times: Pawel: 08:47 Hrs., Me: 09:47 Hrs., Carl, 10:47 Hrs., Iryna: 11:47 Hrs., Katcha, 12:47 Hrs. Katcha had taken along time to warm up and had been really sick. I feared for her diving in again, but below is a photo just before she got in at 12:47 Hrs.

Above: Cap Gris Nez, our destination and every channel swimmers hopeful destination. The closest point to England.

Above: Katja during her second stint in the channel between 12:47 and 13:47 Hrs.

At 14:47 Hrs., Pawel got back in the water for the third time for what was to be the final leg of the swim. He walked ashore just to the east of Cap Gris Nez finishing in a time of 12 Hrs. and 44 minutes. We all dived in and swum to shore to meet him.

Having had a few photos taken, we all swum back to the boat ready for the trip back to England. It had been a really enjoyable and successful relay swim which I think we would all always remember. As you can see, the weather on the beach was absolutely beautiful, things were about to change though!

You can never tell whet will happen in The Channel, but the sudden change in conditions on the way back really shocked me. To us inexperienced sailors it was what you would call damn rough! To Lance Oram, it was just Gale Force 6 and "a little cheeky". I sat on deck opposite Pawel and had to cling to the railings for dear life all the way back. I had never experienced this before. Unreal!

When we finally landed back in Dover, we all said our goodbyes, and I drove the 145 miles back home to Bury St Edmunds. Katja put our names and route on the ceiling of the white horse which is a Channel Swim tradition. Next time I am in Dover, I will sign it.

It had been a really busy and successful weekend. The British Gas Great London Swim on Saturday, and an English Channel Relay on Sunday. Quite a nice little weekend really!

British Gas Great London Swim, Royal Albert Dock, London, Saturday July 03, 2010. 74th position out of 3,143 finishers.

2010-07-06T21:47:00.049+01:00

Above: Official finish certificate for my 1 Mile (1,600+ Metres) Great London Swim. A much better time than two weeks ago at The Great East Swim, and over 100 Metres more.

The logistics of getting to the Great London swim were quite complex due to me having to leave London after the race to go directly to Dover to be part of the 'Team Iryna International' English Channel relay team which was due to swim at about 03:30am the next morning (July 04, 2010). So Beccy and Luca left in Beccy's car, and they followed me to London as I drove in my car. It was a scorching hot sunny day, so much better than the conditions for the Great East Swim two weeks before. I had a swim bag ready for a 1 mile swim, and about 3 others packed with clothes, food and swim kit enough for about 20 hours in The English Channel.

When we arrived I studied and memorised the course (pictured above) as we walked the entire length of The ExCel Centre, which was simply huge.

Above: Beccy and I with Luca on first arrival at the event. The Royal Albert Dock venue was most impressive.

Having sussed everything out, I went to the changing tent and put the god damn awful wetsuit on and decided that I probably wouldn't do this race again, as no matter what the water temperature is (it was 21C today) wetsuits are mandatory, not due to the race, but due to the rules and regulations laid down by The Royal Albert Dock. I simply detest wearing them. This was the third time ever and it felt awful.

We headed over to the starting area at 11.00am and Beccy zipped me up. I was absolutely cooked! I felt restricted in movement and totally claustrophobic in it. How can people feel comfortable in these things??? I registered my timing chip and walked into the area where all the swimmers had gathered for the 11.30am start. We must have looked like a bunch of seals all lined up on a beach!

Everyone was getting into the roped off training area so I thought I would acclimatise myself to the conditions. I got into the water and just floated on top as if I had a rubber ring on. These suits are definitely cheating in my opinion. There's no achievement getting in cold water and swimming with a wetsuit on. It's just not cricket!

Luca and Beccy were on the dockside and Beccy was trying to show Luca where I was "Look, he's the one with the black wetsuit and purple swimming hat and goggles on!". He merely had to look at 300 people all similarly dressed to find out which one was dad! lol.

At 11.26, we moved forwards towards the start line where I downed 750ML of Herbalife H30 Pro Isotonic drink, but today, unlike The Great East Swim where I got bogged down in bodies, on top, beside and beneath me, I had a different tactic. These swims are not about who crosses the finish line first, they are about who gets the fastest time. To get the fastest time, you need to be able to swim in the water, not be bounced around on top of other swimmers unable to swim. Your time starts when you cross the start line, and finishes when you cross the finish line, irrespective of who finishes in front of you. Therefore,I was going to start right at the back, and get some clear water to swim in. Make sense? It did to me.

After the warm up, there was a 10...1 count down, and off everybody charged. Except me. I just stood there and when nearly everyone was in the water (about 300 of them male and female) other than about 8 people, I crouched down, and ran across the start line diving into some open water and started swimming. It was great. I was actually swimming!

Within a minute or so, I caught up some of the trailing swimmers who were sparsely populated in the water, and looking up, I swum round them with no problems, and just a few clashes of elbows etc. The usual stuff. Already, I was pleased with my new tactics.

I was at about 85% effort for the entire race, and felt good. My only errors were to go too wide over towards the right of the buoys, which meant I had to cut back in to go round the buoys losing me valuable seconds. On the last buoy before I turned to start heading back, I was a good 20 Metres wide of the buoy. So I must practise swimming in a straighter line for any future Open Water races I might enter.

As I turned for home, with about 600 Metres to go, I upped the pace more, and started to pant and gasp for breath taking in at least 3 mouthfuls of the black water of The Royal Albert Dock. Again I ran wide and as I saw the finish, I had to come in from the right to enter the finishing funnel. I slapped my hand on the electronic timing board of the elite race, but we had about another 20 Metres to go to our finish line, and we had to climb out and run over the finish line.

We were helped out by people standing on the pontoon, and then sprinted across the finish line where the time stopped. I was pleased to find out later that despite keep swimming too wide, I had completed the 1 mile course in 24 Minutes, 27 seconds, finishing 74th overall out of 3,143 finishers. If I learn to swim in a straighter line, I think I can improve on that time considerably though.

Above: Overall race time and position, and with Luca and my finishers medal after the race.

Women's Elite Race

Below are some photos taken just after the end of my race, for the finish of the women's elite race.

The race was won by Great Britain's Cassie Patten, followed by GB's Keri-Anne Payne and Jana Pechanova of Czech Republic in third position. The full results can be found by clicking here.

Men's Elite Race

Below are pictures of the start and end of the men's elite race.

Above: Great Britains Olympic Silver Medallist, David Davies finished in 10th position. English Channel World Record Holder, Petar Stoychev (3 photos up with towel over shoulder) finished in 3rd position.

After guiding Beccy and Luca out of London, throwing my Great London Swim bag into Beccy's car, and ensuring I had everything ready for The English Channel, we said goodbye and I headed off to Dover for an extremely long 30 hours ahead to swim in the 'Team Iryna International' English Channel relay team. A full update will follow shortly.

Interim Update: Great London Swim - Complete: 24 Mins 27 Secs. 'Team Iryna International' English Channel Relay - Complete:12 Hrs. 44 Mins

2010-07-05T14:07:00.009+01:00

Above: With Luca and my medal of completion after posting a pleasing time of 24 Minutes and 27 seconds @ The Great London Swim on Saturday July 3rd, 2010.

Above: 'Team Iryna International" English Channel Relay route, Sunday July 4th, 2010 - England to France, 12 Hrs. 44 Mins.

Just a quick update to say that both swims were completed after a very tiring weekend, and a full update on both will follow shortly. If you would like to sponsor me for these swims to raise money for St. Nicholas Hospice in Bury St Edmunds, then you can do so by clicking on the link below. Thank you in anticipation:-

Donate to St. Nicholas' Hospice here...

Confirmed - Great London Swim, Saturday 11.30 Hrs. English Channel Relay - Sunday 03.30 Hrs. A tiring weekend ahead!

2010-07-02T16:14:00.007+01:00

Firstly, Tomorrow morning at 11.30am I am competing in the light purple wave of the 2010 Great London Swim. I am semi-looking forward to it except for the fact that it is mandatory to wear a wetsuit, something I really do not enjoy, especially since the escapades at Felixstowe a couple of weeks back. However, if I've got wear it, I will wear it and compete to the best of my ability in equipment I am simply not used to.

Secondly, I have just spoken to Mike Oram, Hon. Secretary of the CS&PF, who has confirmed that Iryna Kennedy's English Channel Relay Swim has been confirmed for Sunday morning at about 3.30am in the morning. This means that we will meet in Dover Marina at about 2am on Sunday morning. Mike said it may be Lance Oram who pilot's us, or it could be Mike. I am really looking forward to it, as I have not been in The English Channel since my second solo swim on September 11, 2008, and I have never been involved in a relay.

Above: In the early stages of my first English Channel Swim (England to France 13 Hrs. 52 Mins.) on July 10, 2007.

The logistics of getting to London to swim with all the equipment, then carrying on to Dover to start a relay less than 14 hours later are immense, but very 'do able' and exciting. After all, it's only tiredness and pain! I will report back next week on the two events.

Last open water training session before The Great London Swim and/or English Channel Relay

2010-06-29T12:34:00.011+01:00

Above: Heidi McDowell and I enter the North Sea at Felixstowe on the hottest day of the year so far. For Heidi it was her first time without a wetsuit. Well done!

Following last weeks Great East Swim, I managed to pull a muscle in my left trapezius muscle picking a towel up off the bathroom floor. I keep telling Beccy that this picking up towel business is a dangerous pastime for us elite athletes. Bathroom towels are supposed to be left on the floor! Anyway, that aside, it hampered my training last week, with Beccy having to massage and Kinesio tape the area to assist healing. So as I entered the sea on Sunday, it was the first time since The Great East swim.

Heidi and I were the only two members of the Suffolk Open Water Swimming group who turned up this week, probably due to some football match going on in South Africa where The Sausage Eaters' were about to slay 'St. Georges Dragons' by 4 sausages to 1. They should have come swimming instead. It was a simply glorious day during which I had a beautiful swim down to the Spa Pavilion with Heidi where she turned round and went back while I continued on my way to the pier and back.

The trapezius muscle held out OK. A bit sore, but it was only pain after all. I completed 3,100 Metres before the beach crew, (pictured below) who had spent their time in a small tent this week to protect themselves from the searing sun, packed up, had a quick sausage and chips and headed home to watch the football.

Last night I completed 4,000 Metres in the pool with no problems and will hit the pool again tonight. Well not actually hit it, swim in it I mean!

Next Saturday is The Great London Swim, but there is a slight problem. I am swimming in Iryna Kennedy's English Channel Relay on the July 01 - 10, July and there is a chance the two swims will clash. The relay will most definitely take preference should the two clash. I will keep the blog updated when I know more. Meanwhile, it's just train, train, train this week!

British Gas Great East Swim, Alton Water, Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday June 19, 2010

2010-06-26T10:42:00.085+01:00

Above: Finish certificate for The Great East Swim. A disappointing time, but probably the best possible considering the conditions and an eventful 1,500 Metre race.

On the way to Alton Water, Beccy drove while I studied a map of the course (see above). Using NLP Visualisation and Mental Rehearsal techniques, I shut my eyes and pictured the course over and over again, so that when I actually swum the race, it would be just a re-run of the race having swum it many times before in the car. I learnt all the buoys along with their respective distances, and was mentally prepared when we got there.

As we arrived, the heavens opened, the wind was hurtling across the water and into the car park where we were parked, and it was a really miserable day. The BBC weather forecast said to expect winds of 21MPH in Suffolk. They were not far wrong. We sat it out for about 5-6 minutes in the car, then it just stopped. The sun came out, and it was scorching hot. All in the space of about 60 seconds! This was to be the pattern of the weather for the day.

As we reached the swim area, a "Wave" (as the groups of swimmers are known) was already in the water, and we searched around to suss things out, and prepare for my race which was the "Light Purple Wave" at 11.30am. I put my trunks on in the changing tent, and noticed that virtually everyone was wearing a wetsuit. It was not mandatory as the water temperature was about 16+ Degrees C. It was only mandatory if under 15C. After last week's experiences at Felixstowe, I didn't ever want to wear a wetsuit again, although they are mandatory for The Great London Swim on July 3rd.

Above: Jana Pechanova (Czech Republic - 8th in Women's 10KM Marathon Swim at the 2008 Beijing Olympics) with Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria - Olympian and 9 times FINA World Cup Open Water Swimming Grand Prix Champion and English Channel World Record Holder) start one of the waves.

As I watched Jana and Petar start a wave, Petar spotted me and waved from the podium. I hadn't seen him since Mexico in 2008, and he came over to chat. He was complaining that he felt really cold. It was certainly now very cold and windy, and the water didn't look inviting at all.

At 11.00am, our wave's gates were open to register. As I wasn't wearing a wetsuit, I remained clothed for as long as possible prior to the race so I didn't get cold. We had to enter the gate, wipe our timing chip across something to register that we were here, then entered the starting area. As I did, the heavens open again. The clothes I was wearing were the only ones I had with me, and they were getting soaked!

I started to drink my Herbalife H30 Pro Isotonic Drink, which I had put warm water in before I left home, and started to think about the course again, ensuring I had it locked into my mind. That done, and now starting to get really soaked, I stripped off and stood in the rain in my trunks.

Following the previous weeks tough swim at Felixstowe, and training during the week, I had slightly strained both deltoid muscles, and so Beccy had put Kinesio Tape on both shoulders 24 hours before. It seemed to create quite a stir with people asking constant questions about it, coupled with the fact that I was the only one with no wetsuit on. I just tried to focus on the race ahead.

At 11:29:30, we all pushed towards the front and waited for the countdown at 11:29:50. 10...9...8.....2...1... HONK!!! There was a massive sprint into the water, and everyone seemed to be on top of everyone else.

I seemed to have people on top of me, underneath me, beside me, everywhere! As I tried to swim, I couldn't actually grab any water. I just seemed to be grabbing bodies. It was unbelievable. But, that's open water racing! I was out of practice.

