The Human Body DVD - Now available to purchase

Above: Human Body - Pushing the Limits - now available to purchase.

The Title Sponsor for my 2007 Channel Swim, Dangerous Films, filmed my channel swim on July 10, 2007, but while they did so, I had no idea exactly how they would be using the footage. What they in fact were doing, were making a 4 x DVD programme for the Discovery Channel called "Human Body - Pushing The Limits". Chris Pountney e-mailed me yesterday with a link to the Dallas Morning News which gives a column by Leslie Garcia on the DVD. It can be found by <Clicking Here>.

In the column, she describes me as a "...man – pale, slightly overweight..." who swims the English Channel. Charming! I thought I had got quite a suntan by then having spent so many weekends in Dover Harbour! LOL!

Anyway, if anyone is interested in buying a copy, it can be purchased online by clicking the link below (I do not get commission by the way!):-

Buy "The Human Body - Pushing The Limits" here.

I will e-mail Leslie Garcia a link to this blog to see if she would like to comment!

Update - April 01, 2008 - Leslie Garcia blogs about my swim...

I've made a new USA friend now with Leslie Garcia of the Dallas Morning News who has done a channel swim blog. <Click here to access the blog>. This is all getting very international!

Sea Training in Estapona, Andalucia, Spain - Day 1, Saturday March 15, 2008

Above: The stunning view from the beach in Estapona, looking towards Gibraltar (right) and Africa (Left).

When the former Mayor of Bury St Edmunds and St. Edmundsbury, Mike Ames and his wife Monica asked us if we would like to join them for a week in Spain before Easter, the first thing I asked was "Can you swim there?". "Absolutely" he replied. "You step out of the apartment straight onto the beach". I immediately booked the flights for Friday March 14, 2008!

Looking forward to it for about 4-5 weeks before we left, I suddenly realised that it clashed with the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation (CS&PF) Annual General Meeting and Awards Dinner, which I had already booked tickets for and booked our usual room at The Sandown Guest House in Dover. Humbly I apologised to the Honorary Secretary of the CS&PF Mike Oram, and Martin & Sonia at The Sandown who said it was no problem. However, while at the World Winter Swimming Championships in February, the "King of The English Channel", Kevin Murphy, asked me if I would like to be on the committee of the CS&PF. I was delighted and honoured to be asked by Kevin and I gladly agreed. Kevin was to propose me, and Cliff Golding to second me. I set off for Spain on Friday 14th, thinking about the week ahead, and whether I would be elected to the committee or not.

Arriving is Spain at about 22:00 Hrs on the Friday evening, I couldn't wait to get in the sea the next day, and after a fantastic seafood meal with Mike and Monica, I went to bed quite unexpectedly excited about the next day.

Above: Standing on the 3KM long beach in Estapona prior to my first swim. The 3KM stretch of water was just perfect for Two-Way Channel swim training.

The water was very calm, but there was quite a strong tide pushing the water from west to east, so for the first swim, I decided to walk to the western end of the beach and swim down with the tide, after all, this was going to be my first proper sea water swim since my swim in De Panne, Belgium on December 28, 2007, and I had to get a feel of the water temperature, tide, sea conditions etc., before I went too mad. I was going for an easy swim with the tide.

Getting in, I shivered. God it felt cold. Having been swimming in Clarice House 20 Metre swimming pool at 28 Degrees Centigrade for the past few weeks, and jumping in and out of the sauna and jacuzzi, this felt cold. It took all the 'cold' thoughts I could muster to get in. I bent over, splashed my body with water, kept walking in, then dived in and started to sprint away, before settling into a gentle pace.

Beccy was walking along the beach and I settled into a great rhythm. 1-2-3 breathe right, sea. 1-2-3 breathe left, Beccy marching quite quickly, down the beach, ruck sack on her back with my clothes, camera, flip flops, towel etc., all ready for when I emerged 3KM down the beach. It felt fantastic to be in the sea again. I kept looking at the temperature gauge on my watch, which had started at 28 degrees Centigrade, but was slowly dropping. It does seem to drop very slowly, 25, 22, 20, 19.5, 18.4, 18 Degrees Centigrade is where it stopped. It certainly felt colder than that, but who was I to argue with my temperature gauge? That was the official temperature for the swim. 18 Degrees Centigrade (64.4 Degrees Fahrenheit).

Above: Settling into a good steady pace in the 18 Degrees Centigrade sea, on day 1 of our 8 day Two Way Channel swim training camp.

