In the Ditch

Daily Telegraph Cartoons
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Unfortunately, Geoff's dream of swimming the English Channel foundered in the early hours of July 30 for reasons that had little to do with his preparation or ability.

He had arrived in England with Annette, Brett and Larissa, on July 16—well ahead of his scheduled swim date of July 20. That allowed enough time to overcome any residual jet lag as well as providing an opportunity to train under local conditions.

But July 20 proved impossible. The starting date ultimately would be determined by the weather, and nobody could have forecast the extreme conditions that brought England it's worst floods for sixty years. The wind and storms that accompanied those floods made open water swimming impossible. As a result Geoff, and the host of channel swimmers who were waiting at Dover for the weather to change, were forced to odo their training in the harbour.

As the dates scheduled for the crossings approached, and with the constant hope that the weather might improve suddenly, everybody was on their toes—and very much on edge—in anticipation of a start the next day . . . or perhaps the next, or the one after that. Nobody knew when it was going to happen. Consequently it was impossible to undertake any real training for fear of putting in a taxing swim in the harbour one day then being forced to attempt the crossing without sufficient recovery time. So nobody trained for more than two kilometres. As this went on day-after-day it took it's toll on the condition of swimmers whose fitness had been honed to an early start.

It's probable that the uncertainty generated by the long wait had also taken its toll. Certainly one South American swimmer became very nervous after one or two days, realising that he might be forced to return home without having the opportunity to swim. Without a doubt, everybody else would have burnt up a lot of nervous energy as they nursed the same thoughts—even if they didn't show them to the same extent. (Brett and Larissa who had planned to swim part of the journey with Geoff had been back in Australia for three days before the weather began to ease.)

When Geoff's opportunity came at last it was literally at the eleventh hour. He was permitted to start at 11.00 pm on July 29.

A little more than four hours later it was all over. The winds had again climbed to 20 knots and the sea rose enough to make Annette, on the Viking Princess,  sea sick. Geoff had never before swum at night and for the first hour and a half he found himself going too fast in an attempt to keep sight of the Princess which, by necessity, led the way. It could not, of course, maintain the low speed needed to stay alongside a swimmer.

He was about fifteen kilometres into the swim when severe cramps forced him to withdraw.

The next day Geoff's training partner, Steve Payne, was allowed to swim. Unfortunately his shoulder locked up about five hours into the swim and he was unable to continue.

Geoff's account of both swims is available on this web page. Click on "Eleventh Hour" on the TOC at left of screen.