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

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>

Dover 2008 week 8 - A tough swim, and a tense wait for Mark Ransom's Channel Swim

Above: Swimmers Beach on a bleak and dreary 'Mid Summers' day 2008.

I had been waiting for the phone call from Mark Ransom to say he was swimming the channel on Friday June 21, 2008. However, when we got the call, it was to say that it wouldn't be happening this weekend. So off I went to Dover, on my own again this week as Beccy was running in the Cancer Research UK "Race for Life" in Bury St Edmunds.

When I arrived on Swimmers Beach, it was a horrible, misty day with fine rain falling. After helping Barry and Freda put the tent up, to protect her from the inclement weather, I was given 7 hours, and put my new Aqua Sphere swim hat and goggles on. After a year of searching, I had now found the perfect hat and goggles for me. The hat comes down over the ears, which helps protect my right ear from what has been a very niggling little ear irritation for some weeks. The General gave me hat number 1, which I put in my bag and set off on my swim, thinking that I could remember "No. 1" when I come in for a feed. I set off on the swim, being the first person to enter the water. It was quite pleasant at about 15 degrees centigrade, and I felt quite good.

After 2 hours, I came in for a feed, and Barry handed me the Maxim, and Irene took the register. "No. 1" I said, and swam off for my next hour. When I got in for my second feed, The General came storming down the beach, shouting and waving her arms at me. All I could see was her lips moving, I couldn't hear a thing due to by excellent hat keeping out all sound as well as the water. Eventually it turned out that I was to wear a red hat not my silver one for whatever reason. The General went up to my bag, got out the red one, then told me I had to wear it. There was no way I was taking off my silver hat, so I took off my new goggles and put on the red hat over the top of my silver one. Then, disaster, I lost my goggles. I searched but could find them anywhere, so I ran up the beach, reached into my bag, pulled out my old pair, ran back down to the water, and set off. I was absolutely fuming! It was only the second time I had worn those goggles, and they weren't cheap at £16.99! I continued swimming.

At 4.5 hours, I started to feel "ill". I had not felt like this before in the harbour, but my arms felt weak, and I had two projectile vomits which looked like blood in the water, although it was probably Maxim. Not being one to quit, somehow I kept swimming and eventually reached 7 hours and 20,000 Metres, and got out and had a massage with Louise. I then went back to The Sandown B&B and was in and out of consciousness all night on my bed.

Getting up next morning, I had the "thick head" from hell. I felt like I had a hangover, but without the alcohol! I decided to drive home, because I felt so bad. The whole way home, I felt like I was having an "out of body" experience. I was "floating". I got home, and had a really good 2 hour sleep, still having a splitting headache when I woke up. I then got the phone call....

Mark Ransom, will be swimming the channel at about 1am on Tuesday morning, June 24, 2008! I unpacked my bags, and started to re-pack them ready to get down to Dover again on Monday evening.

The next blog will hopefully be all about Mark's swim.

GOOD LUCK MARK FROM EVERYONE IN BURY!!!

Kind regards.

Hoffy and Bex.

for training diary update click here

On Sunday August 26, 2007, Loraine Verghese swam to France in 13 Hours and 15 Minutes

Above: Loraine's pilot, Andy King, prepares The Louise Jane for a long hard day in The English Channel, while Loraine says goodbye to Martin from The Sandown Guest House in Dover.

Above: Loraine and three of her support crew on board Louise Jane with Dover Harbour in the background on our way to Shakespeare Beach.

After Loraine supported me on my channel swim, she asked me if I would be her support swimmer for hers. I gladly accepted and at 06:30 Hrs. on Sunday August 26, 2007 we assembled and set off for the short trip from Dover Marina to Shakespeare Beach which was to be the starting point for Loraine's Swim. Loraine was swimming the channel to try to raise £100,000 for Jack Brown, the son of one of her work colleagues, Richard. Jack has a rare form of cancer and needs very expensive medical treatment in the USA.

Arriving at the start point of her swim, Loraine gave Richard a big hug, before sitting on the edge of the boat, jumping in and swimming to shore to be greeted by her mum, daughter, and Martin and Sonia from The Sandown who were waiting on the beach. At about 07.30 Hrs., she set off on what would be a 13 hours and 15 minutes, swim across the English Channel.

Above: Leaving Shakespeare Beach, Dover. Next Stop, France.

The first few hours went really well, and Loraine stormed across the channel. She barely spoke during her very quick feeds, and seemed quite happy with her swimming. She looked to be enjoying it. I helped Nicky with the feeding. Loraine fed every 30 minutes. I gave her the 5 minute hand signal at 25 minutes, Nicky prepared the feed, I stood behind the cabin door, and almost precisely on the 30 minute mark, Andy King took the feeding pole from me, leant over the edge and handed Loraine her feed. It went like clockwork.