After 35 minutes, I stepped out of the sea, having just completed the first 3KM swim of the week. was really pleased, but my body did feel very cold. Beccy told me that due to the tide, she could barely keep up with me. That's why she had been walking so fast!

We walked back to the apartments, I showered, got warm and dressed, then sent a text to the Queen of the English Channel, Alison Streeter, who is also the Chairperson of the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation, to see if I had been elected to the committee. I was delighted when she text me back saying that I had been elected.

What a perfect day, a good 3KM swim @ 18 Degrees Centigrade, and elected to the CS&PF Committee. I couldn't wait for day 2 to come to get in the sea for the next swim...

The 2008 World Winter Swimming Championships, Tooting Bec Lido, London, February 09-10, 2008

Day 1 - Friday February 08, 2008 - Press Briefing Day

Above: Competitors from all over the world lining up for a photo with the press on press briefing day.

Arriving at Tooting Bec Lido on "Press Day" at the 2008 World Winter Swimming Championships was a very exciting day for me. I don't remember being so happy to be somewhere for a long time. The reason was the complete carnival atmosphere that had been created by the hosts, South London Swimming Club. The weather was so warm that it could easily have been mid July in England, but the water temperature at 6 Degrees Centigrade (42.8 degrees Farenheit) brought it home that we were in fact in the depth of winter in England.

Between 12.30 - 13:30 was the press briefing sponsored by the Embassy of Finland, London and after a few speeches including one by his Excellency The Finnish Ambassador, we were asked to pose for some photos and get in for a trial "Head-up Breastroke" race. Vice President of South London Swimming Club, Margy Sullivan, explains the reason for this stroke: "The Finns decided to make races 'head-up breastroke' to give amateurs a chance against the elite. The championship is less about speed and more about coping with the cold, the challenge of the races and having some fun."

Above: Channel Swimmer Jim Boucher of 'Guilford Lido Legends' leads Channel Swimmer Hoffy of 'West Suffolk Swimming Club' across the 31 Metre wide Tooting Bec Lido for a press shoot doing the 'head-up breastroke'.

...before turning round and using the more traditional freestyle technique which at 6 degrees centigrade causes severe "ice cream headache" at sustained periods in the water. Swimming across the pool and pushing the "ice bergs" out of the way, it was time to get out.

South London Swimming Club had thought of everything. Just the thing you need when your body is freezing at 6 Degrees Centigrade; Out of the water and into...

...the 37/38 degree centigrade hot tub located on the poolside. Then straight out of that and into...

...the sauna which had been donated by the Finnish team, and will now apparently be a permanent fixture at Tooting Bec Lido. And, do you know? you never know who you are going to bump into in a sauna do you? Chatting to this very nice chap for about 5-6 minutes who said he was a reporter for BBC South, he says he used to be a footballer. "Who did you play for?" I said. "Chelsea and England" he replied. "What's your name then?" I said rather shocked. "Graham Le saux" he said!

Above: With ex Chelsea and England footballer Graham Le saux outside the sauna (he's the one with the 6 pack!).

The first day was asolutely fantastic and after a peaceful night's sleep at the very nice "Windmill on the Common" hotel, we headed for the first competitive day of the championships.

Day 2 - Saturday February 09, 2008 - Championships and Seminars/Swimming Stories day Day

Above: 09.20 Hrs. The Opening Ceremony of the 2008 World Winter Swimming Championships by Finbarr Martin, President SLSC, Jaakko Laajava, Ambassador of Finland, Cllr. Malcolm Grimston, Wandsworth Council, Eki Karlsson, President, Somen Latu and SLSC Children, Lucia Butler, Xanthe Maggs, Daisy Tolcher and Milly Tolcher.

Following on from the opening ceremony attended by over 670 swimmers from 21 countries, we headed for the seminar area. I was very excited as one of the main speakers was non other than internationally renowned Explorer/Swimmer/Environmentalist Lewis Gordon-Pugh. Lewis told us the riveting story of how he swum at the North Pole at -1.7 Degrees Centigrade for 1KM. The first human being to ever swim at The North Pole and at that temperature.

Above: A truly unforgettable moment of the championships, meeting Explorer/Swimmer/Environmentalist Lewis Gordon-Pugh after his rivetting speech.

My mum and her cousin Eileen, who lives in Tooting, were really pleased to meet King of The Channel, Kevin Murphy who was also swimming in the championships. "It's the King of The Channel" she said, and wanted a photo taken.

Above: Left to right, "King of The Channel", Kevin Murphy, my mum, Vera Hopfensperger and her cousin Eileen from Tooting Bec.

