English Channel Swim 2009

Swimming the Channel is referred to as the'Everest' of long distance swimming due to its difficulty. However, this actually rather does it a disservice as many more people (Around 3,000 people have) have conquered the great mountain than have made it the 21 miles to France. In fact, since Captain Matthew Webb's heroic first crossing in 1875, less than 1,000 people have succeeded in swimming the English Channel.

One of the first problems with this challenge is that the water is very cold. According to Channel Swimming rules, I will not be permitted to wear anything that aids bouyancy or warmth (i.e. only a standard swimsuit, cap and goggles.) When i start my training, the temperature of the water will be similar to that of an ice bath.

Another problem is that the Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with 600 tankers and 200 ferries crossing it every day. As a result, I will be accompanied by a support boat that will (hopefully) ensure I stay out of trouble.

The swim will take me somewhere in the region of 10-20 Hours to complete, along with the cold and traffic, other problems are debris, jelly fish, currents and tides. Only 1 in 10 people who train for the channel are successful.

I ask you to support my aim of swimming the English Channel in order to raise funds for The Luke Jeffrey Memorial Trust. A Charity dedicated to promoting water safety, and preventing the loss of lives to to Shallow Water Blackout.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my Everyclick page,

James Salter