We got up late on Thursday and Len rang to say he'd be arriving at 12 to drive us to the Marina and Andy would be picking us up there at 1pm. Frantic last-minute bag-packing and checks ensued; Len and Didge arrived to give us a final and emotional pep talk; we set off for Dover!
It was a perfect day for Channel swimming - apparently one of only three days in the year so far when they'd had such good conditions for a crossing. It was sunny and quite warm, there was only a slight breeze and the water, though having a little swell, wasn't too bad at all. We arrived at the Marina and were greeted by the Munro-Lott parents and Jim Barlow, closely followed by Mum Waller who arrived 5 mins later. After meeting the lovely observer Claire who would be officiating our swim and packing everything onto the Louise Jane, we said our goodbyes with some massive hugs, Andy started up the boat and off we went out of the harbour. The full crew was Andy, Gary (Andy's number 2), Claire, Len, Didge (who was amazing for emotional support), Luce, Me, Nay and Sarah (swimming in that order).
As soon as we left the harbour it got a bit more choppy, but it was still far better than a lot of what we had been used to swimming in. We went right out of the harbour over past Sandfire Hoe; there was a little beach to its right and this was where Lucy would be starting from. So, when she was ready, Gary pulled back the chain on the side of the boat, Lucy jumped in to the sea (not without a little bit of screaming on entry) and swam in to the beach. She had to stand up completely clear of the water on the beach before Andy sounded the horn and then back in she went, and she was off: we were swimming the Channel!
It worked like this: we'd swim alongside the boat, driven alternatively by Andy or Gary. The boat would be going slowly, so we'd catch up with the front of it; on doing so, the boat would accelerate until we were in line with the back of it so then we'd swim to the front again, and so and so forth so that we were always in line with some part of the boat. Communication with the parents who were watching us from Sandfire Hoe and then later up on the White Cliffs told us they could still see us into our 2nd swims but lost sight during our third stints.
Hour 1 (Lucy): Leaping in to the water off the edge of a boat isn't something to look forward to, but i was over the chilliness quick enough on swimming into the beach. After getting out and waving to everyone on the boat, I was off! I thought my first hour went quite slowly, but this wasn't too much of a problem as I was still on a high from the excitement of finally getting to start the swim!
Lucy's first hour was fantastic. We got well away from the cliffs (though they still looked depressingly close for quite a while) and actually managed 2 1/2 miles in that first hour. Then came the first changeover. When Luce had done 45 mins, I (Em) started to get ready: on with the hat, in with the earplugs, Vaseline-d and goggled up and prepared to take over. Claire counted down from 30 seconds and I was asked to sit on the side of the boat, where they had pulled back a little chain covering a gap in the surrounding railings of the boat. When Claire counted down to zero, I jumped in behind Lucy, she swam round to the back of the boat where a big ladder was put down for her to climb out with, and I was told to start. It was quite nippy on first entering, but we had done much worse and I got used to it quite quickly.
Hour 2 (Em): Luce out of the water we quickly got around to preparing her hot drinks and congratulating her on her amazing swim. My first hour went surprisingly quickly; it didn't seem long before Len was saying '10 minutes to go!'. At this point, every time I breathed to the left (towards the boat) I started watching what was going on; I could see Nay getting ready and putting her hat on, off came the tracksuits and then suddenly the chain was back, the ladder was down and she was sitting in the gap waiting to hop in on Claire's queue. Len's whistle went and in she went, I climbed out the ladder (not without difficulty - it's a very steep ladder when you've just been horizontal for an hour) and was able to get a towel, clothes and warm up.
Hour 3(Nay): The thing we noticed about our first swim was how slowly it went by. We all got out of the water complaining how boring it was. It wasn't for how tired we were, but for the lack of human company that we wanted to get out the water. I found this especially true and could not wait to get out the water.
Hour 4(Sarah): Sarah's swim pushed us over a third of the way. We were quickly calculating that we might only have to swim three times each...a classic example of counting chickens before they hatch. Way way before they hatch! During Sarah's hour, unbeknownst to her, she swam within 100m of a giant cruise ship, producing massive swell that had us all clinging on to the boat to dear life!
Hour 5(Lucy): This hour went so much quicker than my first which was quite reassuring. The water felt so warm in the sun and it was a very enjoyable swim!
Exciting news. We were told to wear our glow sticks! Lucy re-Vaselined up and placed the preferred green glow on the top of her head, and two on her hips. Luce's swim coincided with sunset, which was so beautiful! Lucy came out of the water exclaiming that this swim and gone by way faster...good news for our ears!
