“Play every game as if it’s your last, and leave every drop of sweat on the field. For in the end, it’s not the trophies or awards that define us, but the heart and passion we put into the game.”

— Unknown

Week 3 in review

Week 3 and it’s getting serious. Soloists are down to single swims as the durations increase. Large numbers are edging ever closer to those all important qualifying swims.

Existing members are welcoming new members will open arms. Friendships are being formed that are likely to lead to memories that will last a lifetime.

This was the first ‘Aspire’ training weekend. It’s aways great to say hello to the swimmers we saw at the assessment day and embark in this next phase in their journey.

I’m loving the team spirit that is already evident.

Saturday gave the beach volunteers a few moment of discomfort when a couple of swimmers didn’t come to the beach as expected.

One was sure he’d said he was going to swim for an extra 30 minutes, but that was not clearly understood. Please ensure any dialogue is confirmed back. I’m very happy to support those who wish to push their comfort zone (until it starts to look like over training), we just need to ensure we know who is where and when they are expected.
The other seemed unaware that he was late. We expect a bit of room for misjudging timing in the early weeks as we get used to how long it takes to swim to and from various points, that’s a few minutes here and there. When it comes to longer than that, you may well be having the swim of your life and loving every minute, we’re having kittens and need to decide at which point we initiate various parts of our emergency action plan. Please help us by being on time and being aware of how long you’ve been swimming.

Our new way of engaging with volunteers this year is proving to be very successful. We have retained the core thread the makes our approach successful, our ability to tailor an approach to meet your training needs and help you train to be ready for your chosen event at the right time. Our small core of connected level 1 volunteers is ensure the essential continuity. Our vibrant group of level 2 and 3 volunteers is keeping the energy levels up and allowing more people to enjoy the privilege of being able to give back.

I hope you are enjoying the start of the Class of 2023 as much as I am.

Note: Water temperature taken during the swim session in the harbour. Air temperature, wind direction & wind speed taken from the Port of Dover app.

Saturday:

Swimmers: 22
Water temperature: 12.6C
Air temperature: 10.9C
Conditions: F5 gusting F6 N & WSW! Gusts of wind with choppy conditions by red buoy and calm at ferry wall end. Sunny. Wind direction very changeable.

Sunday:

Swimmers: 25
Water temperature: 12.4C
Air temperature: 9.8C
Conditions: F2 gusting F3 NNW. Sun tried to come through and was glorious when it did. Water fairly calm with a bit of movement on the surface.

Shout outs to

Patrick T for your 4 & 5 hour back to back swims
Jason B for your two 4 hour swims
For the large number of swimmers who pushed their boundaries to 1.5, 2 and 3 hour swims, even when you thought you couldn’t and to those who went with the moment and pushed into new territory.
Telle M for not just one but two North Channel relay qualifying swims.

We don’t know about every personal victory, please shout about yours. I know that there were several swimmers who swam despite some challenges in every day life - that is tough. Well done for prioritising you and your swim plans.

Birthday celebrations

It’s always special to celebrate a birthday on the beach. Happy birthday to Amanda B, thanks for the birthday cookies that you baked and shared freely. They were delicous!

Thank you!

Thank you to the following volunteers who were on the rota for the weekend:

Level 1: Dirk G & Emma F
Level 2: Vikki C, Peter W, Halani F

Thank you to everyone who helped someone else on the beach or in the water. You are the heart of what we call Level 3. It can be the smallest and most seemingly simple acts to you and can mean the world to the person to whom you’ve just said exactly the right thing to the right person at the right time.

Thank you for the swimmer who rescued the trug that decided to blow away in the wind (no crocs were lost in this incided!!)

If you would like to find out more, visit our volunteers page.

Dover Dave

Dover Dave has started his adventures for 2023. Last week he spent time with London cabbie Mark K. I bet he loved the adventure!

Dover has now set off with Sahishnu J for the next couple of weeks. I just know that he’s going to have the best time!

Paddlefish Ponderings

Embracing the Process: The Key to Achieving Success

Embracing the process may seem daunting at first, after all, you’re putting your hopes and dreams into the control of something or someone else. However, it's the key to making progress in all aspects of life. Whether it's training for a channel swim or learning the skills to enable you to take the next step in your career, there are no shortcuts to achieving success.

It's important to remember that the process is not just the journey, but also the destination. When we embrace the process, we learn to appreciate the small victories along the way. We learn to savor the moments of growth and progress that come with each step forward. We may even discover new passions and interests that we never knew we had.

Furthermore, when we embrace the process, we open ourselves up to learning and personal growth. We become humble and accepting of our limitations, which allows us to approach challenges with a more positive and constructive mindset.

Embracing the process can also teach us the value of perseverance. It can help us to overcome obstacles and adversity and to never give up on our dreams. We learn to enjoy the process for what it is, rather than fixating on the result. In the end, embracing the process is about finding joy in the journey and trusting that with dedication and hard work, we will eventually reach our destination.

It's about learning to love the process of becoming the best version of ourselves.

This weekend I saw this principle in action. We have a fantastic group of swimmers who embrace the process.

