THE SWIM WEEK - Canterbury and Dover

So. Kent. Dover. Channel swimming.

We all met up in Canterbury on Sunday, Lucy and Sarah having come up with Len (in his very exciting rented 1.9 turbo Mondeo... or 'the limousine' as he called it...haha) and Nay and I having made our various ways: I came up on Saturday to see Coldplay at Wembley (amazing) and Nay came up for her grandad's 80th, so we met up and (eventually) found our way to Kent College, Canterbury, where we were staying with the Chaplain and his wife, Paul and Janet Glass. They were both completely lovely and made us feel very relaxed - couldn't really have asked for better hosts.

Monday was spent with a swim and little trip to the white cliffs to survey the challenge. Having all agreed 'it doesn't look too far', we had a mini photoshoot in our new matching L.E.N.S. Team tracksuits which had been awaiting us at the chaplain's house, courtesy of Campus Clothing. The weather was lovely and sunny and we were all in pretty good spirits.

So things were going well, the swim was on for Tuesday... and then suddenly the chaos began. Len got a call from Andy the boat pilot and announced to us, there and then on the White Cliffs of Dover, that he wanted us to come down to the marina for a chat - there was a possibility we could swim THAT afternoon. Needless to say we all made the mistake of getting ridiculously hopeful. We were all happy and excited and would have loved the chance to get the swim out of the way. However, on driving down to Dover Marina and climbing aboard Louise Jane (Andy's boat), the weather forecast was updated : there were strong winds coming in and suddenly the possibility of going that afternoon was off. However, this wasn't the only problem. The winds were going to last through the next day too - scrapping our plans for a Tuesday swim.

The emotional rollercoaster had begun! We went from excited to nervous to annoyed to angry to hugely dissapointed in the space of an hour. Andy told us that it was looking most likely that we'd do a Thursday 2am swim instead - something which none of us had accounted for. Chaos broke loose; parents had to reshuffle work and frantically organise plans - plus, my mum had to drive all the way back to Cornwall to do work cover to try and make it possible to come back up for Thursday.

So it was off to Sainsbury's to stock up on supplies for the swim and prezzies for our lovely hosts and then to Folkestone for a quick acclimatisation dip in the sea. This was an interesting experience. The water wasn't abnormally cold but the waves were very different; much closer together and sharper and just generally more annoying to swim in. We were only in for about 15 minutes to get used to the general feel of it before hopping out and driving back to Canterbury, where we had boarders' tea in Kent College and then off to bed nice and early after watching a few re-runs on the Glass' TV.

Tuesday was something else. I think we were all starting to feel the pressure of the ups and downs. This wasn't suprising considering a call from Len to Andy resulted in the pretty soul-destroying news that Thursday's weather was looking bad and Friday was now more likely. We could all see our swim being pushed further and further back by the day and though we started to joke with the Glasses about still being in their home in a month's time, we were all definitely feeling the strain. After lunch and a walk round Canterbury with a bit of shopping, we met up with Jim (Sarah's dad) and were off to Hythe for another swim. This one will definitely always be remembered for 'the tantrum', i.e. Nay standing on the beach, arms folded, refusing to get in and holding that 'it wasn't going to make the slightest bit of difference'. This pretty much summarised how the whole team felt... vibes were not good.

However, as always, things brightened up a bit post-swim and, with a slightly rosier outlook, we returned to Kent College for tea followed by many news-relaying phone calls and a viewing of The Little Mermaid (we'd all forgotten its amazingness!) followed by the latest episode of Ugly Betty which, happily, the Chaplain also followed (as well as Nay and I).

I think Wednesday was the day when the tides turned (pun intended). After a morning swim at Hythe where Len grew up and learned to swim, we visited Canterbury Cathedral, ran round Canterbury looking for a spare swimming hat, and then received the best news of the week and probably the last few months: Andy was taking the solo swimmer (who had the window preceding ours) out that afternoon at 2pm and so, IF THE WEATHER HELD, we'd be swimming the Channel on Thursday... at 2pm.

So, with an almost concrete date, we trooped off back to the Glass' and had time to watch The Lion King 1 1/2 (hmmmm) before having tea and getting ready for bed. The plan was to stay up til around midnight, which would make us sleep late and so hopefully give us enough energy to last through til the early hours of Friday, as required for the crossing. Our means of staying up late was a music game courtesy of Sarah's laptop, at which I caned, thank you very much.

And so, The Swim... to be continued.

Em xxx