I headed for the first buoy, and as I passed it, I remembered the course, 200 Metres completed, now towards the second buoy at 400 Metres. Bodies continued to be in the way, the wind and waves were coming directly towards us, and I was purely breathing to the right to avoid swallowing water on the left. This was tough!

I headed past the 400 Metre buoy, looked up to see the 600 Metres buoy and sprinted at about 90% effort. I suddenly got into a rhythm, started to bi-lateral breathe and got into the zone. All of a sudden, at about 500 Metres, I decided to overtake a swimmer on the inside when I smashed into an immovable object. Head, face and right arm was stopped dead and it scared the shit out of me. I looked up, and there was some idiot in a kayak who said "Move to the left please. Keep to the left" quite calmly, and as if he hadn't got a care in the world. I couldn't believe it! What a total idiot! Didn't he realise this was a race? Once I had got my senses back, I pushed him out of the way, and had to start again from a standstill. It must have cost me a good 30 seconds, and I was absolutely furious! I was panting so hard I couldn't say anything which is probably just as well as he would have got a gob full I can tell you!

I turned at 600 metres and headed along the back straight where it was much easier to swim. The waves were now no longer into my face, and I again got into a good rhythm, and back into the zone.

As I turned the last buoy and headed for home, I was flat out. I went underneath the elite race finish line and slapped the board, but our race didn't finish there. We had to exit the water and run up onto the bank where our timing chips register the fact you have finished, along with your time. I crossed the finish line, and that was it. Job done.

As I finished, the race commentator came over to me interested in my Kinesio Tape on my shoulders. The conversation went something like this:-

Commentator (C): "So here's a finisher with no wetsuit and some tape on his arms. I've seen this quite a few times now, could you tell me what it is please".

Me (PH): "Huh ... Huh ... Huh ... Huh ..... It's ... cal .... called .... Huh .... Huh ... Huh ... I ... can't ... get my ....... breath back .... Huh .... Huh .... Huh .... .Kinesio Tape".

C: "Kinesio Tape, I've heard of that before. What does it do?".

I took a couple of deep breaths so that I could speak, until I felt as though I'd got my breath back.

PH: "Well it helps with sports injuries, by lifting the top layer of skin (epidermis) away from the bottom (dermis) allowing an injury to heal quicker by getting the blood flow to the injury. I have slightly injured my shoulders which is why I'm wearing it." I thought I would plug my business, so I added laughing... "...it's available at Body and Mind Studio in Bury St Edmunds!"

C: "Interesting. I note you are not wearing a wetsuit, why is that?"

Now there was an interesting question! I thought that I would plug true Open Water Swimming as I knew it and replied:-

PH: "I'm a two time English Channel Swimmer, and we are not allowed to wear wetsuits to swim the channel. Wetsuits are for wimps". I looked around and suddenly realised how outnumbered I was so laughed nervously and started to walk away, but he continued...

C: "We have some of the world's top open water swimmers here, and they are wearing wetsuits. Do you think they are wimps then?".

Now I was in trouble! I didn't know they would be wearing wetsuits, and even as I write this blog, I am not sure why they were wearing them as they don't usually. They didn't in Serbia or Mexico, so no idea really. I thought on my toes quickly.

PH: "I don't know, you will have to ask them." I replied as I walked away surrounded by wet suited swimmers!

I walked off towards the official photographer, collected my goody bag with medal in and went off to find Beccy and Luca.

When I found her we chatted about the race, then told me some sad news. She said that as my wave had started, she had seen a lady in a wetsuit being brought to shore in a boat and CPR was being administered. She said she looked grey, had floppy arms and looked dead. She said they took her away in an ambulance (see footnote below for more information). I listened to her and it makes you realise that we are in a dangerous sport. Everyone should know the risks before they contemplate any Open Water Swimming. No one knew anything else about it, and so all we could do was continue with the day until we heard anything else about it.

I missed the start of the Elite Women's Race, as I went to get changed, but got back in time to watch the end of it, and to watch the Elite Men's Race competitors get ready for their race.

Above: Petar Stochev (in wetsuit - bizarre, why did they have to wear wetsuits?) warming up for the Elite Men's race.

Above: Centre, Great Britain's James Goddard competing in his first open water race, following an interview by the race commentator.

Above: The finish of the Elite Women's race. Full results can be obtained by clicking here.

Above: Great Britain's Olympic Bronze Medalist and World Championship Silver Medalist Cassie Pattern who finished 3rd in this race.

Above: With Beccy and Luca after my swim and just prior to the start of the Elite Men's race.

Above: Petar Stoychev (red hat) and Brendan Cappell (blue hat) of Australia who will be attempting to break Stoychev's English Channel World Record this summer.

We watched the Elite men's race set off and they went at a blistering pace. At the head of the pack were some of the world's top elite open water swimmers. There was a large outdoor television screen on which you could watch the race. Luca was fascinated by my medal, which each finisher received.

I headed over towards the finish line ad watched as the race finished with Brendan Capell in 3rd place and Petar Stoychev back in 5th, both positions surprising me. Stoychev took a long time getting out of the water, and did not look happy.

I went over to chat to Brendan Capell about his forthcoming English Channel World Record attempt. We spoke about CSA/CS&PF etc., when over came Stoychev to confront Capell. Now retired German Open Water Swimmer Steffie Biller also came over, and a slightly heated conversaton occurred between Stoychev and Capell.

Above: Stoychev (left) accuses Capel (right) of wrecking his race, but Capell was having none of it saying that it was called "racing"!

I walked off with Stephie as they argued. I didn't want to get involved in that one! As it started to get colder again, we decided to head home having had a great day at Alton Water, even though I was dissapointed with my time and hitting the kayak. Next up is The Great London Swim on July 3rd.

FOOTNOTE: During the week, we discovered very sadly that the lady Beccy saw being pulled from the water was in fact 35 year old Tracey Rammell from Leicester who very sadly died in hospital after the race. The story can be found by clicking here. Our deepest sympathies go to her family and friends.

Motivational talk for members of the USAF 100th Maintenance Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk.

2010-06-20T20:58:00.030+01:00

On Wednesday June 16, 2010, I was invited by Lt. Col Ralph Watson, Commander of the 100th Maintenance Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, to give my Channel Swim talk to members of the squadron to help motivate them and explain goal setting. To do this, I spent most of Tuesday, chopping it down and removing PowerPoint slides to make it about 25 minutes instead of the usual 50 minutes to fit in with their schedule. I e-mailed it across to MSgt James Duncan on Tuesday evening so that they could install it on the PC ready for the 7.30am talk on Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday morning, I set the alarm for 5.30am, got ready, and headed for RAF Mildenhall, some 15 miles away, ready to meet with MSgt James Duncan at 7.00am to ensure everything was ready. When we got into the presentation area, I estimated that there were well over 100 US Airmen and women stood to attention, waiting for the commander to enter the room. Just before the start, MSgt James Duncan informed me that they could not load the PowerPoint presentation due to the PC's being upgraded as we spoke. I said, not to worry, we could re-schedule the talk. I sat down in the audience and listened to the commander give his talk, totally relaxed, switched off and not even thinking about my talk.

Above: Msgt James Duncan outside the offices and work area of the 100th Maintenance Squadron.

As he spoke, he started talking about motivation, goal setting etc. and I started to worry. Did he know the PowerPoint presentation wasn't working I wondered? Then I heard "...and so now I'd like to welcome up Paul Hopfensperger who is going to give a talk on goal setting and motivation, and explain what he has achieved in swimming. Paul, please come up and give your talk". I was busy shaking my head saying "No, No", but to no avail! They all applauded, and before I knew it, I was up at the front with over 100 faces eagerly staring at me waiting to hear my talk! Quick thinking was required.

Using NLP visualisation techniques, I did the only thing I could think of, I visualised my PowerPoint presentation in my head, slide by slide and did my talk on the fly. I really got into it, and in fact it may have been better without the slides than with them. I was totally associated into the channel swim. I could see Beccy on the pilot boat, I could feel the water on my body as if it were only yesterday. I will ask for some feedback this week to see what they thought, although they all seemed to enjoy it. At the end, they all applauded, asked questions, and before they went to work, some of the more senior officers had a photo taken with me at the front of the room.

Above right: Me, centre with Lt Col Ralph Watson and six members of his squadron after the talk.

Thank you to Lt Col Ralph Watson for inviting me to speak, and perhaps we could do it again sometime, this time with the PowerPoint presentation and the accompanying photos.

Donal Buckley's English Channel Swim 2010

2010-06-16T22:20:00.004+01:00

Following an e-mail from Ned Denison in Ireland, I am delighted to be one of two crew members for Donal Buckley's English Channel swim on the August 01 - 10 tide, 2010.

Donal is an open water swimmer who lives in the South-East of Ireland, who is swimming The English Channel to raise funds for The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). He is swimming with the CS&PF, and his pilot is Chris Osmond.

I will be one of two crew members, Claire Morrissey being the other.

Donal is pictured training in the pool, and his Channel Swim website can be found at www.loneswimmer.com. Good luck Donal, and I am looking forward immensley to you becoming a channel swimmer.

Final Open Water training swim before The 2010 Great East Swim means only one thing - Trialling out a wetsuit!

2010-06-15T21:02:00.030+01:00

Above: Something I'd never thought I'd see - me in a wetsuit, a necessity for The British Gas Great Swim Series if the water temperature is below 15 Degrees C. Hopefully it won't be! As I write it is 17.7 Degrees C in Alton Water Sports Centre, Ipswich. Looking good for no wetsuit! For a full set of rules and everything else about the event, click this link to download the '.PDF' brochure.

I had been dreading Sunday's swim for some weeks, but knew it had to come. I have never swum any significant distance in a wetsuit before, but I had to trial one before next Saturday's Great East Swim, just in case we have to wear one. If the water temperature is correct on the website @ 17.7C, we won't have to, but I had to be prepared. I put it on, and immediately felt confined, inhibited, cramped, enclosed. Call it what you like. I hated it and hadn't even got in the water yet.

As I stepped into the water with 2011 English Channel Aspirant Tracy Van Dyk, who was also wearing one in training for next weeks race, I noticed something immediately. Not only did I not feel cold, I couldn't feel anything. The suit totally kept me warm, and I didn't even feel as though I was in the water. If ever this was cheating at something, this was it! I started swimming and couldn't wait to touch the pier, get back and take this damn thing off. 3,100 Metres here I come at full speed!

The sea today was really choppy, and reminded me of my second English Channel swim. This was great practice as we were out in the elements here, out in The North Sea amid the wind and waves. Just like The English Channel. I thought about Tracy and thought what good practice this was for her, as well as for me for The Wash, if only we didn't have these damn wetsuits on!

'Little Hoffy' was with us today, along with 'Tiny Hoffy'. Little Hoffy was helping on the beach and taking photos, so thanks very much for that Baz.

At about 600 Metres towards the pier, I did what seasoned wetsuit swimmers would probably laugh at. I felt an air bubble down my neck, so stopped and pulled the wetsuit forward to let the air out. Or so I thought. What I actually did was let about 10 pints of water down the front of the suit, adding god knows how much cold water weight to my body! It felt cold and bloody awful. What an idiot! However, I carried on, touched the pier and headed back.

As I came ashore to feed and take the suit off, I asked Beccy where everyone was? "They've all got out" she said. I couldn't believe it! Must have been the wetsuits!

Fellow swimmers Chris Shutt and Philip Beer appeared, Philip to say goodbye as he had completed his training now for an event next week, and wouldn't be coming again. I got the suit off, had my feed and set off, suddenly feeling free without the water filled wetsuit on!

www.HoffyFlies.com? (Not really!!!) Great photo by Little Hoffy though!

Anyway, I set off back towards the pier for the second leg, and it started getting really rough in there. I was swimming against the tide, and it seemed to take forever to get to the pier. About half way down I saw Little Hoffy pushing Tiny Hoffy along the promenade, and it spurned me on as I tried to keep up with them. I eventually touched the pier, turned round and headed for home. For the first time this year, my shoulders were really hurting. The sea was getting rougher and rougher, and it was getting tough. But I just put one arm in front of the other, and completed the 6,200 Metre swim in 1 Hr. 58 Minutes.

Above: Back again to the beach after 3,100 Metres in a wetsuit and 3,100 Metres in just me trunks. I know which one I preferred!

Thanks to the beach crew again this week (pictured above) and good luck to everyone who is competing in next week's Great East Swim.

Footnote: I have got the sorest neck I have ever had from wearing that damn wetsuit. I have a large scab on the hairline, caused by friction between my skin and the wetsuit. I am reliably informed that I should have put Vaseline on my neck. Bit late for telling me that now!

Changing your mindset to achieve your goals. A good day @ Felixstowe completing 6,200 Metres @ 12 Degrees Centigrade

2010-06-08T11:59:00.025+01:00

Above: Suffolk Open Water Swimmers preparing for our respective swims on Sunday June 06, 2010.

After last week's disappointing outcome for me personally, I read through some of my NLP notes during the week and re-energised my mind ready for this week's swim. For anyone who is not familiar with NLP, which I have used for all of my open water swims and to coach other athletes, below can be found the 'Principles of NLP' which can also be defined as 'The Principles for Success':-

The Principles for Success

1. Know Your Outcome (Goal). If you can define your outcome appropriately, then the outcome will be more achievable. Don't start anything without knowing your outcome in advance.

2. Use Your Sensory Acuity. See and sense what is going on in your life as you proceed to your goal. What new things are you noticing in yourself? What new things are you noticing in others?

3. Have Behavioural Flexibility. Be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve success. This is the key. With enough rapport and enough behavioural flexibility, you can always achieve your goals.

4. Build and Maintain Rapport. Create a climate of trust and co-operation.

5. Operate From a Physiology and Psychology of Excellence. Operate from a totally resourcefully state. Do things that will empower you.

6.Take Action Now! Without action there are no results.

