Sea Swimming Blog #29

Day 68 Sea Swimming.

#29 of the blog.

It was my first meet up with the Swim Smart team today as we began training for the English Channel relay swim.

We met at Bouley Bay at 1:45pm and I took a few portrait shots of Andy, Phil, Simon and Nicky in the team’s awesome new hoodies - lined with a super warm inner - they will be perfect to put on after we get out of the sea as well as for when we’re on the boat awaiting our turn to get in… Phil really loved his.

The general sea temperature around Jersey today was approximately 8 degrees Celsius - this is roughly half of what we hope it will be when we attempt our crossing in July.

The main aim in our training right now is to slowly adapt our bodies to the cold water (about 15 to 20mins immersions) being a decent duration.

The sun was out and the conditions were fairly good… there was a slight swell which meant that every now and then you’d get a little mouthful of salt water as you turned your head to breathe but all things considered it was a nice introduction to swimming with the team… conditions could easily be twice as bad on the actual day.

Distance wise we swam out to a pink buoy in the bay I then carried on to a large white buoy then returned to the pink for a chat in the water before deciding I’d head in to take a few photos of the rest of the guys as they swam a bit more, then back in and got out… eager to get into the new cosy hoodies!

With about 5 1/2 months to go there will be many challenges ahead (inclusive of the cold and no doubt many more) but I’m looking forward to the journey and hopefully the destination that awaits us.

“If you want to swim across the English Channel from England to France,

you have to leave your doubts on the beach in England”

- Lewis Gordan