Ben's English Channel challenge 2014
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I made it!

7/3/2014

2 Comments

 
So, I made it!  Very sorry for not emailing to tell you I was leaving, but it was all a bit hectic!  I remembered that I had forgotten about 90 minutes into the crossing as the sun came up on Wednesday morning.

In brief - I left Dover and started the swim from Samphire Hoe at 3am Wednesday morning.  It was cold dark and choppy, and as always I started grumpily and slowly.  

Then, as the sun rose and my first caffeine gel was ingested (~2 hours in), my spirits lifted and for the next 8 hours I had the best swim of my life.  I was fast, fluid, and everything was awesome.  

At the time I had no idea how quickly I had made it to within a sniff of Cap Gris Nez, the ideal landing spot (see photos below).  

As you can see from the other photo when the tide turned I was swiftly washed past the Cap and faced another 90 minutes of swimming to get into the beach at Wissant.

No matter - I made it.  13 hours 17 minutes which is excellent from my perspective.

Now tired, sunburnt, but happy.  Thanks for all your ongoing support.  It's been an epic journey. 
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2 Comments
Adriaan
7/4/2014 11:15:44 am

Ben, that's immense!!! Fantastic, well done, congratulations!
You are an absolute superstar.

Reply
Vernon
7/25/2014 11:21:40 am

Wow. Ben, that is an immense achievement. Everything about this is impressive but, for me, the most impressive part is that you had prepared yourself physically and mentally for the swim two years ago and then had to maintain or revive the will power to do it again. I am in awe of that.You may or may not suffer a let down after such a journey and achievement but there is no hurry deciding on another goal to which you can apply this strength of character (if you haven't already). Enjoy being goal-less for a while.

Congratulations.

Vernon

Reply



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