The Dover Channel Training leadership team like to practice what we preach. Ordinarily, you have to wait multiple years to get a slot for a channel relay or solo, but with overseas swimmers less able to travel and training being impacted, we were aware that there were likely to be some slots available as a result. That seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

So, I put it to the leadership team and got a core team together: me, Paul, Mandi, Jon, Mig. We had one space left which we offered to Ruth who has proved extremely supportive of DCT through seminars / webinars and knowledge of all things medical like SIPE & hypothermia. Our reserves were two people who we’d love to share a relay with - Liesl & Mariya.

Stuart had a slot that we could take. Our booking was slot 3 on the 30th June - 10th July tide. It was game on!

We wanted the SLT in the team name, look closely and you’ll see it. SaLTed Nuts seemed to be an appropriate team name.

As the weeks towards our tide approached, Stuart advised us that we had moved up to 2nd place then finally to 1st position as other bookings cancelled or moved to a different tide.

Herding cats

Flexibility is everything with a channel swim (relay or solo). It’s an event unlike most, when you start is entirely dependent upon the weather. If you’re lucky, you may go within your tide, but it’s important to be ready to before or after the tide as well.

I know this, the whole team did. That didn’t make it any easier to juggle each of our complex working schedules.

Stuart, our pilot, offered us potential dates a couple of days ahead of our tide but a couple of key people in the team couldn’t make it. Given how much we preach about the importance of flexibility, there was a degree of head hanging involved!

We were also hoping that we wouldn’t be called for a Saturday or Sunday swim as that would mean all the key beach crew would be in the channel and we’d have some challenges running training and whilst we had a back up plan, I’m glad we didn’t need to use it.

Our tide started Wednesday 30th June. Stuart let us know that Thursday 1st July was looking good. This was within our tide and so we made plans to be ready. Unfortunately, Jon was also on standby for his solo, potentially on the Saturday and so he stepped aside to prioritise that (quite right) and Liesl stepped in as reserve.

A team with 6 people and 6 backgrounds and stories. This is my story.

The team

Let me introduce you to the team in the order that we swam.

Before the beginning

The weather forecast seemed to change at every 6 hour update, but Thursday 1st July seemed to stay broadly ok. Some updates it looked amazing, some it looked just ok. It stayed firm though and Stuart (our pilot) said ‘meet in the car park at 01:30. Our team agreed to meet at 01:00 to be ready in time and fill out final bits of paperwork.

Getting decent sleep before this was going to be a challenge for many of us.

We were each coming from different locations.

Paul & I were driving from Surrey after a day of work which didn’t finish until late. We planned to go via the campsite, drop off the trailer and set up the awning, leaving all the stuff needed for training there. That way we hoped to catch a bit of sleep in the campervan before the relay started. By the time we’d done all of that, bought our parking ticket and got to the marina, we only had about 90 mins to catch a few winks.

It had been a very busy few weeks leading up to this and I was exhausted. This wasn’t the best way to start. I’ve had a general lack of sleep thanks to a dodgy back, made worse by lockdowns. On top of that, this is what the weeks before the relay looked like:

Every weekend since the beginning of May spent in Dover running training
Swim teacher practical assessments 7th & 9th June amongst a busy working week
Channel relay on 14th June
No time to recover from the relay, straight into running an intensity training camp 15th-18th June
Long weekend running 10 hour swims - 19th & 20th June
A busy week catching up with work
Night swim, starting at 3am on 26th June, followed by running normal training for a relay team and normal training on the Sunday

There was no real recovery time in here and so I arrived at the day of the relay already exhausted and missed the opportunity for decent sleep. I did wonder if I could actually do it.

This is where my channel swimming history comes in. I am an endurance athlete and I can do more than I think.

I also reminded myself of the 40% rule. When you think you’re done, and I mean really done, you’re actually only 40% done.

I was starting 40% done.

Ready to go

Don’t we all look wide awake for such a silly time of day!

We all arrived on time. Turns out we had another half hour, but no drama, we were all ready to go when Stuart came to get us.

We each had a swim bag, a bag of food (way more than needed) and something to sit on.

We got onboard Sea Leopard, our boat for the day. The observer took us through the paperwork and key rules and it wasn’t long before we were off to the start.

First swim

Emma swim 1 (all charts are out by 9 minutes)

I don’t recall if I’ve started a relay before (there’s a lot of banter about me finishing them), but I was the one to start this one. It’s well known that I don’t like night swimming, and I wonder how much of that is now just a belief because I’ve always said that, and how much is actually real?

I prepped to get in very early. It was a warm night so I could afford to be in my costume, hat, earplugs & goggles with a dry robe and tracksuit bottoms on for a while. It was definitely warm enough. It takes a while to get to Samphire Hoe for the start and I was ready well in advance, no last minute stresses for me.