As part of this, I re-evaluated training techniques, and surprised myself with what I found out! I concluded that from now on, I am not aiming for 'set hours' in open water, i.e. 2 hours, 3 hours etc., I am aiming for increased distance each time, predetermined before I get in the water. After all, what is the point in hanging around in the water for 2-3 minutes at the end of a session, just to "complete 2 hours". You wouldn't do that if you'd just touched land in France would you? Would you honestly say "Actually, if I just bob around in the water for 8 more minutes, it will have taken me 14 hours!". No of course not, it's nonsense. Multi-channel swimmer Nick Adams once said to me "It's not how long you're in the water Hoffy, it's what you do when you are in there that matters.". How right he was. It's a pity it's taken me so long to realise what he meant.

With that in mind, knowing that the distance to the pier from the beach was 1,550 Metres, I had decided before I got to Felixstowe, that I was going to the pier and back twice, a total distance of 6,200 Metres, which would be in the region of a two hour swim, give or take a few minutes. Based on pool times of a similar distance, it would be around 1 hr. 55 minutes, but with the tides etc., I would wait and see.

The three wet suited swimmers Heidi, Donna and Dave got in, and I followed into the 12 degrees Centigrade water, which on a really dull, grey but humid day, felt colder. I set off to the pier at a good pace, mentally knowing that this wasn't going to be a "2 hour swim", it was going to be a "6.2KM swim". The faster I did it, the quicker I could get out. That makes far more sense to me!

I reached the pier and felt good. As I turned, a seagull was watching me from the railings above. I touched an area which was barnacle free, having completed 1,550 Metres, and set off back towards the beach where I would be fed by Beccy. I was swimming to my first and only feed of this swim. I kept an eye on the seagull, who kept his eye on me. I imagined him dive bombing and pecking my bum! It made me laugh, but also made me swim faster! lol.

I reached the beach, and Beccy fed me my warm drink. I now use Herbalife H30 Pro to feed on rather than Maxim. It's not so sickly, tastes great and is designed specifically for sports people. My time for 3,100 Metres was 55 minutes. I was pleased with this and set off for the pier and back again. I waved at Heidi who was up on the promenade getting changed, and got into a rhythm again.

At the pier, I looked up, and there he still sat. I couldn't believe it. That seagull still sat there on the railing. I think he was waiting for me. Off I shot again, not giving him the chance to even think about pecking!

Anyway, there I was swimming along minding my own business, and as I looked up I saw in the distance what looked like a bare arm (i.e. no wetsuit). I swam towards the arm, and stopped to talk to a guy called Nick who it turned out was training for a Gibraltar Straight crossing this year and an English Channel swim next year. As we chatted he said "Are you Paul?". I said "Yes". He laughed and said "I've been reading your websites". Unbelievable. Swimming along out in the middle of The North Sea and you bump into someone who knows you! Small world.

I sprinted the last section into the beach, finishing 6.2KM in a time of 1 Hr. 53 Minutes. I was well pleased, and felt so much happier than I had a week earlier!

I had a picnic on the beach with Beccy (who is now heavily pregnant and still supporting me greatly, thanks Bex) and Luca who had been shouting "Da Da Da Da Da" all the time I was out there.

Same time next week, but I will have to trial a wetsuit out ready for The Great East Swim in two weeks time. Should be interesting as I have only ever swum about 300 Metres in one, and that was only once. Well done everyone who turned up this week, we are all heading steadily towards our goals. Keep up the good work.

Very tiring week only managing to complete 10,800 Metres...Must try harder next week!

2010-05-31T13:17:00.026+01:00

Above and below: Beccy applies Vaseline to the armpits, neck, side of face and groin areas to avoid chafing in the sea, while Luca wonders what on earth she is doing!

This week has been an extremely busy week. It has been very good for business on Tuesday completing 19 massages! However, it has really taken it out of me physically. I only managed two pool sessions; 4,100 Metres at Culford School pool on Tuesday (after the massages) and 3,000 Metres on Wednesday. It was then Sunday before I got in the water again with the Suffolk Open Water Swimming group @ Felixstowe, via a 200 mile round trip to Grantham on Saturday for business.

On Sunday, there were just three of us turned up for sea swim, Nathan Pittam (left), me and a new member, Jim Dinley. We are all doing The Great East Swim in three weeks time, and shortly I will have to try swimming in a wetsuit for a mile, something I have never done before. As we pulled up to the beach in the car, I noticed what a disgusting colour it was. It looked all churned up and sandy coloured up to 100 Metres from the coast, and differing colours after that.

After the tropical conditions of last Sunday, today was cold with a brisk wind coming in across The North Sea. Although it wasn't raining, it felt colder than any week we had encountered before. I was not looking forward to getting in, and my body felt physically weak after my busy week.

I had agreed with Enda Kennedy in Ireland to do 2.25 hours this week. That was probably to the pier and back twice, and some more which I was going to work out once I had been to the pier and back twice. We all stepped towards the sea, and started to get in.

It felt bloody freezing. I knew it would, and of course as you think, so you attract. I had told myself it would be cold, and it was. I should know better. I set off on my swim and my arms felt heavy. I had forgotten to put my spray into my goggles and they kept steaming up. Already, this felt a shitty swim. I thought about Enda in Ireland, and wondered how he was doing? I knew he would do 2.25 hours as his mental attitude was now definitely in the right place. Mine wasn't. The cool wind was blowing on my back and I started to feel cold. Eventually, I made it to the pier (1,550 Metres) turned round and started to head back. I thought of Beccy and Luca on the beach and thought that they would also be cold and alone on the beach. There was no one else there on the beach this week, and it wasn't fair for them to sit there on their own.

Half way back I saw a couple of Kyakers heading in the opposite direction and started to feel really heavy in the arms. Eventually I reached the beach and Nathan and Jim were already out and dressed sitting with Beccy and Luca. They said their goodbye's as Beccy fed me, then they left for home.

I told Beccy I was going to swim to the first poles and back (another 600 Metres) then get out. I sprinted there and back as fast as I could and stepped out of the water after 3,700 Metres and 1.25 hours.

The sea had become quite choppy all of a sudden and it had been tough. I was pleased that I had completed 15 minutes more than last week, but not pleased that I felt so shattered. Beccy drove back and I slept like a log in the car.

Same time, same place next week, and I must try harder next week. If you want to join us, please visit the FaceBook group at:-

www.SuffolkOpenWaterSwimming.com

Fundraising talk for St. Nicholas Hospice at Bury St Edmunds 'Probus 3' Club

2010-05-27T22:03:00.018+01:00

As part of my fundraising for my 2010 swim of 'The Wash' in aid of St Nicholas Hospice, I was invited by Maurice Buxton, Programme Secretary of the PROBUS 3 Club in Bury St Edmunds to give my talk "Life is a Channel Swim - Setting and Achieving Goals" today. They meet on Thursday's at 'The Friends Meeting House', and having got out of the pool last night after only 59 minutes and 3,000 Metres to go through my presentation, I set off this morning for the 5 minute walk from my home to give my talk.

There were about 55 retired businessmen in the room, and I was pleased that they seemed to listen so intently, as I described my 40 year journey from completing my first width of a swimming pool in 1967 and coming last in the process, to completing my first Channel Swim in 2007, all by setting and completing small goals until I completed the big one at the first attempt.

At the end of the presentation, I was delighted that they put £63.19 into my St.Nicholas Hospice bucket which will be given to them via my JustGiving page tomorrow.

If anyone is interested in the talk, which lasts about an hour, please click on the link below for further details:-

"Life is a Channel Swim - Setting and Achieving Goals".

A Fantastic week: 21,650 Metres total ending in a fantastic swim @ Felixstowe in tropical conditions...

2010-05-24T11:50:00.028+01:00

Above: Beccy: "Well Catherine, yes they are totally mad, but just think of the sun tan you'll be getting on a day like today".

Well this week was the best week of the season so far. Between Monday and Friday I completed some of the biggest sessions in the pool I have swum since my first English Channel swim in 2007. They were as follows:-

MON: 3,050 Metres
TUE: 3,100 Metres
WED: 6,100 Metres
FRI: 6,300 Metres

That's a total of 18,550 Metres in Culford pool, which was capped off by a simply superb day with the Suffolk Open Water Swimming Group on Sunday.

Above: Left to right - Nathan Pittam, Heidi Mcdowell and Donna Whelan on the beach at Felixstowe on a stunningly hot Suffolk day.

I had already set my goals for the day. These were to swim to the pier and back, and stay in the water for a minimum of 1 hour. After all, I have to keep up with Enda Kennedy in Ireland who already did an hour last week! This was a distance of 3,100 Metres round trip. If you look closely in the photo above, you will see the pier in the background.

Heidi, Nathan and Donna were desperate to get in, and as I prepared myself, 'Bury Boy' and 'Florrie's Mum' (well known local Bury St Edmunds bloggers) arrived on the beach for a chat.

I got in the 11 Degrees C water. Had a quick team talk, and off we all went. I headed for the pier and felt really good.

Above: Heading for Felixstowe Pier with two of the other swimmers in the shot also.

At about half way, I felt something brush into my leg and it felt like it had taken a nibble at me. It made me jump somewhat and sent shivers down my spine so I just swum faster to get away from this invisible underwater creature. I then started to think about seals and sharks, and every sail I could see on the horizon was a potential dorsal fin! I snapped out of it and carried on swimming.

Then it happened again. For a split second, I sandwiched something between my elbow and my rib cage. I have no idea what it was, but it felt hard and slimy. I sprinted even faster for the pier, and never did find out what it was.

I touched the pier and thought about the first time I did this swim on December 26, 2006. I had been barely unable to crawl out at that time I had been so cold. This time, I touched the pier, turned straight round and started the 1,550 Metre trek back.

Above: Heading back to the beach which was much easier on the way back as I was swimming with the tide.

I arrived back in 50 minutes, and spent 10 minutes gently swimming around in the beach area to complete the 1 hour in the water. Heidi was up on the beach enjoying the sun, having swum with Donna to The Spa Pavillion and back, and I persuaded Nathan to take his wetsuit of for a few minutes to acclimatise to the cold water. Everyone was really pleased with their achievements today, and already we can see steady progress both in time in the water and in distance. Well done everyone, and thanks to Beccy and Luca, Catherine and Donna's partner for their support on the beach.

It had been a fantastic day, and a fantastic week's swimming. I can't wait for next Sunday now when I will be going for the pier and back twice. If anyone wants to join us, then join the Facebook group for further information:-

www.SuffolkOpenWaterSwimming.com

Suffolk Open Water Swimming Training - Session 4 - May 16, 2010

2010-05-22T10:37:00.019+01:00

Left to right: Sheila Facer, Philip Beer, me and Dr Heidi Mcdowell about to get in the 10 Degrees C North Sea at Felixstowe, Suffolk.

After a bad week in the pool due to work and other commitments, I couldn't wait to get in the sea this week to make up for it. There were four of us in total, with of course Beccy and Luca on the beach. Sheila Facer from Culford School, one of my official swim partners for the 2010 season, ever present Philip Beer and Dr Heidi Mcdowell who is new to the area, moving up recently from Plymouth and has previous open water experience. Sheila had not been in open water like this before and was looking forward to it.

Last minute cold water tips before...

...we're in! As usual it felt cold. Somehow it never seem to get any easier to prepare yourself for that initial shock when you enter the water. However, after checking everyone was OK, I set off for a 30 minute swim which would be the longest in open water so far this year.

I swum 1,200 Metres, 600 with the current, and 600 against. It felt great, and arriving back on the beach at 28.5 minutes, I loitered in the water for 1.5 minutes to ensure I was in for 30 minutes. You wouldn't be allowed out in Dover at 28.5 minutes, so I disciplined myself to ensure we do the same in Felixstowe. If I'm swimming The Wash, I'm not going to get out 1.5 minutes before the end, so I need to ensure that mentally I do the same in training.

We had a great Haddock, Chips and peas at The Fludyer Arms Hotel, which I thoroughly recommend if you are in the area, then headed back home, satisfied, and determined to get more pool time in this week to ensure that I am fitter for next week when I want to do an hour.

Same time next week, Sunday May 23, 2010 at 11.00am. See the website for more details:-

www.SuffolkOpenWaterSwimming.com

Start of 2010 Charity Fundraising - This year for St. Nicholas' Hospice by swimming The Wash & other events...

2010-05-21T14:18:00.024+01:00

Above: Beccy and Luca on the St Nicholas Hospice stand, Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club, Sunday May 09, 2010.

We were delighted to kick start our 2010 charity fundraising, which this year is for St. Nicholas Hospice, Bury St Edmunds, when we were asked by Michelle Gray, Senior Fundraising Manager for St. Nicholas Hospice, to man a stall at the URL International Rugby Sevens tournament on May 9th. The idea was to give chair massages to people which is what we do as part of our business, and for them to donate to our fund for swimming 'The Wash'. Baz and I set the stand up in the morning, thanks very much to him for this, and Beccy and Luca helped man the stall prior to the tournament starting and during it.

Left: Luca and I wait for the people to arrive prior to the start of the event which kicked off at 11am.

We were situated in the car park area of the ground, and I have to say that it wasn't the best location to get people to come for a massage. As they walked into the ground, they were looking the other way, i.e. at the rugby which is understandable, and I had to run over with the bucket on many occasions just to catch the people's eye.

However, that said, we did a few massages, spoke to many people about swimming The Wash, and showed them the route of my 2007 English Channel swim to try to explain what will happen during the swim of The Wash. People are constantly amazed that you do not swim in a straight line when you swim The Channel. They also think that you swim from Dover to Calais, imagining that you enter Calais harbour alongside one of the P&O Ferries, docking just like a ferry. They are totally amazed when you explain how it all actually happens. The Wash, I explained will be very similar, i.e. A large "S" shape which will mean probably being out in The North Sea for some considerable time before coming back into The Wash.

Above: A lady from Hereford was really pleased when I relieved all the tension in her neck by giving her a 15 minute chair massage.