I was in race number 55 at 11:52:00 Hrs, and was selected to swim in lane 3. I was well psyched up for the race and proceeded though the routine to get to the starting point, and to enter the 6 degree water in race conditions. The race went according to plan as can be seen from the photo sequence below:-

Above: The Winner! I was really pleased to win my heat in the men's 40 – 49 years (those born 1959 – 1968) 25 Metres "Head Up Breastroke" event.

There were 83 competitors in my event from Russia, Finland, USA, Latvia, Australia and GB to name but just a few countries. Having won my heat, there was a really long wait (about 2 hours) before the results went up. I was desperate to see if I was in the final (the top 6 swimmers out of the 83) but was really dissapointed to see that my time was placed in 14th position! I would have to do much better in the Men's 62 Metres (2 widths) Freestyle the following day.

Believe it or not, there was a beer tent at the event, and due to the Finnish team being ardent beer drinkers, they polished off 1,500 pints of special championship beer called "Blue Tits", "Brass Monkeys" and "Chilly Willy". The 6 degree water temperature made all of those beer name seem very apt for the occassion I can assure you!

Above: Beccy with a pint of beer. I will let you decide which one it was that she was drinking!

Above: With Danni Callahan who left a message on my guestbook on 01/02/2008 and who took a silver medal in her age group. Well done Danni!

In the evening, we all went off to a fun filled barn dance at Glaziers Hall next to London Bridge. This was a great evening and I think everyone had a fantastic time, and probably too much to drink considering we were swimming the next morning!

Above: Eileen, Mum and Beccy enjoying a glass of wine or two at The Barn Dance in Glaziers Hall.

Day 3 - Sunday February 10, 2008 - 62 Metres Freestyle day for me.

We arrived bright and early for the next day's events, which included my best event the 62 Metres (2 x widths) freestyle event, which presented some challenges. Firstly, there was a steel bar in the water and I was worried about the tumble turn, and secondly, sprinting flat out for two widths at 6 degrees centigrade, would be a new experience. (Editor's Note: You will note the absense of photos for this event, and the ones we do have are of nothing in particular and are slightly blurred. This is due mainly to the photographer, aka Beccy, possibly suffering from the effects of 4 bottles of wine at the previous evening's Barn Dance!).

As we arrived at registration for the event, I noted that I was swimming against swimmers from Sweden, Germany, two from Finland and a very mean looking Russian by the name of Vitaly Poborchiy from Murmansk Swimming Club in Russia. On his right arm he had "Russian Olympic Team" sewed on his tracksuit. I gulped, shook hands with him and the others and we proceeded to the dis-robing rooms.

Above: In pensive mood at the registration area before the start of the Men's 62 Metres Freestyle event (2 widths of the pool).

We were all introduced by name, club and country, and then it was into the icy water (you have to start in the water with your shoulders submerged). 3-2-1-Hoooonnnkkk! Off we went.

I tore up the pool flat out, neck and neck but just slightly ahead of the Russian at the turn which actually went OK. Then, half way up the second width, it hits you. Icy water, shoulders start to lock-up and water begins to be swallowed. 6 degree water pouring down your throat. My concentration lapsed and I reached out to touch the wall in front of me. Only, it wasn't in front of me. I looked forward and realised it was still about another metre away. I put in another stroke, but that pause had cost me the race and I touched behind the big Russian.

After the race, it was straight into the hot tub and sauna where I sat next to Vitaliy Poborchiy and congratulated him. He was well chuffed, and I think he thought he had won it. I know I did, and I just wanted to know if I had got a medal or not (there was no final in this event, just a declared winner system based on fastest times).

Again we waited in eager anticipation for about 1.5 hours, and the results were posted on the board as follows:-

1st - Jason Shaw, Australia - 36.84
2nd - Simon Murie, Great Britain - 37.10
3rd - Vitaliy Poborchiy, Russia - 37.22
4th - Paul Hopfensperger, Great Britain - 38.74

I had missed out on a medal by one place! Click on the photo below for the full resuls of this race.

Lastly...

I just want to say what a fantastic 3 days! It really was superb and the friendship and camaraderie was something I will remember for a long time to come. There were many channel swimmers there, including King Kev, Cliff Golding, Nick Adams, Nancy Douglas, Nicola Millichip and Jim Boucher to name but a few. The amazing thing was the weather! It was a stunning 15 degrees centigrade for all three days, and I have come back with a sun burnt face, event though the water was 6 Degrees Centigrade! Climate Change in action! I sincerely hope to be in Finland next February to see how a similar event works at air temperature -35 Degrees C!