After about 10 hours we were in front of Cap Blanc Nez in France and it seemed like you could almost touch France, we were that close. However, there was a 3.6 Knott tide now, which was sweeping us west very fast. To the very far right in the distance was Cap griz Nez. Before we knew it, Wissant swept passed us, then Cap Griz Nez, then in what seemed like no time at all, Cap Griz Nez was far to the left of us. I didn't think we were ever going to stop going west!

Loraine was now getting frustrated and knew we were going sideways. She had been on my boat for my swim, and knew the form. However, we all kept on encouraging her, and at the end of the day, she was still only about 12 hours into the swim, and was only 2 miles from the French coast. Behind us, the sun was setting, and shortly she would be swimming in the dark. Andy put the white board in front of her to ask if she needed me in as a support swimmer. She shook her head and carried on valiantly.

Above: The sun starts to set as we sweep round past Cap Griz Nez.

Above: Me (left) and Jack's Dad, Richard, with Cap Griz Nez clearly in the background which was now to our left.

As night fell, Loraine was getting very emotional and frustrated. We just didn't seem to be getting any closer and she knew it. However, we were inching forward very slowly. Night fell and she changed her goggles for clear ones so she could see better.

Eventually, Andy McGrath put the dinghy into the water and set off towards the shore with Loraine swimming very strongly beside it. It was pitch black, and I held a very large torch which I pointed towards the shore. It was a very rocky section of France, and in the very far distance we could just see Loraine's head, which had a green light on the back, moving on the land. She had done it!

Above: Loraine returns from the French coast in the support dinghy now as "A Channel Swimmer".

Above: The newest Channel Swimmer Loraine Verghese sits on board the Louise Jane after her successful channel swim.

It was a fantastic day, and a fantastic experience to be on board boat and just watch the channel in action. It is a beast of a stretch of water, and experiencing those tides working against a swimmer really taught me alot.

Well done Loraine, you did a fantastic job, and I was proud to be there and watch you.

Hoffy.

This week is Loraine Verghese's Channel Swim week, and I am her support swimmer

Above: Loraine supported me on my channel swim day, now it's my turn to support her.

Today, Monday August 20, 2007 is the first day of the tide for Loraine Verghese's Channel Swim attempt. Loraine is swimming to try and raise £100,000 for a little boy called Jack who has a rare form of cancer. Jack's dad will be on the support boat with us.

Unfortunately, the weather is not looking good so far this week. Loraine is swimmer No. 3 which if the weather was good would mean that she swims on Wednesday. However, having spoken to her pilot Andy King (who was also my pilot) it's not looking good for the number 1 swimmer at least until Wednesday or Thursday. This means we won't be swimming until at least Saturday!

We will keep you informed here via this blog as to when we expect to set off.

TEXT UPDATE FROM LORAINE - 20/08/07 - 20:23 Hrs.
Weather forecast tomorrow not suitable for first swimmer but there is hope further in the week fingers crossed...

TEXT UPDATE FROM LORAINE - 22/08/07 - 12:45 Hrs.
To the crew of Louise Jane. Well and so the story goes "No pain, no gain". The waiting is torture, more like your nail being pulled out from the nail bed! But there is hope, can someone wave the magic wand. I want to get out there. Paul is keeping my spirits high and being a great support. Thanks Paul and to all who have already done it, lucky you! Will keep you posted. x

Above: A grim looking Dover Harbour from the web cam (see top right of this blog). No swim today unfortunately.

UPDATE FROM ANDY KING - 23/08/07 - 15:00 Hrs.
It look like Loraine will swim on Sunday morning. No. 1 tommorrow, No. 2 Saturday, No. 3 (Loraine) on Sunday morning. Spoke to Loraine, she would rather go Saturday night so she lands in France in daylight. I can understand that but have not done any night training before. This will be interesting...

Will update you when the swim is confirmed.

TEXT UPDATE FROM LORAINE - 24/08/07 - 09:06 Hrs.
Channel swim update... To the crew of Louise Jane. First swimmer off at 7am with weather looking good and sun out. So fingers crossed. Will update soon.

TEXT UPDATE FROM LORAINE - 24/08/07 - 15:42 Hrs.
Channel swim update... First swimmer out unable to make it. Bill [No. 2 swimmer] to leave tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed the weather stays good for me Arghhh ha ha.

E-MAIL FROM THE GENERAL - 24/08/07 - 17:25 Hrs.
The Bulgarian swimmer Peter Stoychev has just broken the world record with a time of 6 Hrs. 57 Minutes 50 Seconds! A new English Channel World Record! Well done Peter. I met him in Dover a few weeks back and he said he would do it! Wow!

TEXT UPDATE FROM LORAINE - 25/08/07 - 07:15 Hrs.
Channel swim update... To the crew of Louise Jane, just seen Bill off [He's the No.2 swimmer with Andy King on The Louise Jane - Loraine is No. 3]. He looked ready to rock and rol. So now it looks like my turn tomorrow at around 8am.

UPDATE FROM PAUL - 25/08/07 - 18:05 Hrs.
I'm just leaving for Dover to support Loraine. Good luck Loraine from all here in Bury, and I will update the blog on Monday when I return.

Hoffy.