The day was really enjoyable. The rugby was excellent (England St George running out as winners) and we collected £151.55p from people. This coupled with the 71 printer cartridges collected from Suffolk County Council meant we started our 2010 campaign off with £222.55p. A good start. If anyone would like to donate, please feel free to do so by clicking on the secure JustGiving widget below or opposite. Thank you in anticipation.

...Please Sponsor me by clicking here...

Suffolk Open Water Swimming Training Session 3 - Felixstowe, May 08, 2010

2010-05-12T13:35:00.014+01:00

Above: Left to right, Nathan Pittam, Philip Beer, me and Donna Whelan, members of the Suffolk Open Water Swimming group who swum in the 9.5 Degrees C waters of Felixstowe.

Undeterred by last weeks cold water swim, four people turned up for this week's swim on a cold, rainy Saturday morning in Felixstowe. Some people decided not to come because it was raining. I had a conversation with one swimmer on the Friday evening which went something like this:-

Swimmer: "I'm not coming because it's raining".
Me: "But you're going in the sea".
Swimmer: "Yes, but it's raining, so I'm not coming".
Me: "Yes, but you'll be swimming in the sea. What difference does it make if it's raining".
Swimmer: "Well, it will be cold as it's raining".
Me: "The sea temperature will not change because it's raining. Just come down and get in".
Swimmer: "But it's raining. I'm not coming if it's raining".

...and so it went on. As it turned out, she didn't come, because it was raining!

For the record. Open water swimming, and swimming in the sea is a mental challenge as well as a physical one. It's 80% mental and 20% physical to do what we do. It doesn't matter if it's raining, snowing, windy or the sun is out. If you want to achieve your goal, you need to get in the water and just swim, no matter what.

Above: Heading along the promenade towards the beach, having changed in our cars, to start our swim.

We completed two swims from the beach to just past The Fludyer Arms hotel and back, and everyone really enjoyed it. Donna, who told me afterwards that this was the first time in the sea like this, wanted to get back in again she enjoyed it so much.

We will be back again at 11.00am next Sunday. Full information can be found on the website at:-

www.SuffolkOpenWaterSwimming.com

Suffolk Open Water Swiming Training Session 2 - Felixstowe, May 02, 2010

2010-05-02T21:20:00.038+01:00

Above: Triathlete Nathan Pittam and 2011 English Channel Aspirant Tracy Van Dyke prior to entering the North Sea for the first time on Sunday May 02, 2010.

At about 2am this morning, I got out of bed and put 9 month old Luca into my bed and went to the spare bedroom. He is not sleeping well at the moment. At 6am, I gave Beccy a well deserved rest and took him downstairs to give him breakfast. At about 6.30am I put him back into his bed and went back to my bed to sleep until the alarm went off at 8am. Today we had the possibility of about 7 swimmers attending the first main session of the season at Felixstowe. Beccy didn't move, so I got up and got ready to head for Felixstowe on my own.

It was a cold, windy, rainy day. Not nice at all. I thought about all the swimmers in Dover, and about all the sessions I had completed in Dover in 2007 & 2008. It's only rain. Nothing stops hardy channel swimmers from entering the water. It's what we do. Mind over matter. I got in the car alone and set out for the 45 mile drive to Felixstowe.

When I got there the sea looked a little rough, the sky was grey, and it was peeing down with rain. It reminded me of the "forked lightning" swim I did in Dover Harbour in 2007, although it wasn't as bad. I headed for the Fludyer Arms to see how many people had turned up for the first swim of the season.

I was delighted that 4 swimmers had turned up to the first official session with guests. These were Tracy Van Dyk, English Channel Aspirant 2011 and three Triathletes, Nick Rowntree, Philip Beer, Nathan Pittam. That made 5 of us to swim. I gave a brief talk to everyone in the breakfast room of The Fludyer Arms, then we all headed to our respective cars to get ready for the swim.

Above: Nick Rowntree from Poole in Dorset, ecstatic about getting into the 9 Degrees C water!

Above: Left to right: Nick Rowntree, Philip Beer, Nathan Pittam and Tracy Van Dyk in the rain prior to getting in the sea.

We all got in and set off to swim from the beach to The Fludyer Arms and back again. I have to say, this was the longest cold water swim I had completed since 2008 and it was cold! I felt the familiar pins and needles in both hands, but it was to totally OK. I felt fine. I tried to ensure that everyone was OK, and we stuck together.

Above: Brief chat before going back in for the second swim to The Fludyer Arms and back. Two swims completed by all of us, and a good first week.

Above: Left to right: Tracy Van Dyk, me, Philip Beer, Nick Rowntree an Nathan Pittam in The Fludyer Arms after our swim.

Next week we will be swimming on Saturday morning at 11am. If you wish to join us, please join our Facebook group at www.SuffolkOpenWaterSwimming.com for further information.

IOWSA featured on 'The Daily News of Open Water Swimming' and 'The Water is Open' websites

2010-04-26T20:42:00.010+01:00

Above: Item 3 (right) IOWSA and The Wash swims featured on the Monday April 26, 2010 page of www.thewaterisopen.com.

Above: IOWSA and The Wash is featured at www.dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com on Monday April 26, 2010.

Thank you to the inspirational Steve Munatones, author of both websites, for including our stories and for his undying enthusiasm to the sport of Open Water Swimming around the world.

Click on each picture to access the story directly.

Slowly building in the pool and the launch of www.SuffolkOpenWaterSwimming.com

2010-04-26T15:10:00.023+01:00

Above: Felixstowe Beach Crew, Sunday April 25, 2010. Left to right, my mum Vera Hopfensperger, Luca and Beccy.

The pool work was building well on Monday and Tuesday last week. Steadily building. Monday was 60 lengths, 1,500 Metres, Tuesday was 70 lengths, 1,750 Metres, then a hiccup. Luca started teething again (he now has 6) and we were up all night for 3 nights. Very tiring I can assure you! This meant I did not get back in the pool until Saturday, when I made up for it by completing 90 lengths, 2,250 Metres. I felt surprisingly strong, and it is all coming back together nicely.

Earlier in the day I had setup a Facebook group at www.SuffolkOpenWaterSwimming.com which already has 35 members, some of them, very illustrious in open water swimming circles. If you would like to join, please feel free. We are now training every Sunday morning in Felixstowe.

Sunday, we set off for Felixstowe, and had a wonderful day out. It really was one of those great days out. I had two swims, separated by about 15 minutes, and the water temperature was 8 Degrees Centigrade. Still cold, but 1 degree warmer than last week.

Above: Psyching myself up ready to get in the cold water once again.

Swim Number 1

Swim Number 2

We then had some great fish and chips at the Fludyer Arms Hotel, followed by a trip to the wet fish mongers where we bought some great fish which I cooked when we got home. To cap it all, I got an e-mail from someone in Bury St Edmunds asking if I knew of anywhere Open Water Swimmers could train in Suffolk! It just so happened that I did:-

www.SuffolkOpenWaterSwimming.com

Suffolk Open Water Swimming - Felixstowe 2010

2010-04-22T11:28:00.011+01:00

Above: Training area from The Fludyer Arms Hotel Beach to Felixstowe Pier (1.5KM each way - 3KM Total).

Above: Close up of the beach and location of Fludyer Arms Hotel. There is car parking along the front as can be seen.

Above: Felixstowe Pier, the turning point for the swim back to the Fludyer Arms Hotel beach.

During my 2007 & 2008 English Channel swim training sessions, as well as travelling to Dover each weekend, I did in fact train in Felixstowe, Suffolk which is only 45 miles from where we live as opposed to 145 miles to Dover. I swum from The Fludyer Arms Hotel beach to the pier and back, a swim of 3KM round trip.

Following many hits on our website for people looking for "Suffolk Open Water Swimming" and similar, Beccy and I are now going to train regularly at this location. If anyone would like to join us, we will be starting this Sunday morning, April 25th at 11.00am for an initial "dip". We will meet on the Fludyer Arms Hotel Beach at about 10.45am.

If anyone would like to join us whether you are training for the channel or any other open water swim, or even if you are a Triathlete who wants to train in the open water with like minded people, please feel free to join us. It is important to stress that this is not an organised event, and all swimmers will be swimming at their own risk, so should be confident swimmers and able to swim in the sea without supervision.

Call me on 07887 711333 or e-mail me at paul@bodyandmindstudio.co.uk if you have any questions or would like to join us, or join our Facebook group at:-

www.SuffolkOpenWaterSwimming.com

End of first week back in training ends in 7 Degrees Centigrade swim at Felixstowe

2010-04-18T12:14:00.037+01:00

Above: With Luca prior to getting in the sea for a swim at Felixstowe, Suffolk on Saturday April 17, 2010.

After such a long break from swimming, it was always going to be tough getting fully back into it again. After my inaugural pool training session on Tuesday, I was back in the pool on Friday morning for my second session which I completed successfully with the following session:-

12 Lengths Freestyle Full Stroke Warm Up (300 Metres)
10 Lengths Freestyle Arms Only (250 Metres)
10 Lengths Freestyle Legs Only (250 Metres)
10 Lengths Freestyle Arms Only (250 Metres)
10 Lengths Freestyle Full Stroke (250 Metres)
2 Lengths Backstroke warm down (50 Metres)

Mission accomplished, 54 lengths, 1,350 Metres which was 100 Metres more than Tuesday's session. Next, step was to get back into the sea, so on Saturday we set off for Felixstowe, which unlike the previous attempt at Wells-Next-The-Sea (or should it be called Wells-Nowhere-Near-The Sea!?), was guaranteed water I could swim in.

Beccy and Luca were both hungry so first stop was the seafront fish and chip shop. Glorious sunshine, and fish and chips on the beach, what more could you want? The sea did however, look particularly uninviting. It looked a really wintry colour, as if it had come from a melted glacier. I got undressed and headed down to the water.

As I stepped in it was cold, but I was totally prepared mentally to get in the water, and it didn't bother me.

I did my usual which was to bend over and splash the icy cold water over my body, and kept walking in up to my waist, then dived in and sped off.

I was swimming and being conscious of what my body was telling me. I could feel the cold starting to penetrate through the top layers of the skin, then the ice cream headache started, and my left hand and arm really started to hurt through coldness. I have had this before and it is a weird thing, so I turned round and headed back to shore being satisfied with my first swim.

I got out and walked up the beach where Beccy and Luca were sitting, and was really pleased with my first swim. Having sat out in the sun for about 10 minutes, I headed off for my second swim.

The second swim was much better, and I felt that I had acclimatised already to the temperature. Don't get me wrong, it did feel cold (7 Degrees Centigrade according to the web) but I was OK. I did sprint this time around, at about 70% effort, and it did make a difference mentally. I got out again, and was very pleased with things.

Above: Back on dry land with Luca, Beccy and 'Bump 2' after two successful 7 Degrees Centigrade swims.

After the swim, we went to The Fludyer Arms hotel, where we had a useful meeting with a couple of people and have some great ideas for IOWSA events. When I have discussed it with the committee, I will update the blog. All in all, a very good first week back.

Total swim Distance 2010 - 3,000 Metres.

Back in the pool preparing for the long journey ahead...

2010-04-13T08:43:00.017+01:00

Above: Training in my favourite pool at my old school, Culford School Suffolk, starting on the long journey to swim The Wash in 2010.

My late mentor Jim Rohn once said "Life expects us to take reasonable steps in measurable time". But the most important step is the first one. If you don't take the first step, the others cannot follow. Jim also stresses the importance of setting goals and planning to achieve them. He said "If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail". Today, I started on my plan to swim The Wash by taking the first step, I got back in the pool for a session for the first time in nearly 18 months.

I set myself a short term goal of swimming 50 lengths. This may not seem many, but at the moment it's the best I can do. Whenever I have come back into swimming, I always set myself a target for the first swim, then gradually increase the distance on the front end of the warm up. Today, having got up at 6am, I headed for the pool and was in the water for 7am. My session was as follows:-

10 Length Freestyle Full Stroke Warm Up (250 Metres)

10 Lengths Freestyle Arms Only (250 Metres)

10 Lengths Freestyle Legs Only (250 Metres)

10 Lengths Freestyle Arms Only (250 Metres)

10 Lengths Freestyle Full Stroke (250 Metres)

Mission accomplished. 50 Lengths as per my plan. It felt absolutely awful, totally alien. My arms had very little strength and my stroke felt poor. But this is my starting point. It can only get better from here. Next session will be 52 lengths minimum, gradually increasing as my body re-acclimatise to the water, and my strength increases.

I feel really happy to be back on track, and what a way to start the day!

Total swim Distance 2010 - 1,250 Metres.

First 'Dip' in "The Wash", Easter Saturday 2010, Wells-Next-The-Sea, Norfolk

2010-04-05T11:00:00.024+01:00

Above: Google map of 'The Wash' with route of proposed swim from Hunstanton to Skegness and Wells-Next-The-Sea where I took a dip on Saturday April 03, 2010.

Since my last major swim, which was in The Sumidero Canyon, Mexico on October 18, 2008, so much has happened, and Beccy and I have gone through some majorly tough financial times due to the world-wide recession, which hit our business like so many others. I have not completed a training session in a pool since Thursday October 16, 2008 in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico. We had to sell our IT business after 12 years. We both totally re-trained and started a new business from scratch, investing every penny we earned into training courses and equipment. We had to cancel all swims last year due to the afore-mentioned, and Beccy gave birth to our son Luca in July 2009. We then formed IOWSA and have struggled to find a suitably qualified pilot who was willing to pilot me across my proposed swim of The Wash in 2010. We are now delighted that Beccy is expecting our second child in October 2010. What a year of mixed emotions and difficulties. But that's what life is all about is it not? Opportunity mixed with difficulty. You just have to keep going, set your goals and believe in what you are doing, no matter what. That said, we set off for the North Norfolk coast on a cool but sunny Easter Saturday, April 03, 2010. Mission: 1) To find a pilot boat. 2) To take my first swim in the sea for 2010.

