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

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

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'"

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!

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

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

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

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!

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.