I am both grateful and impressed by how you are rising to the challenges set with fantastic attitudes. You come and see us when you sign in and take on board the suggestions as to how long you should swim. I did warn that you’ll need to hold onto your hats as we ramp up rapidly with the rapidly increasing water temperature, and you’ve stepped up.

Each week there are public and private victories, some are in this blog, some reside only in your head. Bottle these moments, they are precious and can be called upon on the days when motivation is not quite as close to the surface.

It stretches further than the beach too, if you let it. When you start to realise that you can do more than you thought, what else can you do? When you find yourself enjoying things that once were difficult, you may also find yourself wondering if you’ve limited your goals more than perhaps you should. Maybe ‘swimming the channel’ isn’t enough of a goal. Maybe you should dare to believe that you can do it and also enjoy the training and the day. Imagine that.

We have built two way trust. We trust you to bring your best self and honesty as to where you are (physically and mentally) and you are trusting us to guide you. I can’t wait to see where this takes us. I sense magnificent things ahead.

Training with DCT

We cater for swimmers who want to train with us a little or a lot. The steps that you need to follow are:

Become a member
Sign the annual disclaimer
Decide your training package
1. Solo or relay
2. Pay as you go; block of 10 sessions; season ticket
Book training - this is done from within the membership system (which you log into when you become a member)
Enjoy training with a great group of swimmers

If you have questions, please use one of the contact methods below or get in touch with our membership lead.

Key Contact methods

On the beach after training. Our Level 1 volunteers will be happy to chat whilst not engaged in core safety processes.
Weekly community call. This runs on a Monday evening from January to September and is hosted by a member of the leadership team. We've set this time aside for you. You can find details of these call within the membership area and within the booking system.
Membership queries can be directed to our Membership lead
Safeguarding concerns should be directed to our Safeguarding Lead
Other queries that can’t be answered at the community call should be directed to the Swimmer Liaison lead.

Other more informal routes to support:

WhatsApp groups these are open to all members and you’ll find details of how to join one or more of the groups within the membership area
Social media channels. You’ll find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Current Vacancies

Leadership team

We’re expanding our team with a few new roles:

Marketing & Communications Lead
Website Manager
Retail / Procurement Lead

If you’re interested in joining the team, please contact Emma or another member of the leadership team to find out more.

Volunteer Beach Crew

If you’re interested in helping out on the beach from time to time, you can find out more on our dedicated volunteers page on the website.

We all have differing levels of available time and experience and we believe there is a level for you if you are interested in joining the team.

If you’re interested in volunteering your time & experience, please get in touch with our volunteers lead.

Looking ahead

Changed / cancelled sessions

Dover will be holding it’s town regatta on 1st July 2023 and the swim zone and parking will be suspended. We’ll make plans for alternative arrangements in due course.

On Tour

Once a month we will be On Tour on on a Saturday:

Saturday 20th May
Saturday 17th June
Saturday 15th July
Saturday 19th August
Saturday 16th September

The location will either be Hythe or Ramsgate, depending on the weather forecast. The final decision will be made on the Thursday evening before this swim. These sessions are shown as ‘On Tour’ in the booking system, they are considered ‘standard’ training sessions and are included in training packages.

Night swims

We’re offering two night swim opportunities this season.

Late start on Friday 26th May: this is an opportunity for a short swim (maximum 1 hour) late on a Friday evening. Training on the Saturday remains as normal.
Early start on Saturday 10th June: this is an opportunity for a long swim (maximum of 6 hours) swimming from the dark into daylight

On both of these swims you’ll need to wear two green adventure lights.

As we are not able to assess new swimmers in the dark, we do not accept new (to us) swimmers on these swims. If you want to join us for one of these night swims, you’ll need to join us before as well.

On these swims, during the hours of darkness, we will have additional safety measures in place with a restricted swim zone. This will be explained during the mandatory briefing.

Intensity week

Back by popular demand, we have our mid-season intensity week. If you’re looking for a fun environment to get a solid block of training in, why not come along and join in. We’ll be blending some long swims with some creative ways of training at a variety of intensity levels.

Spotlight in the shop

The shop is available online for postal delivery or collection from the beach. Please give enough notice to ensure that Emma is able to get the products ready for beach collection as she may not be on the beach each weekend. Products can also be purchased from the beach when Emma is present.

Swimming hats - whilst red or yellow are what you need for soloists or relay swimmers respectively, we have a whole host of colours, each with their own sayings, that you can use in the pool. Which saying or colour is calling you?

Photos

A few photos from the weekend….

Reminders

Remember to book your sessions online. Bookings close 48 hours ahead. Any bookings after that will need support and that comes with a £5 admin fee.

Bookings can be cancelled or rescheduled up to 48 hours ahead. The system doesn’t arrange automatic refunds, so if you would like a refund, please check out our refund policy and get in touch if you would like a refund.

Those of you with training subscriptions, enter your email address and click in the discount code box and your automatic voucher should appear. Let me know if you have any trouble with this.

Please remember to cancel your membership when you no longer want it.

Week 3 - Embrace the process