Above: Alan Frary, Coxwain (or 'Coxun' as they pronounce it in Norfolk) of the R.N.L.I. Life Boat in Wells-Next-The-Sea.

Above: The R.N.L.I. Life Boat in Wells-Next-The-Sea.

After arriving in Wells, and meeting up with the in-laws and devouring some of Wells's finest fish and chips, we walked the incredibly long promenade to reach the beach. My oldest son Baz, was on his way down in the car, so I wanted to wait for him before I went in for a dip. The sun was out, it was a beautiful cool April day, and I couldn't wait to get in, however, I wanted to find a pilot boat, so headed for the R.N.L.I. station at the end of the promenade. Having spent about 15 minutes with R.N.L.I. Coxwain Alan Frary, he gave me three useful names and telephone numbers of fishermen who may be able to help me. He showed me some charts of 'The Wash', told me the water temperature today was 7 degrees Centigrade, and we could clearly see the wind farm off the coast of Skegness, the other side of 'The Wash'. I could now begin to visualise and feel the swim, and get a sense of the task ahead. I thanked him, and left to join up with the others who wanted to walk along the beach.

When Baz telephoned to say he was nearly there, I walked all the way back to the harbour to meet up with him and collect my swim bag. Then after a very tough walk through the sand, we met up with everyone on the beach. The tide had been out ever since we arrived, and when it goes out in Wells, it really goes out. Since I had walked back to the harbour and returned, it had gone out even further. So far in fact, that I could barely see the waters edge in the distance! I was determined to go in though.

My father-in-law carried Luca, and I battled for what seemed hours with the pushchair in the sand to get to the water's edge to get in the sea. However, the further we walked, it just kept getting further away!!! Eventually, I was so tired and hot, I undressed, got me Speedos, hat, goggles and earplugs on, and headed for the water. My legs were really tired. I felt as though I had been pushing a car up hill for about an hour. That's what it was like pushing a push chair through the sand.

Above: Undressed and heading out into the deep waters of 'The Wash' for my first sea swim of the year.

As I ran through the near 4 inches of water, the cool water splashed on my feet and it felt good! I could see the sand up ahead, and just as it got really deep (5 inches) it started to get shallower again, and I walked out onto the sand!

I kept going and going, but as I looked ahead, I could see the water still going out, and I could see that it really was not going to get much deeper without walking out for another couples of miles! It was just unbelievably shallow! I walked a bit further until I found a bit which was about a foot deep. I decided to kneel in it, and splash the water over my body. It really was all I was going to be able to achieve today. I was worried that the tide would start to come in again, and start surrounding my family who were all about a mile out from the beach. The tide is notoriously dangerous and fast in this area. Many people have been cut off and stranded when the tide starts to come in.

Above: Kneeling in 12 inches of water and splashing it over my body, the nearest I was going to get to a swim!

I ran back as fast as I could through the water, splashing it everywhere to ensure I got to feel 7 degree water on my body. I then had the incredibly arduous task of pushing the push chair all the way back again in the sand!

Above: Mission sort of accomplished. My first dip in 'The Wash', and it really was 'a dip!'.

Above: Beccy and 'Bump 2' show just how far the tide goes out here. When it is in, the waters edge is near the trees in the distance.

Above: Left to right - Father-in-law carrying Luca, Brother-in-law, Baz, Beccy, Sister-in-law and Mother-in-law followed by Coco (Dog-in-Law?).

Although I did not get to swim per se, I did achieve my two goals:-

1) I have three useful numbers for pilot boats.

2) I have a mental reference point of what 7 degrees Centigrade feels like again, having not swum in this temperature for many, many months.

A good and satisfying first step back in the water, and the start of the journey to swim 'The Wash' in September of this year.

Human Body: Pushing The Limits - Strength (Part 4 of 4) Including my English Channel Swim - July 10, 2007

2010-02-04T13:37:00.010Z

On Tuesday, and IOWSA member asked me about my 2007 English Channel Swim which was filmed for The Discovery Channel. Today, I found the above 10 minute clip on Youtube which features the swim, 2 minutes 25 seconds into the clip.

To purchase the DVD set, which includes alot more useful knowledge about The Human Body, click on the picture above. I Hope English Channel aspirants find it useful.

East Lindsey District Council, Ello Magazine February 2010 - "The mysterious case of 'The Butlins Challenge Trophy'"

2010-02-02T13:59:00.006Z

Thank you to Jacqueline Thomas of East Lindsey District Council who e-mailed me a copy of their magazine today. The above article appered on pages 10 and 11. You may need to zoom in using your web browser to read the story.

'Merci Hoffy' from Sylvain Estadieu!

2010-01-15T16:37:00.007Z

Above: With 2009 English Channel Swimmer, Sylvain Estadieu, Dover Marina, September 20, 2009.

Sitting in the reception of my business, Body and Mind Studio on Wednesday, the postman appeared at the window with a parcel in his hand. I wondered what on earth it was as I hadn't ordered anything so was very intrigued. When I opened it I was gobsmacked! This is what was in it:-

It was a thank you present from Sylvain Estadieu who I crewed for on his 2009 English Channel Swim. Inside the card it read:-

"Hi Paul

here's just a little something to thank you again for helping me on that great day of September!

I wish you all the best for 2010!!

Sylvain".

Sylvain, than you very much for sending me such a great memento of your swim and your home region of Alsace in France. Good luck with your 2010 swims.

Regards, Hoffy.

Paul prepares for epic swim across The Wash, England

2010-01-01T21:55:00.010Z

Right: Article reproduced by kind permission of The Bury Free Press, Friday January 01, 2010. Click on the newspaper article to download a larger version.

On a visit last year to St. Nicholas' Hospice in Bury St Edmunds, which was one of my two channel swim charities, I was staggered to hear that they need to raise £10,000 per day in voluntary contributions just to survive. £10,000 per day! With this in mind, I have decided that my 2010 swim across The Wash, will be purely to raise funds for St. Nicholas' Hospice.

The article opposite appeared in today's edition of The Bury Free Press to launch the swim. We are still finalising details of the swim, but if all goes to plan, it will be a world first and it will also be the inaugural IOWSA swim which is all very exciting!

If anyone else is interested in swimming The Wash in 2010 or 2011/12 and competing for the trophy pictured opposite, please contact us at IOWSA for more information.

Happy New Year to everyone, and lets make 2010 a great year for open water swimming!

IOWSA welcomes Keith Bartolo from Malta to the committee

2009-12-19T07:42:00.004Z

Above: Paul Hopfensperger (left) and Keith Bartolo (right) after completing the 2008 BLDSA Champion of Champions event in Dover Harbour.

I would like to formally welcome Keith Bartolo to the committee of the International Open Water Swimming Association (IOWSA). Keith is an experienced Triathlete and Open Water Swimmer and will be a valuable asset to the IOWSA committee. He is a member of the B'Kara St Joseph Sports Club in Malta, and he is already looking at an exciting IOWSA swim in Malta which we will inform people about once we have more information.

I would just like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and happy new year, and look forward to getting back in the water for some more open water swimming in 2010.

"The Butlin Challenge Trophy, International Swim Across The Wash" - Trophy found after being lost for 33 years

2009-12-17T12:32:00.034Z

Above: The late Jim Rohn at the Herbalife Headquarters, Los Angeles, California, January 24, 1988. Picture taken by Paul Hopfensperger.

On December 05, 2009, my mentor of 22 years, Jim Rohn (http://tribute.jimrohn.com/) very sadly passed from this world into the next. He had such a profound effect on my life, it is impossible to put into words. He taught me the ability to believe that anything you want in life is possible, you just need to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals and he was most definitely there in my mind through both of my channel swims. Of all the incredible things he taught me, one little phrase always sticks in my mind. A phrase which some people I have said it to, just look back at me blankly, while with others it instantly strikes home and fires them into action. The phrase was “Things don’t just happen. Things happen just”. I will let you decide if that simple phrase makes sense to you, however, in my humble opinion, it is most definitely appropriate for the story I am about to tell. God rest you Jim, and thank you for getting me to where I am today. The following story was inspired by Jim Rohn who taught me to set goals and to never give up on a dream.

On Saturday July 14, 2007, having completed my first channel swim in 13 Hours 52 Minutes just 4 days earlier, I stood on the beach in Dover feeling very depressed. Why? I had achieved a goal first set in my mind in 1980 to swim The English Channel. Having endured a year’s worth of training, long weekends in Dover and everything else that channel swimmers have to endure to reach their goal, I thought “Now what?”. I had to do something, but didn’t know what. Kevin Murphy, “The King of The English Channel” came over and asked what was wrong. I told him, and he assured me my feelings were quite normal after such a challenge comes to an end. “Why don’t you swim The Wash?” he said. I didn’t fancy that at the time, but placed it into a little compartment at the back of my mind for future retrieval. My swimming adventures in between then and September 2009 are documented on this site, so I won’t repeat them here. Wind forward over 2 years to September 2009………

Having handed back my BLDSA trophies to the president on Saturday September 27, 2009, my wife Beccy, son Luca and I headed the extra few miles from Lynn Regis to Hunstanton in North Norfolk. Why? I wanted to swim 'The Wash' in 2010 and set about trying to organise the swim.

After stumbling from one end of the beach to the other on a simply glorious day, I came across the life guards hut and was introduced to a very nice chap called Ken Sach who was the Beach Patrol Officer. When I told him what I wanted to do, he was very enthusiastic and took me into a large warehouse where he showed me the plaque below:-

Above: Me with Hunstanton Beach Patrol Officer, Ken Sach holding the Mercedes Gleitze plaque to commemorate the 75th anniversary of her swimming The Wash.

Ken informed me that the plaque had never been erected due to Mercedes Gleitze's name being spelt wrong, they spelt it 'Gleitz' instead of 'Gleitze'. He also informed me that he had a large collection of her memorabilia. To cut a long story short, this episode started me on a journey which has been unbelievable so far!

Above: An autographed photograph of Mercedes Gleitze (b. 1900 - d. 1981) the first person to swim The Wash and the first British Lady to swim The English Channel.

Ken gave me a lot of information about The Wash and some very useful contact numbers of people in North Norfolk who can help with my proposed swim.

Above: The Wash, Saturday September 27, 2009 at low tide. The other side can just about be seen if you look closely.

Returning home, I was very inspired to find out more about The Wash and to start organising my swim. But who would be the pilot?, who would ratify the swim?, etc., etc. There were so many questions with no answers, but I had an idea. About a year earlier, I had spoken to two illustrious Open Water Swimmers about this very issue, and it was clear that there was a need for an organisation to help swimmers achieve their goals in open water swimming, where an existing organisation didn't exist. And so, on October 25, 2009 we formed International Open Water Swimming Association Limited (IOWSA) for this very purpose. We already have members in the USA, UK, Ireland and Malta, and we have only just started. At present, my swim of The Wash will be the first IOWSA swim, and it is very exciting! We have registered "King of The Wash" and "Queen of The Wash" as IOWSA trademarks and if anyone wants to swim The Wash, contact us through the IOWSA website (http://www.iowsa.com/).

Anyway, back to the story. While collating and ratifying the known swims of The Wash, I spoke to both Kevin Murphy and Mike Read, who have both swum The Wash, with Mike Read being the last person known to have swum it back in 1976. He told me that there was originally a trophy, which he had won in 1976 and which he hasn't seen for years. He told me to contact East Lindsey District Council as they were the ones who took it from him. I telephoned them in early November and spoke to a lady called Jackie. I told her about the trophy and she said she would investigate. About a week later she phoned me back and said there was no luck. She had tried everything but to no avail, no one had heard of it. I thanked her and wondered how I was going to locate the trophy. About an hour later, I had a very excited Jackie on the phone - "We've found it!" she yelled excitedly. "It was in an old warehouse in a box. It's a bit dirty but should clean up OK. What do you want me to do with it?" she asked. I suggested donating it to IOWSA if no one wanted it, and we could use it for swims of The Wash. She spoke to her superiors who agreed.

Yesterday, after a 165 mile drive in the snow, I drove to in Manby, Licolnshire in my role as Chairman of IOWSA, where I met Jackie and she gave me the trophy. She was so pleased and said of all the things she had done since being on the council, this was the most satisfying. Apparently, she tried everyone she possibly could to locate this trophy, and spent all of yesterday morning cleaning it up before handing it over to me.

Above: Jacqueline Thomas of East Lindsey District Council hands over the trophy to Paul Hopfensperger, Chairman of the International Open Water Swimming Association in Manby, Licolnshire on Wednesday December 16, 2009.

The inscription on the trophy is as follows:-

THE BUTLIN CHALLENGE TROPHY
INTERNATIONAL SWIM
ACROSS THE WASH

Solo names on the trophy are as follows:-

Kevin Murphy - Age 24 - 26th May 1973, 13 Hrs. 54 Mins.
Tina Spry - Age 13 - 26th May 1974, 8 Hrs. 36 Mins.
Michael Read - 1974, 7 Hrs. 52 Mins.
Michael Read - 1975, 8 Hrs. 30 Mins.
Michael Read - 1976, 5 Hrs. 57 Mins.

There is also a relay name on the trophy as follows:-

Nottingham Bath Masters
Wash Relay Swim
Sunday 20th August 1972
Mick Scothern, John Brooks, David Young
Ray Hutchins, George Johnson, Bob Rust

This is an historic trophy, and I am honured to have accepted it on behalf of IOWSA, and am looking forward to The Wash being the inaugural swim organised by IOWSA in 2010, followed by others overseas.

I would sincerely like to thank Jacqueline Thomas from East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) for her persistance in trying and evetually succeeding in locating this trophy and to James Gilbert also from ELDC for allowing IOWSA to have the trophy and organising yesterday's visit. I would also like to thank Ken Sach of the Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk for donating the Mercedes Gleitze memorabilia to IOWSA.

So from a tiny seed planted in my mind by Kevin Murphy in July 2007, all of the above has happened. As Jim Rohn said "Things don't just happen. Things happen Just".