An invigorating 7.5 Degree Centigrade dip in the North Sea at windy Felixstowe

Above: The sea temperaure around the UK courtesy of Oceanweather Incorporated (http://www.oceanweather.com/).

With only one week to go to the World Winter Swimming Championships 2008 at Tooting Bec, I thought I had better get in the cold water again to continue the aclimatisation process. The sea temperature at http://www.oceanweather.com/ showed the sea near Felixstowe to be around 7.5 degrees centigrade today. So off we went to Felixstowe to do what I thought was going to be a good cold water swim. Wrong. When we got there I was greeted by this:-

Above: Felixstowe Pier, Sunday February 03, 2008 at about 12.30pm. No place for a good training swim!

Having read an article last week about 'The Ice Bear', Lewis Pugh on how he prepared mentally for his swim in the sea at The North Pole, by superheating his body using mind techniques, I got in the car in Bury St Edmunds wearing my skiing hat, gloves, scarf and big overcoat, turned the heaters on and sat there for 45 minutes while Beccy drove the car, and I attempted to superheat. I thought about the desert, swimming in the Mediterranean, all sorts, but on arrival at Felixstowe, I was hardly "superheated", just pleasantly warm. Exiting the car with swim hat on, ear plugs in and goggles on, I headed down to the beach, but was shocked at how windy it was, how rough the sea was, and how cold my face was with the bitter wind coming in off the North Sea.

Above: No messing about this week like I did at Aldeburgh two weeks ago. I just stripped off and walked straight in.

On the beach I was totally focussed on getting in. I stripped off and walked straight into the sea. It was bloody freezing and incredibly rough, but I just carried on in. A couple of waves took me under, and I ran out laughing to see a crowd gathering on the promenade pointing, and laughing. Beccy was fiddling wth the camera, and I turned round and went back in again.

Above: Unable to swim due to the sea being so rough, but a good bit of cold water aclimatisation for next week's World Winter Swimming Championships nonetheless.

I was pleased with my efforts, and although my feet were numb for about 45 minutes afterwards, and my injured finger was throbbing for the same period of time, it was a worthwhile trip to the coast, and we had a good lunch and glass of red wine afterwards!

£10,000 mark passed this week in attempt to raise £50,000 for two local charities

Above: I present a cheque for £10,000 to Michelle Gray from St. Nicholas' Hospice (left) and Karen Roberts from CLIC Sargent (right) at Culford School Sports Centre on Thursday January 24, 2008. Photo by Victoria Spofforth and copyright The Bury Free Press 2008. Copies available from http://www.photostoday.co.uk/ ref. 8vs2401008.

Above: Article from the Bury Free Press, Friday February 01, 2008. (Click picture to download the article).

This week was a bit of a milestone on the fundraising efforts, as we passed the first £10,000 in sponsorship for the two charities I swum the channel for, and am attempting to swim it two-ways for. The original purpose of swimming the channel, was to try to raise a total of £50,000 for them. Hopefully, this donation is the first of what I hope will be a total of 5 £10,000 donations.

For further information on CLIC Sargent, the UK's largets Children's Cancer charity - CLICK HERE.

For further information on St. Nicholas' Hospice in Bury St Edmunds - CLICK HERE.

If you wish to sponsor me, simply click on either or both of the "JUSTGIVING" icons, further down this page, and donate securely online. Alternatively, please e-mail me at paul@hoffyswims.com and I can let you know how else you can sponsor me.

"Warm Up" for the World Winter Swimming Championships at Tooting Bec Lido, London, my coldest ever swim!

Above: Tooting Bec Lido, London, the largest fresh water swimming pool in England (90 Metres long), home of the South London Swimming Club, and to the World Cold Water Swimming Championships, February 9 - 10, 2008.

Getting up at the unearthly hour of 05.30 Hours on a cold but beautifully sunny January Sunday morning to travel a 180 mile round trip to London for a 20 second swim at 6.7 degrees Centigrade (44.06 degrees Fahrenheit) is not many peoples idea of a fun day out. However, all in the name of "2 way channel swim cold water acclimatisation" today, that's exactly what we did.

In two weeks time competitors from over 20 countries from around the world, will congregate in Tooting to compete in the first World Cold Water swimming championships to be held outside of Finland. Today, we were asked to compete in a trial of the first 8 events so that the organisers could practice for the big day, as well as the competitors acclimatising to the water. We all checked in, and I was given a race card to hang around my neck, which said I was now "Paivikki Filpus" (Female!) competing in race number 4, Lane 5, start time 09.19. (I'd never been an actor before! - Little Britain's "I'm a Lady" sprung to mind).