Hour 6(Em): Complete with glow sticks Em entered the water. Psychologically, we were starting to be worn down. Getting out after our second hour, it dawned on us that next time we got in we'd be doing the most swimming we'd ever done in a contained period of time - in training, we'd only ever done an hour in, an hour out, an hour in. We'd never done the third hour. The idea of getting back in when it was getting so much harder - in fact, pretty impossible - to warm up was not welcoming. The boat was freezing cold and we were getting very tired.
Hour 7(Nay): This time I was prepeared for the boredom. I had selected a wide variety of songs to sing to myself, ranging from Xavier Rudd to Queen, with a bit of Bonnie Tyler thrown in to jazz it up. I was so into my internal singing that I very nearly crashed into the boat twice, and my flow was interrupted with Andy or Gary yelling! Sorry...
Hour 8(Sarah): It was now very dark and so entertainment from people on the boat was very limited...however I found that without the play by play from everyone on the boat the time went so much faster. The water also seemed much warmer as the air temperature was now about 10 degrees colder than the water!! I decided I would need to remember this feeling as motivation for getting in again late at night. I also got beeped at twice for swimming away from the boat shortly after taking the mick of Nay for her inability to swim in a straight line :)
Hour 9(Lucy): Lucy kept up a good pace throughout her hour especially considering all the pressure that was suddenly on to get out of the shipping lanes as fast as possible. However, fatigue was definitely starting to set in. She did all she could in the hour and managed to keep a steady rythym until the hour finally ticked by, though this was probably her most physically and emotionally draining hour.
Hour 10(Em): With Em safely in the water attention turned to helping Lucy out of the water. She looked shattered, bent in half she sat down on the bench in the boat with a very heavy. Slipped, and fell onto the bottom of the boat hitting her head on the side. It suddenly became very serious, it wasn't a bad fall and her head was fine, but the impact of fatigue was playing a big part in how we coped. Soup and hot chocolate was quickly sent for (all courtesy of Gary's cooking) and Lucy was huddled into the warmth to recover from her fantastic stint.
This hour was potentially the most dramatic. Em had overheard Andy tell Gary that we had missed a tidal window and were now having to work against several knots of tide. Em was told to really push this hour. "Every time I breathed left I started to search the boat for any signs that Nay was getting ready, my eyes scouring the boat for the bright green glow sticks which meant that she was preparing to take over. This was a mistake and I tried to think about other things as I knew that it would just make the whole thing go slower but I couldn't help willing her to appear on the side, ready to jump in! My spirits were low and all but crushed when Len called to me from the side of the boat asking me to 'Go faster', as we really needed to make more progress and get out of the shipping lane. This was definitely my low point: being asked to go faster when I was so so tired was like a slap in the face. Of course, Len had no choice as Andy was getting so worried about our position in the shipping lane and, as I found out later on, was beginning to threaten to turn us round and cancel the swim - if we didn't start making progress, he said, we'd stop and go back." - For Em to carry on after this was just amazing. She did so well! Her last 30 mins made a real difference to our pace and distance. Em later said that when Len yelled at her to go faster it was one of the worst moments of her life, but for her to just carry on and push herself was such an inspiration!
Hour 11(Nay): I entered the water with the entire pressure of the swim on my shoulders. If I didn't swim hard enough we would have to abandon the swim, and that guilt was not something I was prepared to live with. I threw myself into the first 20 mins, pumping my arms through the water. It was the hardest swim of my life! I called out to Didge half way through in a pathetic voice that I was 'so tired'.
Sitting in the cabin, I (Em) heard Andy announce to Gary that an hour ago we'd been 1/4 mile off of Cap Griz Nez (where we were aiming to land) and now we were 1 1/2 miles off. We were going backwards! This was not what anyone wanted to hear. In extreme distress I made the ridiculous mistake of sharing the information with Nay when she asked how we were doing on finishing her third hour - needless to say, she burst into tears just as I'd done on finishing my third hour. (I had in fact swum 500 ft in an hour!)
Hour 12(Sarah): I (Nay) had a lot of confidence in Sarah's swimming strength, and was not disappointed! Sarah managed to swim us out of the tide into a calmer and weaker current! I think Sarah was the most positive throughout the whole swim, she was the only one who was not in total despair as she finished her third hour! I listened to her upbeat voice as I huddled in my sleeping bag (often mistaken for just a pile of bags) desperately tying to find some energy reserves in me.
What was really significant about the whole process was how much of a team we really became in the time we were on the boat. Obviously, we'd been a team before, but we'd never quite been as supportive of each other as we were in the actual swim. As soon as the last swimmer would get out and the new take over, the two waiting on the boat would be ready with towels, offering hot drinks, doing whatever they needed to make sure the swimmer that had just finished their stint was alright. One of the most important factors was that you knew someone was watching and encouraging you whilst you swam. We owe a huge debt of thanks to Didge who sat faithfully by the side of the boat, watching our every stroke. This was such a comfort....so thank you!