In search of a pilot boat on the wettest, windiest day of the year so far!

2009-11-15T17:51:00.005Z

Above: Me with Luca, barely able to stand due to the wind and driving rain. Cromer, North Norfolk, Saturday November 14, 2009.

In preparation for my big 2010 swim, Beccy, Luca and I headed off to Cromer in North Norfolk on what the weather experts called the windiest, wettest day of 2009 so far. Arriving in Cromer at about 2pm, we stepped out of the car and the wind was simply immense. It was all you could do to stand up. What was bizarre though was the sea looked as calm as it could possibly be. Not a 'white horse' in sight. I don't think I will ever get to grips with the wind and the sea. I'll leave that to the experts.

We stopped in a restaurant overlooking Cromer Pier and I got chatting to the waitress about pilot boats. She spoke to her son who put me in touch with the local wet fish fishmongers. Trekking out in the rain again, we successfully got the phone number of a man who could possibly help us, but we were recommended to head towards 'Wells-Next-The-Sea'.

The drive along the North Norfolk coast was very picturesque, despite the driving rain. Arriving at a little hamlet, I noticed boats in the bay, and headed down a track. There was a local fisherman in typical fisherman's yellow protective clothing. I wound the window down and explained what I was looking for. "AArrghhhh" came the reply in typical Norfolk language. "You better goow too Wells-Next-The-Sea four thaaat. If oi took 'ya, I'd probably git lowst". I thanked him and continued on our way.

Arriving in Wells just as the sun set and the rain eased for about 10 minutes, I spoke to a fisherman who gave me a name and contact number of someone who could help me. We then found a most beautiful old sailing ship called "The Albatros". It was permanently moored in the harbour and was now a Bar, Restaurant, Music Venue and B&B. If you're in Wells, I thoroughly recommend it. We were served real ale, and Brancaster Bay Muscles in a white wine sauce. It was great!

Finally, we met the captain, Ton Brouwer, a Dutchman who explained all about the boat. He sat down with us, and we told him what we were looking for. He gave us a phone number, and said he would help us.

Above: Beccy, Luca and I enjoy the hospitality of Captain Ton Brouwer on board 'The Albatros'.

We headed home and I was satisfied that I had three numbers of pilots who could help us organise next year's swim. Despite the weather, it had been well worth while spending the day on the North Norfolk coast.

British Long Distance Swimming Association - Lynn Regis Championship 2009

2009-09-28T07:35:00.018+01:00

Above: British Long Distance Swimming Association (BLDSA) 2009 President, Jacky Classen, with me prior to handing back the 'Senior Men' (right) and 'Veteran Mens' (left) Trophies which I won at the 2008 Lynn Regis event - eventually! (click here for more).

On Saturday September 26, 2009 we set off for Kings Lynn in North Norfolk, to hand back the two trophies I had won at the 2008 BLDSA Lynn Regis Championship. Not having swum much this year, I would not be trying to defend my titles, but will hopefully be able to do so next year. When we got there we sat next to the BLDSA Hon Publicity Officer, and English Channel Swimmer, Dee Llewellwyn who I had such a great race with last year. She told me she had been ill for much of the year so was also not swimming. We wish you a speedy recovery Dee.

Race secretary Stephen Smith called everyone to order, men first followed by the ladies to enter the water. In the men's race was 2009 English Channel Swimmer, Ollie Wilkinson, and in the ladies race was Dee's sister and 2009 2-Way English Channel Swimmer, Lianne Llewellwyn.

Above: Swimmers enter the water. Second left, No. 26, is 2009 2 Way English Channel Swimmer, Lianne Llewellyn and her sister Dee, holding the camera at the front.

Above: The start of the 4.5KM race in The River Ouse, Kings Lynn, Norfolk.

Above: Beccy and I watch this years race with Luca and Dee Llewellyn.

Above: 2009 Senior Men's Winner and 2009 English Channel Swimmer, Ollie Wilkinson who won the race in 59.3 minutes.

After the race, we headed up to the beach in Hunstanton. The sun came out and it turned into a beautiful and very hot day. During the day, we started the ball rolling to organise a pretty unique swimming challenge for summer 2010. I will update the blog very soon with further information as soon as it is finalised.

Sylvain Estadieu's English Channel Swim. England to France, September 20-21, 2009 - 14 Hrs. 44 Minutes

2009-09-23T08:16:00.025+01:00

Above: Me (left) with Sylvain Estadieu on the quayside at Dover Marina prior to his 14 hour 44 minute successful swim of The English Channel on Sunday September 20, 2009.

On Sunday September 20th, I was one of three crew members to crew for Sylvain Estadieu, a French national currently living in Ireland. The other two were Niall MacCarthy, a Sandycove Swimmer from Ireland, and Dan Martin who will be attempting to swim the Atlantic in 2010. We had stayed the night in Lisa Cummins's caravan at Varne Ridge the night before. Lisa was just hours away from completing a historic, 35 hours and 20 minute 2 way channel swim, the first Irish person and only the 20th person in history to complete a 2 way (click here for further information). We boarded 'Gallivant' captained by CS&PF Honoury Secretary, Mike Oram, and set off for Samphire Hoe.

Sylvain entered the water and swum ashore to be greeted by a group of people who had assembled to see him off. This included Ned Dennison a well known and respected open water swimmer who had also stayed at Varne Ridge the previous night. Sylvain entered the waters and set off on the swim he had been training for for many months.

We hadn't gone out far when a Belgian film crew pulled up and started filming Sylvain. Dan, speaking excellent French, found out that they were doing a documentary on swimming the English Channel. They were a bit invasive, at one stage the cameraman entering the water, swimming up to within about 3 Metres of Sylvain and filming him in the water. However, after about an hour they sped off into the distance.

Above: In the South West shipping lane, dodging the oil tankers.

It had started fairly calmly, but the wind and therefore the waves really picked up and I actually felt quite cold on deck. Niall did a sterling job mixing the Maxim feeds, while Dan and I took it in turns feeding him. It was good teamwork, and an essential part of a channel swim. He fed every hour for the first 3 hours, and every 1/2 hour after that. It worked perfectly.

Above: Niall and I on deck watching Sylvain on his swim. It is important that at least one person watches the swimmer at all times.

Above: The P&O and Sea France ferries can be constantly seen on any channel swim.

Not once did Sylvain moan or even speak. His feeds were awesomely quick, mainly about 10 seconds, the longest probably 20 seconds. He just put one arm in front of the other, head down, and headed for France. As night fell, the wind dropped a bit and it felt a little warmer. We were swimming on a 7 Metre Spring tide, and what happened next, will linger in my mind for any future swims I may do.

Having swept past Cap Gris-Nez down towards Boulogne, we tried to get Sylvain to pick up his pace. He was literally 1KM from the French coast. For 30 minutes he upped his pace, but the tide was just too strong. All of a sudden, we were swept around the cap at a speed of 6 Knots! It was incredible. The sea felt as though a volcano had erupted underneath. The boat was all over the place, and Sylvain was about 30 Metres away from the boat heading off to England. If I had not have seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it! Then, all of a sudden, dead calm. We were round the cap, and headed into the bay towards France.

Above: Nearly there, about 600 Metres to go until Sylvain reaches France.

Above: Dan prepares to swim in to shore with Sylvain, a large can of Guinness tucked into his trunks for them to celebrate with in France!

Above: Sylvain Estadieu - Channel Swimmer - England to France - 14 Hours 44 Minutes. Well done. Fantastic job!

We had a 3 hour trip back to blighty, then I headed back home to Bury, totally shattered, but really pleased to have been part of another English Channel swim.

A full set of photos can be found on my Facebook page by clicking on the link below:-

<Click here for Sylvain Estadieu's Channel Swim Photos>

Abbeycroft Leisure - St Edmundsbury Sports Awards 2009

2009-09-17T13:36:00.008+01:00

I am delighted and very honoured to have been nominated for the "Sports Personality of the Year" award at the 3rd annual Abbeycroft Leisure St Edmundsbury Sports Awards 2009. The event will be held at the Bury St Edmunds Corn Exchange on Sunday September 27th, 2009.

It was won last year by fellow open water swimmer Steffanie Biller of West Suffolk Swimming Club and Germany. I was runner up at the inaugural event held in 2007 following my first swim of The English Channel. The entry listed all my swim achievements from my 2007 channel swim up to the UK Cold Water Swimming Championships in January 2009.

I will update the blog after the award ceremony to let you know how I did, however, I am just very proud to have been nominated in the first place.

Boats, Waves and Automobiles - Bank Holiday fun in "The Far East" (Thorpeness & Aldeburgh, Suffolk)

2009-09-09T07:26:00.027+01:00

Above (left to right): Me, Nick Clements (my brother-in-law) and Viv Clements (mother-in-law) on the Thorpeness boating lake, Monday August 31, 2009.

Having had a bit of a swimming sabbatical while waiting for our son Luca to arrive, on the last summer Bank Holiday of 2009 we decided to head for what I like to call "The Far East" for a swim in the sea, my first since my mammoth session in Dover Harbour back in March. So after negotiating all of the very frustrating Bank Holiday traffic, through which Beccy and Luca slept soundly, we finally arrived in Thorpeness, one of the most easterly towns in Great Britain (Lowestoft is the most easterly) to meet up with my mother-in-law, Viv, brother-in-law, Nick and his girlfriend Danni for some good old Suffolk fish and chips before heading for the famous Thorpeness boating lake.

Above (left to right): Danni, Beccy and Luca enjoying the glorious sunshine while being rowed around the lake by Nick.

Above: Me with Luca, Nick (doing a sterling job rowing) and Viv.

Having spent about an hour on the lake (the exact time was in dispute due differences in everyone's watches) we headed for the short trip (about 3 miles) to Aldeburgh, where I was going to swim. It is ideal there because there are no groynes, just a very straight beach of a couple of miles, so you can swim along the beach in deep water, and only be about 5-10 Metres from the beach at any one time. It is ideal for training in.

As I got in the sea and started to swim, it was simply fantastic. So refreshing after the heat of the day, and great to be back in the sea after such a prolonged break.

It was fairly rough in there, quite a few waves, but then again it was The North Sea. I really enjoyed myself, and it has fired me up in preparation for by next big swim which I am currently trying to organise. More details will follow as soon as I get the go ahead.

Luca was looked after during my swim by his mum and Nick. Apparently he did in fact open his eyes and watch me swim for a while before adopting his usual sleeping position!

After my swim, we headed back through the winding countryside roads to avoid the heavy Bank Holiday Monday traffic, stopping off for a glass of cider in Framlingham. It had been a beautiful day!

"Channel Buoys and Gulls" Channel Swim Team appear on BBC TV show "Eggheads"

2009-08-22T09:08:00.028+01:00

Above: The "Channel Buoys and Gulls" team who took on the mighty "Eggheads" on Monday August 17, 2009. Left to right: Paul Hopfensperger (2 x English Channel swims), Megan Forbes (1 x C.S.), Mike Cross (3 x C.S.), Sophie Rutenbar (1 x C.S.), Jim Boucher (1 x C.S.). Kevin Murphy, "King of The English Channel" with 34 x Channel swims was the team substitute (not pictured).

Above: The world famous BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane, London.

When we were asked to audition for the BBC quiz show "Eggheads" in June of this year, I have to admit that I honestly didn't expect to be selected, however having been informed that we had been selected, we all journeyed from our various parts of the country to assemble at the BBC Television Centre as a team of English Channel swimmers with a combined total of 42 channel swims between us and to be know for the day as the "Channel Buoys and Gulls" quiz team.

Above: Assembling in "The Green Room" which was in fact remarkably yellow prior to entering "makeup".

Above: Jim and Sophie get their makeup and hair sorted prior to entering the studios.

Above: Having our microphones fitted in the main Eggheads studio.

Above: Lisa explains to Kevin why he has to be the substitute member of the team. This was due to the fact that he works for the BBC and so was not able to appear on the show.

Above: One of the extremely large Sony television cameras used for filming the show.

We were given about 30 minutes of instructions prior to the Eggheads entering the studio, and as team captain, we had a list of the subjects and who would answer them if the subjects were selected. As I was not allowed to have the piece of paper during filming, I was trying to memorise who was doing what.

Every time one of us broke into a slight sweat, the makeup girl came and "touched us up" with her little brush!

Final check of my papers before the Eggheads entered and filming commenced. Due to the secrecy we must maintain, I am not allowed to explain here how we did. The show will be aired sometime in 2010 as part of series 11 (we are currently on series 10).

Above: After the show was complete, we had the picture above taken with the Eggheads. Again due to secrecy, one of the Eggheads is temporarily airbrushed out of the photo.

Above: The Eggheads sign autographs in Megan's Eggheads book after the show.

We all had a fantastic day, and I would like to thank Lisa and here team for inviting us and making us feel very welcome during our day in London. A full set of photos can be found on my Facebook page by clicking on the link below:-

<'Channel Buoys and Gulls' Eggheads Photos>

Article in The Bury Free Press, Friday August 28, 2009:-

Dover? Felixstowe? or Pin Mill? Where? - Pin Mill one of the most beautiful hamlets in Suffolk for Luca's first view of Open Water

2009-08-10T09:19:00.026+01:00

Above: Beccy with 11 day old Luca Jacob following a seafood lunch at "The Butt and Oyster" in Pin Mill, Suffolk.

Following an early night on Saturday to get up early for a swim in Dover Harbour at the 2009 Dover Regatta weekend, Beccy and I woke up at 8.25am after a restless night feeding our 11 day old son Luca. Not then feeling bothered to drive the 2.5 hour, 145 mile trip to Dover, we set off for the 38 mile trip to Felixstowe. At about 20 miles, I couldn't even be bothered to drive to Felixstowe and suggested stopping off at Pin Mill for some lunch before proceeding to Felixstowe. Beccy agreed and turning off at Ipswich, we headed along the shore of The River Orwell towards Pin Mill. Never heard of Pin Mill? Shame, it is a beautiful place. This is what the BBC website says about it:-

Pin Mill

"On the banks of the River Orwell the hamlet of Pin Mill is at the heart of one of Suffolk's areas of outstanding natural beauty. Situated on the Shotley peninsula, it is a haven of tranquillity, loved by artists, walkers and birdwatchers. The 17th century "Butt & Oyster" inn is so close to the river that it can serve pints of ale through the window to yachtsmen at high tide.