It did occur to me that there is a massive benefit in going first. There’s no nervous anticipation for many hours. I’d get in, get the job done and have five hours to relax before I had to go in again.

When we arrived at Samphire Hoe, the boat positioned itself, ready for the start. Sean shone a spotlight on the beach that I was to head for.

In all other swims I’ve done I’ve jumped in for the start, but there’s no real way of doing that off this boat so I went down the ladder. The water felt a lot warmer than the last relay, a pleasant surprise.

The world according to Strava (watch was on the boat)

I had pre-warned Stuart that I have zero ability to walk on pebbles, so I may end up crawling out. He did jokingly comment that I spend every weekend on a pebble beach and still can’t walk on pebbles!

I swam the short distance to shore. I did stumble on the pebbles when I first stood up, but then, much to my own surprise, I managed to walk out. I turned around and raised my arms, signalling that I was ready to start.

I stood there for what seemed like eternity and even started to wonder whether the horn had sounded and I hadn’t heard it (earplugs). What would I do if that were the case? How long would I stand there like a lemon? And then, I heard it, the sound of Sea Leopard’s horn.

At 03:09 I walked back into the water and swam towards the boat.

It wasn’t long before I was swimming alongside.

Unlike the last relay I had no issues following Sea Leopard. I could easily see the hull and had no issues following the direction. It was a much more relaxing experience.

I could see Mandi sitting at the back of the boat, a caring pair of eyes. It was reassuring.

I was OK. I was actually OK. The dark wasn’t bad at all. Maybe this was my best night swim yet.

It occurred to me that I never get to do the night swims that we put on in training (and I’m totally ok with that!), but this one was starting at the same time as last week’s night swim, so I got to experience it after all.

It was indeed dark, properly dark, when I got in. But within 30 minutes or so the jet black sky gave way to an inky blue. The sun was on its way. I wouldn’t get to see it on this swim, but it was no longer very dark.

Time took as long as it often does on a relay, but I did eventually see the 10 minute warning sign. The next five minutes went in a flash. Then I saw Mig on the ladder and I knew I had about 2 minutes to go. And then, Mig was in, and my time was done. I ducked under the ropes and made my way back onto the ladder. My first swim was done.

English inshore waters

There was some swell during the swim, not too bad, easy enough to swim in. Like me, Mig swam through English inshore water. He had sunrise, but with the low cloud we could see it get light but no beautiful sun on the horizon like you see on some swims.

With sunrise came the antics - target practice with the swimmer in the water. Blueberries are a firm favourite as are grapes. Following the #FudgegateFugitives relay, greek yoghurt can be fun too. Some of the team are very good shots, some less so.

Mig’s swim was pretty uneventful, just good solid swimming

Over the last few months Ruth has made me chuckle on numerous occasions. Despite her protests to the contrary she has done all that has been needed from training in cold water, medical, qualifying swims etc. Each time commenting that she’s running out of excuses.

Standing on the ladder - she’d run out of excuses!

Ruth swam well, as I knew she would. She did seem to want to follow the ferry rather than our boat, but other than that the swim was uneventful.

Half the team had swum.

Shipping lane

Think of the channel in 5 unequal sections:

English inshore water
South West shipping lane
Separation zone (like the central reservation on a motorway)
North East shipping lane
French inshore water

Moving between sections marks progress.

Paul swam us into the South West shipping lane and we saw both lobster pots and bobbing seagulls.

Liesl had been our reserve. She’d had an attempt at the channel in 2020, and has some unfinished business there. We’d talked about the possibility of a relay and she jumped at the chance to be our reserve.

With Jon on standby to do his solo in a few days, he made the sensible decision to step aside and let Liesl swim.

It’s always a privilege to be part of a team when one or more team members are doing their first relay and this was no exception.

You couldn’t tell that this was Liesl’s first relay as she took it all in her stride.

Finishing our first team rotation was Mandi. It is well known that Mandi really suffers with seasickness and it never ceases to amaze me how she willingly puts herself through this time and time again. On our last relay Mandi found a combination of seasickness medication which did the trick but left her feeling a bit zonked out. With two medics on board who have an interest in this area, a new combination was tried which worked a treat. Mandi was able to enjoy the day more than she ever has before.

I, on the other hand, never struggle with seasickness, though I do still take Stugeron in case. I’ve never taken a top up dose until today. I felt queasy, which was very unexpected.

Anyway, back to Mandi.

We saw a few humungous jellfyish in her swim. I have no idea why, but if you’re going to see a lot of jellies, it will often be in the separation zone, and we were edging towards that now.

Mandi also swam through a big clump of seaweed which got wrapped around her neck, it was the only time she missed a beat in order to free herself from it.

Ding ding, round two

Those five hours disappeared quickly! It was time for me to get ready again. This was to be my first handover. A 10 minute countdown for Mandi and for me and then 5 minutes. At 2 minutes to go I was instructed to get ready on the ladder. Those two minutes took forever! But pass they did and I dropped into the water to take over from Mandi.

