The pre - Channel Swim essentials test run... or swim as it were!

I would say that the worst time to have a kit or euipment malfunction is just before, or during a swim. Whether it’s costume, of which I have had one that I would consider to be in the completely mortifying category, and won’t ever be repeated, thanks to me learning my lesson, and on the back of it have incorporated a pre-swim rigorous checking regime, or whether it’s a piece of equipment you have planned to use, especially if it was for safety purposes. 

In the pool, for example, if my goggles suddenly started leaking, or I broke my cap (on more than one occasions), I usually have a spare to hand and carry on, or I would get out early and be frustrated with myself for NOT having a spare one to hand when I know better…added to that, if the equipment I used in the pool wasn’t in good working order, it also wouldn’t compromise my safety. The worse would probably happen was I become entangled in my own hair!

 

But swimming in the sea was a completely different animal because in there, having a malfunction could mean there was an increased safety risk, not ony for me, but for the peole I was swimming with. For our Channel relay, the risk of having a malfunction whilst swimming could only be either costume, goggles, safety light, earplugs or cap, as that’s all the Channel Swimming Association (CSA) allowed you to swim in, but I would have a spare (or several hundred spares) on the boat which I was alongside. 

 

Before the actual swim though, I still needed to check that these were all fit for purpose in the first place, after all, there were so many other things I would be worrying about, like had I packed enough food to sustain me for the swim, and probably into the following week as well, and had I packed enough warm clothes to sustain me in case a freak Arctic blast happened in the middle of the English Channel mid swim, and was the boat actually big enough for all my excessive stuff, because you could be sure that as much as I had packed, the swim buddy would have twice as much as I, so I didn't want to be worrying about things like would my costume would break on the day. To make sure, I swam these training swims in the same kit as I would take with me for the relay, with the addition of my tow float, because basically whilst on a training swim, I didn’t have a boat next to me that had spares in it, or could rescue me in the event of an equipment emergency, or indeed a large, grey fish with lots of sharp teeth type of emergency also, and so needed to not only be seen, but to also hold some of my personal belongings, rather than leave them on the beach. 

 

These training swims turned out to be really invaluable. They afforded me the time to iron out any issues, check that my equipment was working correctly and learn some valuable (and sometimes expensive) lessons before my big day. Examples of which were:

 

1) the swim buddy had bought some relatively expensive sun lotion that included a jelly fish repellent. We both tried it, and both got stung. Some (me) more than others (her). Initially, she decided that it was just a fluke, and would give it another try (unlike me, who called it a day after one fail), I admired her determination, but was only after the 3^rd training swim, where Shark had been stung on her neck, arm and leg that she decided it seemed to be attracting them, rather than repelling them, and it was most definitely not worth the king’s ransom she had paid for it, and nor the pain she was in! 

 

2) trying out the safety lights as soon as I bought them, meant that I knew they weren’t working in the first place… and whilst I didn’t have enough time to get some replacements for the first training swim, I did have time to get some for the second one… leading on to point 3.

 

3) don’t wear your new goggles (£20) and your new, working, safety light (£15) on top of your swim cap when the waves are successively rolling in, sending you back towards the beach that you were swimming away from. My equipment, and I were to never to be reunited with each other again, after we were separated by one particularly large wave. I spent a lengthy period of time dedicated to looking for them both afterwards, but alas, this maiden voyage was to be our first and last together.

 

4) make sure the waterproof bag you have put your dry clothes in doesn’t have a hole in it, because if you don’t, you will go home wearing wet pants!

 

5) don’t be over-zealous with your Vaseline, whilst it does a great job, it also can get everywhere, including the lens of your goggles if you’re a bit slap dash like I am, a large smear will leaving you unable to see so well – *note to self- pack disposable gloves. 

 

6) Sometimes stuff works when you set off, but malfunctions can happen at any time… like mid-swim for example, as was the case with my trusted tow float became broken. This could have been caused by the quick succession of 4 waves that I really should have anticipated because I’d spent the previous 30 minutes trying to swim in/through/around/over/under. The exact moment I realised it had broken was when I saw it overtake me on the way back to shore without me attached to it. A massive scrabble to get it back followed, because basically it had in it my car key and a small towel. The day could have ended with a long drive home on the 840 Coastliner bus had I not inelegantly launched myself on top of it like I did! 

 

 

Thankfully I’ve had time to replenish my faulty/lost at sea equipment. I have new (different make of) lights, and thanks to the CSA (channelswimmingassociation.com/shop) for the speedy delivery. I also needed to get yet more goggles, despite having a gazillion pairs at home already – just in case… as well as a new tow float (there are so many now!), and I thank www.drybags.co.uk for not only pointing me in the right direction of a floating dry bag that, not only had a clasp that remained closed after some stringent checking, but was also large, and bright enough to be seen pretty much from the moon (basically, I established that only a tow float the size of a barge would be large enough to carry ALL of the clothes that I liked to bring to the beach with me, so opted for one that was a bit like the Tardis as it turned out, had held more than I could have hoped, big enough to hold some of my personal belongings (car key, phone, credit card (for post swim coffee), small towel, a hat and if I'd wanted probably lots more), so that IF the clothes I had brought to the beach with me to change into were taken, at least I would be able to drive home again, with the heating turned up to full, in just my costume and hat, which was infinitely better than the bus option! 

 With my
International Space Station approved
tow float 

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