Hour 13(Lucy): As Lucy got in for her fourth hour and spirits hit rock bottom.We needed to get out of the shipping lane as quickly as possible as the tide was starting to push us sideways up it: something pretty dangerous to be doing in any shipping lane, let alone the busiest in the world. Andy was getting tetchy - travelling sideways up the Channel is not something you're allowed to do in a crossing. You need to be in and out ASAP.
Hour 14(Em):We started having to force ourselves to keep eating; the motion of the boat combined with exhaustion and extreme cold was definitely taking its toll on our psychical and mental states. It took a few motivational words from the rest of the team to get me back in the water for my fourth hour. Andy told me to stay as close to the boat as possible - he 'wouldn't let it hit me' but it would provide me with a bit of protection. However, he took his eye off me and when I got in line with the front of the boat didn't accelerate - I was suddenly in front of the boat. Since I breathe bilaterally I had time to veer a little bit left (probably due to being very tired) before I looked at the boat again on breathing left, and was so confused - I was suddenly on the other side of the boat! I had gone right in fron of the bow and swapped sides. There was panic and stress on the boat while I disappeared and reappeared and was asked to swim round the back to the other side. On asking Len how much time I had left in my hour and hearing 25 minutes, I was feeling RUBBISH. I later learned that Andy was insisting I get out of the water and we cancel the swim - he said sudden change of direction was a sign of exhaustion - but Len battled my case and I stayed in. The good news was that we were out of the tide and finally making reasonable progress again.
Hour 15(N): I would not have been able to get back in unless I had seen Gary change into his wetsuit ready to launch the dinghy (he had to take the dinghy in with the final swimmer, since it was too shallow for the big boat). This was the biggest motivation possible, he told me that it would either be Sarah or I landing! We were going to finish!!! This had come totally out of the blue as Andy has previously been saying that we would having to swim a couple more times each.
In went Nay for her fourth, and suddenly we had passed Cap Griz Nez. We had missed the appropriate window to land on the point - the tides had pushed us past - and so now had to swim in to a beach in a cove past the point.
Sarah went in. Andy started to shine his searchlight on the cliffs, looking for the beach. Excitement rose and spirits too. For the first time, we knew we were going to make it. Every now and then we caught a glimpse of the cliffs, getting ever closer. After half an hour, Sarah approached the beach. Her green glow sticks became dimmer and dimmer to us on the boat as she got further and further away and then - with a little shout of 'She's out, I think she's out' from Len, we heard a yell carry across from the beach - Sarah was standing on France, shouting for joy and, 15 hours and 35 minutes after leaving Dover, we had done it!!!
On the boat texts were sent, calls were made (though it was 5.30am) and group hugs took place. We yelled and shouted and then bombarded Sarah with hugs when she arrived back on the Louise Jane 10 minutes later. A hint of the sun was visible behind the cliffs of France - it was Friday morning, and we had just swum the Channel!
We packed up quickly, put our bags in the storage seats and wrapped up warm. Andy took the weight he'd been towing to slow down the boat off the back, and we went flying off back towards England. Sitting huddled together on the seat in the middle of the boat on the way back, watching France getting further and further away again, we saw the sun rise slowly and talked and celebrated (with party poppers courtesy of Didge!). Len produced a book of songs and we sang for a while as we made our way back and then the noise dissolved into complete quiet as we watched the sunrise in wonder of what we'd just done!
On our approach into the harbour we got out our Cornish flag, put it on a flagpole, and held it above our heads, standing on the seat in the boat, as we entered the harbour walls and saw our parents watching from the inner harbour, yelling and applauding our entry. Lots of hugs ensued and champagne was produced; BBC Radio Cornwall called at 7.50 on the dot and interviewed us live in the harbour. Then it was off to the Premier Inn for full English breakfast and showers!
We parted ways at the Premier Inn; Len and Didge were the first to leave followed by the rest of us. It was a truly amazing morning; we were all so so so tired but so so so happy that we'd finally made it, having overcome so many problems. It was a true team effort - everyone was fantastic - and we can't thank Len and Didge enough for all the help and countless time they've put in to make sure we made it. We definitely wouldn't have without them.
So, for now, it's over... we did it. Donations are still coming in which is amazing; if you'd like to make one you know the website by now... but just in case... http://justgiving.com/trurogirls !
Au revoir...
Luce, Em, Nay and Sarah: L.E.N.S. Team :) xxx
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