My first daylight swim and it was only just after 9am but felt like mid afternoon.

There were 6 pilot boats out when we started. Two ahead, one overtook and two behind. During the first round of swimming one of the boats behind overtook us and one drew alongside.

Stuart & Sean did a fabulous job piloting. It was very easy to swim alongside and I always seemed to be just where I needed to be. It made for a relaxing swim.

I swam us into the separation zone and into jellyfish soup! There were thousands and thousands of tiny white jellyfish. They were low enough not to bother me and I suspect they were the sort that wouldn’t sting anyway. There were a few different species too. I saw a couple of compass jellies and some large purple ones. This jellyfish soup lasted for much of the hour and I didn’t sustain a single sting. There was a time when I had a real fear of jellies and that has clearly passed.

The second swim according to Strava. Watch started on the ladder and you can tell from my heart rate when my swim started and stopped. Pace & heart rate remained fairly constant.

At the same time that I had a jellyfish display going on underneath me, I became aware of missiles from the boat in the form of blueberries & grapes with a few direct hits!

We had the same pattern as before: 10 minute warning; 5 minute warning; 2 minutes ahead and Mig was standing on the ladder. It’s really hard to see him there whilst swimming alongside the boat, so I had to remain very observant. Splash and he was in, and I was back on board.

The air was getting warmer. After my pre-dawn swim I was very happy to have my base layers. This time it was easier and I didn’t need them and so I was dressed and ready much quicker with the hardest thing still being putting a new swimming costume on when still sticky and a bit damp.

Now time to relax and watch the rest of the team swim again. I was delighted to see that we’d pulled comfortably ahead of the two boats that had gained on us and made up some of the distance with the leaders.

Each swimmer in turn did what was required of them without any fuss. A solid hour of swimming. Each person giving everything in the knowledge that there were 5 hours to recover between swims.

We did have a bit of chop during the middle of the swim, but it really wasn’t all that bad.

More depressing was the fog that started to settle in. It wasn’t bad enough to cause us any issues, just not as nice a view.

Like Reg, Stuart did a spot of fishing for his lunch, but they were mostly tiddlers and got thrown back. Paul did notice being hit by a flying banana fish!

Mig swam us into the North East lane.

Mandi was in the water when we approached the all telling ZC2 buoy. At one point we appeared to be heading directly for it! Which side would we pass? On the French side or the English side? We passed on the English side and not by far. It was around that point that a small sailing boat came towards us to say hello. A friendly wave and they sailed on their way.

Back to ZC2, what would be key was to pass on the French side when the tide turned. And that came down to my third swim.

French inshore waters

The world according to Strava. I forgot to switch off my watch at the end for about 10 minutes, but you can tell from the change in heart rate when I actually go out of the water.

I have a bit of a reputation for finishing relays, but it would be a tall order to both start the relay and to finish it and today it was likely to be someone else’s turn to finish. My job was the same as everyone else’s and that was to make the most of the time I had in the water and make the most progress possible.

I took us into French inshore waters on the turn of the tide. The land looked the same distance away when I got out as when I got in, which was a bit depressing, but I understand why given where we were on the tide and the tide does turn abruptly at that point.

The tide turned sooner than it had on my last relay and we were heading into the bay. The question at this point would be where would we land, when would we land and who would be in the water?

It wouldn’t be me. Would it be Mig? He wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of a third swim and he would need to do a whole hour. Ruth too had a whole hour. Paul was in. There was 1 nautical mile to go and he had the benefit of some tide behind him. Given the fact that Paul has never quite got over swimming as hard as he could on a previous relay, only to have me take over for the last five minutes, we hooshed him along and he gave it everything.

It must have been a great relief for him to see the rib be launched as we went as far as we could with Sea Leopard and for there not to be a swimmer on it ready to take over. He swam alongside the rib and swam until his fingers touched the sand. We saw him stand, walk and then run out of the water with the Sea Leopard horn sounding to signify the end of the swim!

All done and dusted in 15 hours 41 minutes.

Paul got a ride back on the rib and we started the celebrations as a team.

Masterpiece, now a way behind us, had been experiencing engine troubles and so we went alongside to see if they still needed assistance. They didn’t and we wished them well as they disappeared into the fog.

6 boats, all CSA, started that day. Only 4 finished. I take my hat off to the swimmer on Masterpiece who completed his solo in a time of 18hrs 15mins, that was an incredible performance in increasingly unpleasant conditions at the end.

As for our team, Liesl had a week that most couldn’t conceive. Earlier in the week she crewed for a soloist (doing a butterfly crossing no less). She went on to do our relay and the very next day she did another relay - wow! What a week.

As for me, I now have a few weeks off before the next relay. The tide starts on 30th July. A different (and fabulous) team on a different boat with a different pilot. I can’t wait!