Pin Mill had links to smugglers in the 19th century and it was the setting for Arthur Ransome's book 'We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea'. It was also featured in the popular BBC Lovejoy series."

Above: Beccy and Luca after our helping of Scampi and Chips at "The Butt and Oyster", Pin Mill, Suffolk.

Following our hearty meal, Felixstowe seemed further and further away so I took Luca for his first look at a bit of open water - The River Orwell. He didn't say much, probably because he was asleep as he has been through most of his "first time experiences" over the past 11 days!

Above: Luca's first experience of Open Water in The River Orwell with Dad.

Having dipped my feet in, I decided that the water looked very appealing, cancelled Felixstowe and decided on a swim in The River Orwell, the first time I had swum in it, even though we had been up and down it many times when we used to have our boat.

As I entered, a small RIB came in with a man and his children. "That's a Channel Swimmer" he laughed to his children. "Yes twice I replied". He looked at me rather strangely and carried on paddling to shore!

It was beautiful in there. It was also incredibly warm. When I came ashore and got out, my watch was reading 24 Degrees Centigrade, hardly a "cold water swim". I felt very rough and unfit, but am really glad I got in. I am now ready to start training again for hopefully some big swims over the next couple of years.

It was a stunningly beautiful day, and I had a thoroughly enjoyable swim. There was no need to trek all the way to Dover, we have great facilities here in Suffolk. If you are ever in the area, I thoroughly recommend Pin Mill.

Thanks to Bex as always for taking some great photos, and hopefully Luca enjoyed his first look at Open Water even if he was yawning. Get used to it Luca, there's plenty more to come!

Nick Adams swims the English Channel for the 6th time on July 14, 2009

2009-07-21T08:24:00.007+01:00

On July 14, 2009, Nick Adams, who I have trained with many times in Dover Harbour prior to my channel swims, completed his 6th English Channel swim in 13 hours and 3 minutes. Above are his two videos of the swim. The second one is not for the squeamish! Well done Nick. A fantastic achievement.

Liam Fairhurst - 26-02-1995 to 30-06-2009 - "Life is measured in achievement not in years alone"

2009-07-10T17:22:00.041+01:00

14 year old Liam Fairhurst from Soham in Cambridgeshire, died on June 30, 2009. His requiem mass was held today July 10, 2009 in Newmarket, Suffolk. Below is my small tribute to a truly inspirational and courageous boy who became a simply astonishing fundraiser for CLIC Sargent, the children's cancer charity through which I had the honour of meeting him and his family.

Tribute to Liam Fairhurst

On Wednesday December 06, 2006 I was invited by Karen Roberts of CLIC Sargent to attend a CLIC Sargent event at the Bury St Edmunds Library and give a talk on my 2007 channel swim attempt. When I arrived I met two people called Sarah and Mark Fairhurst who introduced themselves and said that they had heard about me and were frequent visitors to my www.HoffysChannelsSwim.org.uk website. They explained that their 11 year old son Liam had suffered a tumor in his leg as well as lung cancer and CLIC Sargent had been a fantastic support to them. They said that Liam was in awe of me and my channel swim attempt and was attempting to do a 1 mile sponsored swim in aid of CLIC Sargent. So far he has raised over £6,000 for them. I had to get my head around it all. An 11 year old boy who had suffered from two different cancers, and everything associated with it, was going to swim a mile and he was in awe of me? I couldn't believe it, and when I went up to give my talk, I couldn't speak. I almost burst into tears and it took all my effort not to. Liam's mum Sarah tells the story in her own words here:-

LIAM'S Story by his Mum Sarah written in December 2006:-

"Liam's problems with his leg manifested in APRIL 2005 after a fall from a neighbours trampoline. For the previous year or so he had always had an odd style of walking. But after the fall this got worse, he complained of pain in his left leg and we noticed that the muscle to the thigh became hard. We did seek medical advice but in fairness to all those who saw Liam he was not presenting with any symptoms other than those you would expect after a fall. At the end of June 2005 Liam complained that the pain was getting worse and he found it difficult to walk. On showing me his leg I noticed the upper left leg had swollen to over twice its normal size and immediately alarm bells rung. I must admit I immediately thought it was cancer.

Mark took Liam to the doctors who were very quick in referring us on to WEST SUFFOLK HOSPITAL and within the week we were at THE ROYAL ORTHOPEDIC in BIRMINGHAM where Liam had a biopsy on his left leg and also other body scans. A week later we received a call telling us what we already knew Liam had cancer a SYNOVIAL SARCOMA in his leg and worryingly/unexpectedly secondaries in his left lung (three nodules).

It was like being in a parallel universe our whole world stopped and within a week Liam was in ADDENBROOKES undergoing the first of seven courses of chemotherapy fed through a central line. Liam had never been in hospital let alone had an operation. He is an intelligent and articulate child and was like us scared and depressed. Despite this he quickly realised that the only way to get better was to BE POSITIVE and he managed to do this despite constant bouts of sickness, tiredness and ulcers that invaded most bodily orifices. After 4 chemos the nodules had gone and the leg cancer had reduced by 70%. Liam then went back to BIRMINGHAM for an op to remove the remaining tumour and thanks to the skill of the surgical team he kept his leg. Liam lost half of the quadriceps muscle and one of his knee muscles but was up and walking the next day.

He returned to ADDENBROOKES for the remaining three chemos and then underwent 6weeks of daily (mon-fri) radiotheraphy finishing 22nd December 2005. We received the all clear after scans in mid January. Liam at present has 3 monthly chest xrays and four monthly MRI scans back at ADDENBROOKES.

He wanted to do the [1 mile sponsored] swim because he said he was aware that some children weren't as lucky as him. Some of their treatments lasted longer than his and others died in particular JACK WILKINSON a 12 year old he befriended whilst in ward C2. He chose CLIC Sargent because he felt the money went to the right people and helped children and families like his."

Above left to right, December 06, 2006: Sarah Fairhurst, (Liam's Mum), Karen Roberts (CLIC Sargent) Mark Fairhurst (Liam's Dad) Kim Williams (Social Worker Assistant, CLIC Sargent, Adenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge), me and Rachel Goodman (Social Worker, CLIC Sargent, Adenbrookes Hospital).

Above: 11 year old Liam Fairhurst after surgery/chemotherapy and radiotherapy with brother Callum.

Liam's Mile - 1 Mile Sponsored swim, December 22, 2006.

I was invited to attend the Next Generation Gym in Cambridge, where I had the honour of meeting Liam for the first time. I had to admit, that I was nervous before meeting him as he had already inspired me and touched me before I had even met him.

Above: 11 year old Liam Fairhurst at our first meeting just prior to his "Liam's Mile" swim on December 22, 2006.

I watched in awe as this courageous young man pumped out length after length after length of the pool, exactly a year after being given the all clear from his cancer. It was so inspiring and humbling to be there. When he was on the final length, the whole pool was shouting, and screaming, and when he touched the end of the pool, everyone went mad. He had done it, and in the process had raised over £12,000 for CLIC Sargent! But there was more to come.

Above: Liam turns during his awesome 1 mile swim, just 1 year after being given the all clear from his cancer.

Liam's 12th birthday, February 26, 2007

Above left to right: Me, Liam Fairhurst and Karen Roberts celebrate Liam's 12th Birthday at The Next Generation Gym, Cambridge.

On Monday February 26th, 2007, my wife Beccy and I were delighted and honoured to be invited to Liam's 12th birthday party. He was so excited and happy that day. He also had a special cake made which had a cheque on it telling us that he had raised an absolutely staggering £70,000 for CLIC Sargent by doing his 1 mile swim. It was a very special day, for a very special boy and a special family, and it was an honour to be there. But less than a week later we received some terrible news.

This is the news I received taken from a blog entry dated March 06, 2007 on my previous blog site:-

"This morning I received a telephone call from a mutual acquaintance who asked me how I was. I told her that I was not very happy because the doctor had just given me more antibiotics for my persistent ear infection, which was stopping me training for the channel swim. As I sat there feeling sorry for myself, she hit me with a killer blow. "I've got some bad news" she said, "Liam's cancer has come back". I was dumbstruck. We had a long conversation about it, but in a nutshell they are optimistic that they have caught it early. He will undergo chemotherapy followed by an operation to remove the cancer and is receiving the full support of CLIC Sargent. I really can't express the emotion I am feeling at present, but I urge everyone who reads this to please donate just £10.00 to CLIC Sargent by clicking on the link below. More if at all possible. Liam's family, and many others like them need your money. I would like to say this to Liam. "Liam, you are a fighter. You have got through this once, and you will get through this again. I am not now just swimming the the channel for CLIC Sargent and St. Nicholas' Hospice, I AM SWIMMING IT FOR YOU. If you can swim a whole mile having been through what you have been through, I can swim that little old channel for you."

During the 2 years that followed, 2 years that fate turned into the last two of his short life, Liam did some truly remarkable things, all of which are just too numerous to mention here, so I would urge you to visit his website at:-

www.LiamFairhurst.com

His website shows just what a truly remarkable, selfless, courageous and inspirational person he was. At his requiem mass today, his mum announced that at the time of his death he had raised a staggering £321,000 pounds for CLIC Sargent. He loved CLIC Sargent, and spent his last 4 years doing as much as he possibly could to raise money for them. There is a link at the base of this tribute where you can donae directly to them if you wish to do so.

Father Martin Hardy read out the following poem:-

You can shed tears that he is gone

Or you can smile because he has lived

You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back

Or you can open your eyes and see that he has left

Your heart can be empty because you can't see him

Or you can be full of the love that you shared

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday

Or you can be happy for tomorrow becaue of yesterday

You can remember him and only that he is gone

Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on

You can cry and close your mind,

be empty and turn your back

Or you can do what he would want: smile,

open your eyes, love and go on.

As his coffin left the packed church to the sound of Heather Small's song "Proud", there was not a dry eye in the church. This truly remarkable young man crammed more into his 14 short years, and touched more people than many do in a lifetime. Liam, it was an honour and a privilege to have known you. Rest in peace.

<Click here to donate to CLIC Sargent>

British open water swimmers required to swim in Sabac, Serbia, August 02, 2009

2009-06-30T10:20:00.009+01:00

Above: Jarak - Sabac, race director Vojislav Mijic presents a plaque to me after the 2008 FINA World Cup race.

On Sunday June 28, 2009 I received a call from race director Vojislav Mijic to ask if I wanted to compete in this year's 40th anniversary swim from Jarak - Sabac. It is a 19KM river swim in water temperatures of about 27 Degrees Centigrade. Last years swim was a FINA World Cup event, but due to the costs involved in financing the event (about 60,000 Euros) it will not be a FINA event this year so anyone can enter. Due to the imminent birth of Beccy and I's first child, I am not swimming at the moment so will unfortunately not be attending.

Above: Photos from last years event, including a personal race I had with Italy's Nicola Carradossi, which I eventually won.

If you are interested in competing, please telephone Vojislav directly on +38 115 348 951 and he will send you an entry form. He is not good on the computer so this is the best way to contact him. He is a fantastic guy, Sabac is a beautiful, cosmopolitan city, and the people are very friendly. If you go, I promise you will have a fantastic time.

Click below for my full report from last years event:-

FINA World Cup - Serbia, July 13, 2008

Channel Swimmers audition for BBC TV show "Eggheads"

2009-06-19T10:18:00.017+01:00

Above (left to right): Jim Boucher (Channel Swimmer 2007), me (2007 & 2008) and Kevin Murphy ('King of The English Channel' with 34 crossings) auditioning for 'Eggheads' in London on June 18, 2009.

Through the channel swimming communities "Google Group" set up by multi-channel swimmer Nick Adams, we were invited to attend an audition to go on the BBC TV show "Eggheads". Having put my name down on the list, I somehow ended up organising the auditions. Our team of six will be Kevin Murphy, Mike Cross, Jim Boucher, Graeme Schlachter, Megan Forbes and myself. "Eggheads" is a general knowledge quiz in which teams from all over the UK battle to beat the formidable Eggheads, a team of extremely knowlegeable quiz experts.

For the auditions, we needed just three of the team of six. On the day, if we get through the audition stage, the team will be five of us, and one reserve which will be Graeme.

Kevin, Jim and myself were the three available for the auditions, and we arrived at the studios in Great Tichfield Street, London for 2pm, where we were greeted by Katie and Jodie who were to be our hosts for the day. The first thing that was asked was what our team name was. Now anyone who has followed recent Channel Group discussions, knows that this has caused some 'heated' e-mail exchanges! Having arrived with the name "English Channel Waterheads", Jim came up with an excellent name - "Channel 5". If you live in the UK you will know that this is also the name of a TV Channel in the UK, so is quite a play on words, especially since we were auditioning for the BBC! I was pronounced "captain" of the team by Katie which was a surprise to me!

We had to fill in all the mandatory paperwork, and when asked for Kevin's address, Jim, by now on a roll, said:-

"Due to the amount of time he spends in the channel, his usual address is:

1 Tanker Close
North-West Shipping Lane
The English Channel"

This had us in stitches, well me anyway! We had a quiz between us which ended up with a result of 2:2. I have no idea if that was good or not but we were then filmed and asked various questions which had to be answered on film.

We were thanked for attending, and told that we would be informed by the beginning of August if we had passed the audition or not. It was a fun experience, and I will update the blog once we know any further news.

