Open Water Swimming

135 watchers

LazyDaisy Aug 2017 8:26am, 7 Aug 2017 19,257 posts	0 LazyDaisy Well done for getting in though Ferret - I'm off to the pool shortly! One of my clubmates is doing the Arch to Arc at the moment (run from Marble Arch to Dover, swim the channel, bike to Paris :-0) and has just got into the water at Shakespeare beach after running 80-odd miles in 23 hours yesterday. The last person to attempt this got to the French coast but then had to give up as he just didn't have the strength to climb up onto the shore, and the tide was taking him out again
Little Nemo Aug 2017 8:40am, 7 Aug 2017 7,768 posts	0 Little Nemo Can't believe nobody helped him LD, that's so cruel Good luck to your clubmate! I imagine there will be a whole list of new things that will freak me out when I try sea swimming. The main challenge will be finding somewhere to swim as London isn't on the sea
LazyDaisy Aug 2017 10:42am, 7 Aug 2017 19,260 posts	0 LazyDaisy No assistance allowed LN, those are the rules (bloomin silly ones IMO but I suppose it's difficult to say where you'd draw the line :-(.) Even when they're mid-Channel they aren't allowed to touch the boat but must take food and drink out of a sort of fishing net.
LazyDaisy Aug 2017 10:47am, 7 Aug 2017 19,261 posts	0 LazyDaisy You can follow his progress here: share.findmespot.com
ferret Aug 2017 12:04pm, 7 Aug 2017 1,827 posts	0 ferret Thanks LD, looking at that reminded how far channel swimmers are taken off the straight route. So tough.
LazyDaisy Aug 2017 2:01pm, 7 Aug 2017 19,265 posts	0 LazyDaisy It's not looking too good I think most swimmers inevitably follow an 'S' shaped course because of the tides, but Doug's is looking too curvy. Still what do I know, he's climbed Everest so maybe this is a piece of cake for him!
ferret Aug 2017 2:17pm, 7 Aug 2017 1,828 posts	0 ferret It doesn't look "easy" for any of the Chanel swimmers today. So much must be down to luck, really need it
LazyDaisy Aug 2017 8:23am, 8 Aug 2017 19,273 posts	0 LazyDaisy Looks like he was picked up last night, well over half way but having been carried a long way north before coming across to the French side. What's very worrying is that there have been no Twitter updates from his support crew - we are just concerned to know that he's OK.
LazyDaisy Aug 2017 10:53am, 8 Aug 2017 19,278 posts	0 LazyDaisy Just heard that Doug died last night in Ashford hospital. Devastating news. The only small comfort is that he was a great adventurer and he died doing precisely what he loved. But still.
lammo Aug 2017 11:01am, 8 Aug 2017 7,903 posts	0 lammo ah yes, saw this earlier: bbc.co.uk