About Cold Water Swimming (From the World Championships website).

"Aficionados of cold water swimming claim it gives them the ultimate high, making them feel invigorated, even euphoric. Swimming in the depths of winter is popular in Russia, China and Scandinavia - Finland has held the Winter Swimming Championships for several years. Finnish competitions attract thousands of entrants who willingly plunge into pools carved from the ice, while the air temperature plummets to as low as minus 45C. While it may not be quite so cold in south London the water will still feel pretty chilly at an average of 4C.

Despite the freezing temperatures, the rules of cold water swimming dictate that competitors can only wear normal costume or trunks, along with a hat and goggles. For the main races the standard stroke is ‘head up breaststroke’, introduced by the organisers of the Finnish Ice Swimming Championships as a way of levelling the field between elite pool swimmers and hardy ice swimmers. It also has the benefit of retaining more heat in the body and has now become the preferred stroke for cold water swimming competitions.

Converts to cold water swimming insist the practice has real health benefits. While these are still subject to medical debate, habitual winter swimmers say it boosts the immune system, circulation and even libido. Certainly, Lido regulars do not seem to suffer any more colds and flu than the rest of the population and they all agree that cold water swimming gives them an unbeatable feel-good factor. However, it is a good idea for swimmers to obtain medical advice and acclimatise to cold water before competing."

Arriving at the Lido, I bumped into the actress Lucy Petrie (nee Scott), who sponsored me for my 2007 channel swim and was a regular swimmer at Dover in summer 2007. Lucy, is best known for her performance as Charlotte Lucas (the Vicar's wife) in the BBC's 1995 production of Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice". Lucy and her actor husband Alistair Petrie, made a two person channel relay crossing in 12 Hours 21 minutes on the same day as my channel crossing, July 10, 2007.

Above: Me with Lucy Petrie, actress and successful two-person channel relay swimmer 2007.

When I arrived, I put my watch into the water to test the water temperature. I was told that it get's down to 3 degrees centigrade, however, after 15 minutes in the water, it had levelled out at 6.7 degrees centigrade. I was pleased and disappointed. I had prepared myself mentally for 3 degrees, but was surprised to find it was 6.7 degrees. We were summonsed to our positions, stripped off and got into the pool.

As I jumped in, it was cold, but not as cold as I had imagined. They told us to put our shoulders under the water, walk forward, grab the starting ring and wait. It was very cold, but bearable. The horn went, and off I went - 25 Metres "Head up breastroke". I, or Paivikki Filpus, came in first, but then again I should as a man in a female race, there were three other ladies and a gentleman who's name I didn't catch ("Paivikki Filpus" you won the race). As soon as I hit the end I said "Can I get out? Can I get out?". The marshall nodded and out I jumped. It was much warmer out of the water in just a pair of speedos, than it was in it. I showered, dressed and was pleased with my efforts.

Above: Watch my lips - "By Jove! This is jolly cold old chap isn't it?". I'm sure that's what I said anyway!

Above: Paivikki Filpus (aka me) wins Race number 4, - Ladies "Head up Breastroke". I know it's very confusing, but it was just a practice of the actual race order for the organisers.

Above: "Can I get out? Can I get out?". After all, you don't want to stand around in 6.7 degrees centigrade water for long I can assure you!

Having returned to poolside, I bumped into Jim Boucher. Jim swum the channel on August 11, 2007 in 15 Hours 28 minutes, and was a regular on swimmers beach, Dover during 2007.

Above: Me with Channel Swimmer Jim Boucher (11-08-2007 - 15:28).

Having met up with Jim, and watched him get in for a swim, I decided to get in again, and try a bit of front crawl at 6.7 degrees Centigrade. This meant obviously, putting my head and face in the water. This is undoubtedly the worst bit. It gives you a real "Ice cream headache". Just as if you've bitten into a freezing ice cream, only it just doesn't give up, it get's worse the longer you are in there. I managed about 100 Metres, then got out.

Above: My first attempt at 100 Metres Freestyle at 6.7 degrees centigrade (44.06 degrees Fahrenheit).

All in all it was a successful and pleasing day, a further bit of cold water acclimatisation and I am now looking forward to the World Championships in two weeks time. Good luck to all the competitors there. My next blog will probably be after the championships...