"Life is a Channel Swim - Setting and Achieving your Goals" - A motivational presentation by Paul Hopfensperger, English Channel Swimmer 2007 & 2008

2009-04-15T10:08:00.010+01:00

Since my first channel swim on July 10, 2007 I have been asked on several occasions to give talks to organisations about the swim. In return, they have very kindly donated money to my two channel swim charities CLIC Sargent, the UK's largest children's cancer charity, and St Nicholas' Hospice in Bury St Edmunds who I recently found out, need to raise a staggering £10,000 per day just to survive!

Due to this, I have now prepared a more comprehensive and motivational talk for anyone who may be interested which explains, using NLP techniques, how life is like a channel swim. It needs to be well planned, starting with a well defined outcome or goal, and we need to develop the skills and have the discipline to achieve those goals.

Above: Paul talks to 45 members of the Bury St Edmunds Probus Club on Tuesday March 24, 2009.

Wherever you may live, if you would like me to share my talk and explain how I swam the English Channel not just once, but twice, please feel free to contact me by e-mail to motivation@bodyandmindstudio.co.uk or visit the web page by <clicking here>.

TESTAMONIALS

“Paul’s talk to our club was fascinating. He is a gifted speaker, easy to listen to and has a keen sense of humour. It was one of the most interesting talks we have ever had”.
David Hughes, Chairman, Tuesday Probus Club, Bury St Edmunds.

“Paul’s presentation to our club was received with great enthusiasm and is an example of what can be achieved if you put your mind to it”.
Ernie Broom, Chairman, Howard Estate Over 60’s Club, Bury St Edmunds.

“Paul’s talk was thoroughly enjoyed by all members of our club. It made us realise what an extremely physical and mental achievement it was to swim the channel, and he did it to raise money for people less fortunate than himself”.
Arthur Smith, Chairman, Mildenhall Road Estate Over 60’s Club, Bury St Edmunds.

Thank you Bury St Edmunds Round Table for donating £500 to St Nicholas' Hospice

2009-03-30T09:47:00.006+01:00

Above: Left to Right, Round Table National President, Peter Manly, me, Bury St Edmunds Round Table (289) Chairman, Anton Woodward and Vice Chairman, Philip Healy-Pearce, donate a cheque for £500 to me on behalf of St. Nicholas' Hospice, Bury St Edmunds.

Each year in November, the Bury St Edmunds Round Table organise a fantastic Fireworks extravaganza in the Abbey Gardens, Bury St Edmunds to raise money for local charities (the 2009 event will be on Saturday November 07, 2009). As reported on a previous blog entry in January, I was delighted to have been selected as one of the recipients of £500 funding from the 2008 event for swimming the channel twice. I have today, March 30th, 2009 paid this to St. Nicholas' Hospice, one of my chosen channel swim charities.

Above: The Bury St Edmunds Round Table annual presentation evening as reported in the Bury Free Press on Friday March 27, 2009 (Click here to download larger version).

If you live or work in or near Bury St Edmunds, and are male aged between 18 and 45, Round Table is a fantastic way to make new friends, do things you might not normally do, and raise funds for charity. They are always looking for new members. If you are interested in joining, then please contact them via their website at www.buryroundtable.co.uk.

I would just like to say a huge thank you to them, for being so generous to me.

Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation 7th Annual Dinner, Dover, England, March 14, 2009

2009-03-19T05:42:00.031Z

Above: The menu and list of CS&PF Solo Channel Swimmers for 2008.

Arriving in Dover on Saturday evening with my wife Beccy and 'Little Hoffy', it felt like we had never been away. Sweeping down past the harbour from the A20, I gazed across the harbour and thought about all the lengths back and forth over the past couple of years. The sun was just setting and the water was as calm as it could possibly be. If it wasn't for the fact the water was only just over 7 degrees Centigrade, it would be a perfect evening to swim the channel. However, we weren't here for that today, we were here for the annual dinner and awards presentation of the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation (CS&PF).

The tables were all excellently set out, and the dinner committee had obviously been working very hard all day, probably all week or longer in fact, to ensure that everyone would enjoy themselves.

Charlie Gravett, who will be my pilot for my Jersey to France swim when it eventually does take place, had been elected as Chairman of the CS&PF for 2009 earlier in the day at the AGM. Well done Charlie, I'm sure you will do fantastic job. It was during a chat with him prior to sitting down for the meal, that reality struck home about my Jersey to France attempt for 2009. You may remember that we went to Jersey in 2008 for the attempt, but despite sitting there for the week, I could not swim due to the windy conditions. We returned back to England, and re-booked it for the week commencing July 01, 2009. Well, things don't always turn out as planned in open water swimming. Beccy is due to give birth on July 29, 2009. That's 29 days after the planned swim! So after discussions with Charlie, Beccy and I have reluctantly decided to cancel the swim at present, as there is no way she can spend hours on a boat feeding me when she will be 8 months pregnant! We will have to re-schedule it, probably for 2010. Back to the meal.

I can't sum the evening up any better, than the e-mail sent to the channel swimmers group by the compare for the evening, Cliff Golding. I have therefore reproduced it here:-

"First, thank you to everybody who turned out on Saturday night for the CS&PF annual dinner. By all accounts everybody really enjoyed themselves. Amongst the many highlights for me were: Ros Hardiman's award and the spontaneous and prolonged standing ovation she received; the composure and strength Tara and her family showed in presenting the Leo Cox award; Frank Richard's heartfelt words on accepting his retirement award and how he said his priority now was to look after Margaret like she has looked after him all their married life and that she was far more important than Channel swimming - true love still after 61 years; introducing all the solo Channel swimmers from last year and, hearing after from someone who swam two years ago that one of the things that spurred him on during his swim was that he wanted to stand up and be introduced at the dinner as a Channel swimmer; and, the aah moment of the evening, when Frances Anderson stood to accept applause for her swim last year and it was announced that her boyfriend 'Shep' had taken her to her landing point in France earlier in the day and proposed to her at that spot.

Of course Evelyn winning the grand - let's say huge - bottle of wine was also a highlight - can't wait for THAT Varne Ridge barbacue in the sunmmer. And, there were over 40 swimmers braving the harbour on Sunday morning. The lovely sunny day belied the freezing water temperature (not that I would know, before anyone comments!) and shifts of ten at a time swimmers descending on Chaplin's for breakfast reminded me of days gone by and both delighted and challenged Barbara in the kitchen.

But, the main reason for penning this is to say that buried in the PDF Mike sent last night was the figure for the amount raised on the night for the Dover Lifeboat. £516 was collected (thanks Ella and Rhianna for collecting the envelopes) and will be presented to the RNLI Dover Lifeboat and thanks also to the emergency committee meeting convened during the evening (well a few of them gathered round Charlie's Guinness and did a thumbs up) when it was agreed that the CS&PF will match that amount and present a cheque for the euro equivilant to the Calais Lifeboat. Thank you to everyone for your generosity.

So to next year with the small matter of a whole season's Dover training and Channel swimming to come first!

Cliff."

A big well done from all of us here in Bury St Edmunds to Cliff, who was an excellent compare for the evening.

Above: Meeting my 2 Way Channel Swim 2010 pilot Eddie Spelling for the first time. He gave me some valuable information.

Above (Left to Right): Little Hoffy, Sonia from The Sandown Guest House, Me, Beccy.

Above (Left to Right): Channel Swimmers Benjamin Greensmith, Ned Dennison, Me (the short one at 6 Feet 1") and 2009 Channel Swimming Aspirant, Mike Hall.

Sunday March 15, 2009 - Dover Harbour

Having indulged in the usual excellent breakfast served at The Sandown by Sonia, we set off for the beach on a glorious almost Spring day. When we got there I was amazed at just how many mad fools were there! There must have been 50 or so people all eager to get in the 7.8 degrees Centigrade water. All except me actually. I really was not in the right frame of mind to get in. I was still thinking about my cancelled Jersey swim. At the beginning of the year, I had 3 big swims planned. Now, I had none! I stripped off and headed down to the water.

Above: With multi-channel swimmer, Nick Adams who helped me so much last year in Dover Harbour.

I stepped into the water up to my shins, and had the most searing pain shoot up my legs imaginable! Many people just went swimming off to the Prince of Wales Pier and Back. Nick Adams swam towards the Eastern Dock. Try as I might, I just could not get in. My head was not quite in the right place.

Eventually I resorted to splashing the water all over my body with my hands. This helped a lot, and without further ado, I walked into the water up to my waist.

It's amazing how the brain works. I was thinking, that there really was no point in doing this this year, I now had no reason to as I had no swims. I swum back to shore, and watched the others. Nick Adams did an amazing swim almost to the Eastern Dock and back.

Above: Pleased with myself after the best part of 60 second in Dover Harbour!

Above: Me with channel swimmers Sam Jones and Carlos. Apologies Carlos, but I don't think I've ever been told your surname!

We set off back to Bury and while I sat in the car, I sat thinking, pondering things, wondering when I would be back in Dover. A good weekend, but a lot to think about.

Doubts raised over swimmer's Atlanic journey

2009-02-11T09:01:00.006Z

Above: Jennifer Figge, a 56-year-old American, is said to be the first woman to swim across the Atlantic Ocean. But did she?

By Craig Offman, National Post, Canada. Published: Tuesday, February 10, 2009

When Jennifer Figge touched the shores of Trinidad last Thursday, the 56-year-old American completed a 3,400 kilometre, 24-day journey that began on Africa's Cape Verde Islands and ended on an abandoned leper colony. She became the first woman to swim across the Atlantic, a world record, perhaps.

But how much of it did she actually swim?

That is the heated dispute among aquatic marathoners, many of whom apply strict guidelines to these kinds of record-breaking firsts, right down to what the athlete wears. They believe that there is plenty to be skeptical about.

"When you do the math, it means she'd have to swim almost 150 kilometres a day," said Timothy Noakes, professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Cape Town."

An expert on extreme cold and endurance, Mr. Noakes helped train British swimmer Lewis Pugh for his famed, one-kilometre North Pole swim. "She couldn't go that fast - even if she ran across the water."

Yet previous transaltantic strokers have arguably swam at roughly the same pace, including two Frenchman - one of them with a kickboard.

Ms. Figge, a resident of Aspen, Colo., is a veteran marathon runner whose ocean-wide ambitions are more vast than her experience in the water. According to her Facebook page, one of her longest swims before this highly publicized crossing was an 83-km, three-day haul from Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas up to Marathon, Fla.

On Jan. 12, Ms. Figge set off from Africa, wearing a red cap and a wet suit, following a 14-tonne catamaran named Carried Away.

A makeshift mobile cage protected her from predators and various amoebic scourges.

"I've always dreamed about being this little thing in the big ocean," she told The Associated Press before her departure. According to the same report, she gave her captain, Billy Ray, a blank cheque with "Deposit to Swim Atlantic" written at the bottom.

Most days, Ms. Figge awoke at about 7 a.m., gorging on carbs while assessing the weather, which apparently was not helpful.

On her best day, she'd last eight hours in her six-metre by four-metre shark net; her least productive burst was just 21 minutes. The crew initially planned on mooring in the Bahamas, but was blown 1,600 km off course.

Once she arrived on the Trinidadian island of Chacachacare, however, she entered a unique class of swimmers.

A little over a decade ago, Frenchman Benoît Lecomte stroked 9,600 kms from Cape Cod, Mass., through the Azores, to Brittany - a 73-day journey. This would average out to 131 kilometres a day.

Four years earlier, a fellow Frenchman, Guy Delage, took a similar route to Ms. Figge's, but with the aid of a kickboard. His swim was unsupervised and has not been accredited.

Ms. Figge's business manager, David Higden, did not respond to an interview request, but he did tell the Guardian that Ms. Figge swam only 19 of the 24 days, and that she never set out to swim the entire distance. "Nobody could swim across the Atlantic. It's physically impossible," he said.

If traversing the Atlantic was not the team's objective, then they should not be surprised to hear that there are doubts about the accomplishment.

"In these swims, you have to provide evidence," Mr. Noakes said. "You need hour-to-hour evidence from a GPS telling us that she was there. It's up to them to prove it."

Mr. Noakes likened these athletes to mountain climbers, and the GPS evidence as the proof of their record. "You can't say you've conquered Everest until you have that photo next to the Chinese flag. This is the same issue: You need that evidence."

Paul Hopfensperger, who crossed the English Channel, also has misgivings. Like Mr. Noakes, he feels that wearing a wetsuit gives a swimmer an unfair advantage such as extra buoyancy and warmth. "People are dubious about this because it asks the question, ‘Where do you stop?' There are rules about this for a reason," said Mr. Hopfensperger, a councillor in Suffolk County, near Cambridge.

Without a wetsuit, swimmers are more prone to hypothermia, sapping them of strength that they would have if they wore some kind of protective gear. It also might fend off jellyfish stings that could otherwise lead to shock.

Best known for her superhuman swimming in frozen waters, Lynne Cox has her doubts about the shark cage, which she said can increase a swimmer's velocity 30% to 40%.

A self-declared purist who wears only goggles, a bathing cap, sunscreen and a swimsuit, the California native stresses the importance of learning what the human body can endure.

But she is also not surprised by the controversy. I can see why people are purist about this and why they should be done this way, not another" said the Swimming to Antarctica author. "But I think it's great for her to have goal like that. And if she felt needed to it that way, then she should do it."

PJH - I think we were all justified in being dubious about the legitamicy of the claim following the publication of this in Puerto Rico today:-

Correction: Caribbean-Trans-Atlantic Swim story

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — In stories on Feb. 1, 7 and 8, about Jennifer Figge's long-distance swim in the Atlantic, The Associated Press reported erroneously that she had swum across the ocean. Figge swam only a fraction of the 2,100-mile journey. The rest of the time, she rested on her crew's westward-sailing catamaran. Her spokesman, David Higdon, told The AP on Tuesday that her total swimming distance has not been calculated yet, but that due to ocean hazards including inclement weather, he estimates she swam about 250 miles.

PJH - Now we know why all English Channel Swims have to adhere to strict rules, and are only ratified if official observers of the CSA or CS&PF agree that the swim has complied with those rules.