The LONG SWIM!

Wow - I was in Dover this weekend doing a long swim - I wanted to swim over the 6 hour mark to see how my body reacted to it and whether I could manage a long swim! At 0800hrs I launched myself into the water in Dover Harbour under the watchful eye of John. The plan being 10 hours. Freda was there waiting for other swimmers to appear at 0900hrs but I would have an hour on my own. The water was okay and didn't feel too cold. John had put some 'channel grease' on me which was made from half Lanolin and half Vaseline. It is horrible stuff but I wanted to try it out also. My feed regime was to be feed every hour for 4 hrs and then half hour after that. After a couple of hours I was joined by other swimmers, people saling in dingys and rowing boats.

After 4 hours I turned at the hovercraft wall and was faced by fog rolling in and the sea got really choppy. I was worried for a while especially when I lost the white cliffs! It stayed patchy for a while but soon cleared after about 7 hours. After this I lost most of the other swimmers. I was on my own again!

John kept me organised with the feeds and spent the whole time running up and down the shore and kayaking all over the place.

After 8 hours I began hurting - my right shoulder was getting painful but not bad enough to finish. I did think I was going to stop but a bigger part of me told me to carry on! The weather had cleared and the afternoon sun came out! All the sailors and rowers had gone as well.

I continued and eventually came out of the water at 10hrs 2mins 2secs!!!!I felt amazing! I was tired but okay! When I dressed and got back to the campsite (Little Satmar). As I went for a shower I realised that I had sunburned my face with the most ridiculous sun lines - especially where my swimming cap had ended. Never mind I look at it as a battle scar - I came and conquered 10hrs in Dover Harbour - I can't wait until the big swim now!