Stephen Redmond

If you think that I'm nuts attempting to swim the English Channel, then check out Stephen Redmond - a genuine all-round hero. Steve is a regular guy from Kildare, now living in Ballydehob in West Cork, who has embarked on a project to swim the Ocean's Seven. This is supposedly the ultimate list of channel swims from around the world. Nobody has completed all seven, but Steve has just finished his number six from Moloka'i to O'ahu in Hawai'i in a grueling 22.5 hours. This was after completing his number five swim (Cook Strait in NZ, where he spent 2 hours covering only 700 metres), only 8 days previously. The reason he did the two huge swims back to back was to save on the flight expenses, as he is covering the costs himself while raising money for an autism centre in West Cork.


An account of his amazing swim, in his own words, is here.
Listen to an interview with RTE's John Murray here.

The Ocean's Seven
o English Channel (34km - England to France - 20 hr 01 min for SR)
o North Channel (34km - Ireland to Scotland - 17 hr 17 min)
o Strait of Gibraltar (15km - Europe to Africa - 5 hr)
o Catalina Channel (34km - Santa Catalina to California - 12 he 39 min)
o Cook Strait (26km - South Island to North Island NZ - 13 hr 10 min)
o Moloka'i Channel (42km - Moloka'i to O'ahu Hawai'i - 22 hr 29 min)
o Tsugaru Channel (20km - Honshu to Hokkaido in Japan)

Swimming the Channel

So how do you go about swimming the English Channel then? Well, first off you book a boat and a pilot. There are two organisations - the Channel Swimming Association (CSA), and the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation (CSPF). My dude is with the CSPF.

What does the pilot do? He's the guy who knows the channel, owns a big boat, and chugs along beside the swimmer so that the swimmer's crew can support him/her. His word is law and if thinks the swimmer is in trouble and can't finish, he will order them out of the water and will turn for home. We say 'please' and 'thank you' to The Pilot.

Can you swim at any time? The swim season is usually from the end of June to the end of September. Swims are usually during Neap Tides, so the tidal pull is less than during Spring Tides. Summer means warmer water and longer days. The number of neap tides and the number of pilots are both limited, so you have to book well in advance. I booked in March 2011 for a swim in the neap of 10-18 July 2012. That gives the swimmer plenty of time to train, or not (see Excuses section in sidebar).

Who else is on the boat? There is a volunteer observer from the CSA or CSPF who times the swim and makes sure you're not cheating or about to expire. Then there is your own crew - usually 3 or 4 people that organise everything for you and who feed you during your swim. They get seasick a lot, as the boat is going so slowly (see red line from previous blog entry), spend a lot of time shouting at the swimmer (who is wearing earplugs) and they also update Facebook about the progress of the swimmer. Chief amongst the support crew is the Loyal Spouse, who is there to abuse the swimmer if there is even a hint that he wants to get out of the water early (see Excuse sidebar). An incomplete swim would mean another year of training to make another attempt, and that's not going to happen.

What's that about cheating? Ah, there are rules for a proper channel swim. Foremost is not being allowed wear anything that would be warm or buoyant, as that would give you an advantage.

What, no wetsuit then? Afraid not. You're allowed a swimsuit, one hat, and goggles. Other rules are that you can't touch the boat, that you start and end the swim from dry land, and that you can't use an MP3 player.

The English Channel

The English Channel is approximately 34km wide at its narrowest part - the green line in the diagram above, roughly from Dover to Calais. This is the ideal line to follow for a direct (ie short) swim to the other side. The tides pushing through the channel are quite strong, however, and the swim is so long that most swimmers end up swimming an inverted 'S' (the red line above) as the tide changes twice during the swim. This gives a total distance of about 45km, but it may be more, depending on where the tide carries you and how strong you can swim to exit the current before it changes.

The first successful crossing was in 1875, and since then it has become the gold standard for marathon cold-water swims. More people have climbed Mt Everest than completed a channel swim.

How long does it take to swim the channel? The tide changes mean that times for channel swims are unpredictable unless you are fast and strong enough to swim the straight green line course. The fastest time is held by Petar Stoychev at 6 hours 57 minutes. Average times are 14 to 18 hours to complete the crossing. The slowest crossing is recorded at 28 hours 44 minutes. All I know is that my swim will resemble the red line more than the green line. The list of successful swims is here.

Welcome to SleepSwim

Hello and welcome to the SleepSwim blog. I am Páraic and I am currently training to swim the English Channel in July 2012, raising money for two very worthy charities, Marymount Hospice in Cork, and The Society of St Vincent de Paul.

Since I started my training for this iconic marathon swim a lot of people have expressed an interest in the swim itself and my preparation for it. This blog is intended to answer as many of those questions as possible, to keep people up to date with my progress, and also as an engine for fund-raising for the charities mentioned above. So it's not just for the swimming community, and all weird and wonderful comments and questions are welcome.

I will do my best to update the blog as often as possible. If I don't, it's probably because I've gone for a swim..