Week 7 - Some like it hot! 🥵
Ady Brown
There is no easy way to talk about the devastating news that we heard at the weekend: the sudden passing of Ady. Ady splashed into my life in a significant way in 2017 when he trained for his first channel solo.
Ady was a larger than life character who brightened the day of everyone who met him. He had a long list of swimming achievements, yet the mark he leaves is so much more than personal achievements. He was a mentor to many, a regular observer, he crewed numerous swims and supported individuals, teams, DCT, the CS&PF amongst many others.
Whilst his achievements will stand the test of time on walls in Dover and Jersey and in the record books, his impact cannot be measured and it's fair to say that he had a hand in many dreams coming true. He'll be remembered for his quick wit, his ready smile and his love of Battenberg cake.
If you have a fond memory of Ady, or would like to share how he made your life better, please do share. Together we’ll come to terms with this tragic loss.
Rest in peace Ady.
“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things.... I am tempted to think...... there are no little things.”
Week 7 in review
This is one of my favourite training weekends of the season, and it seems it’s one of your favourites too!
Each year we host a late start night swim that lasts for an hour, maximum. We also host an early start (02:30) swim that goes for up to 6 hours. It was this early start night swim that took place this weekend. 47, yes you read that right, forty seven swimmers took to the water at 02:30 on Saturday.
It’s a little confusing to some to know whether it’s Friday night or Saturday morning, especially those who get all the safety measures set up! However, you turned up, listened to the briefing and swam. Some swam for 15 minutes and some for the full 6 hours.
I think that there are lots of similarities to the big day:
putting suncream on in the dark
having breakfast at completely the wrong time of day, or working out what is the appropriate thing to eat at that time
realising that you have routines for some, errrm, bodily functions that suddenly won’t happen at the normal time
In fact you may have found there were a lot of small details that you hadn’t considered.
During the briefing I checked that everyone had two green lights on - well done all, you did. I know that sounds obvious, but most times we have someone who hasn’t read the requirements.
I also checked that you all had clear goggles, and we weren’t quite so successful there. Those who had tinted goggles will have had a valuable lesson on why clear goggles are needed for the night part of your swim. And that’s one of the reasons that we do this - so that you can work out all this stuff in a safe, training environment and not learn by mistakes on the big day.
From the outside looking in, we have a fabulous view of the lit up buoys, Mandi (who looked like a mobile lit up Christmas tree) and all the swimmers. We have a perfect view.
Often we find that one or more people struggle to swim in a straight line and need herding by the on water safety team. This year you all did very well. Well done and thank you! 🙏
Sometimes we find that people forget to call in the number on each circuit and again you did pretty well here. We had eyes and voices on all of you. Admittedly there were a couple of people who called out the wrong number, but our processes and our knowledge of you and your swimming meant that these were easily spotted and corrected.
Swimming in the dark can be magical, I really hope you enjoyed it. Those who stopped to tell us about it seemed to have fun. Thank you for making the dark part of the swim work well, it was one of our lowest stress night swims and that is down to you. Thank you. Did you notice the beautiful half moon. Gosh it was stunning.
Before I move on from the night swim, I want to say a special thank you to all the volunteers. We rely on a much larger team for this swim. Thank you to the Level 1, 2 and 3 regular volunteers who gave up sleep to make this happen. Thank you also to Paul P and Laura S from Aspire for additional support to the particularly busy first hour and a bit.
There were an impressive 9 swimmers who planned to do all 6 hours on offer. Those 9 plus the other 7 swimmers who opted for durations that would go into daylight were treated to an absolutely stunning sunrise. Just like the big day, pitch black gives way to dark blue, then slightly lighter, then the sun teases with an orange glow over the cliffs, drawing attention, waiting for the moment when the sun appears. Oh how beautiful it was. it was worth the wait and it lifted the souls of all those still awake.
I can’t speak for those in the water, but this six hour swim seemed to go very fast. I enjoyed it immensely. I hope you did too.
Sunday was back to ‘normal’, but it was a different normal to recent weeks. We have had relentless NE winds which have brought a chill the air, chop to the water and put a halt to the increase in water temperature. That all changed on Sunday. We had stunning conditions. Flat water, a significant jump in the surface temperature (I say surface as I did a little dive down in the shallows and what lay below was considerably cooler!).
I suspect we have seen the last of the qualifying swims of this season in Dover.
Well done all on a fabulous training weekend.
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 (night swim):
Swimmers: 47
Water temperature: 14.5C
Air temperature: 15.2C
Conditions: F4 NE. Dark with a gorgeous low moon, then beautiful sunrise and conditions better than forecast. All done and dusted before breakfast.
Sunday:
Swimmers: 22
Water temperature: 15.5C.
Air temperature: 15.8C (much hotter on the beach 🏖️ )
Conditions: F2 gusting F3 SW. Very sunny, flat, surface of the water heated up a lot by the end of the session. Lots of people enjoying being in and on the water.
Shout outs to …..
This week’s big swim shout outs went to
The relay swimmers who cracked out your CSA, CS&PF and Jersey qualifying swims and those who broke the 2 hour barrier for the first time
Kevin M & Dominic B for your 5 hour swims
Drew B for 5hr 40 mins
Philip B, Gillian C, James C, Madeline R, Donna N, Jon S, Laura S, Mariya K, Mark K, Stephen M for your 6 hour swims
Chris M for your 5 & 4 weekend
Lucy AP, Marion C for your 6 & 6 weekend
If I missed you, I apologies, please shout about it. As well as the achievements that are measured in hours or badges, there are also those more important personal victories, I’d love to hear about those as well. Here are some of the celebratory arches of the weekend.
Thank you!
Thank you to the following volunteers who were on the rota for the weekend:
Level 1: Emma F, Mandi B, Dirk G (additional L1s for night swims)
Level 2: Vikki C, Nicola B, Emma F, Paul C
I’d like to say a very special thank you to everyone who helped with the additional safety for the night swim, especially the Aspire team.
Thank you to all Level 3 volunteers who helped out a little or a lot.
We are looking to expand our Level 2 volunteer team, if you are interested, visit our volunteers page or contact our volunteers lead.
Walter the ‘Worry Monster’
Let me introduce you to the latest member of the team….. Walter the Worry Monster.
Walter is a good monster with an impressive appetite for worries. Write down your worry, open the zip in his mouth and pop them in and they’re gone! If you don’t want to write them down, you can always whisper in his ear. Try it, it’s very therapeutic.
He sometimes whispers to me the worries that are shared, but never who shared them. He’s asked if he can share some common patterns here from time to time as well.
To get the ball rolling, Walter has heard a few people talking about how they don’t feel ready and want to push on during recovery weeks because they feel that the more they do, the better.
Walter has his own opinions on the importance of recovery in that it helps you consolidate all that you do in the weeks where you’re building and pushing the boundaries. Walter knows that just doing the same thing over and over again can actually lead to a decline in performance, but he’s also asked me to talk about it in Paddlefish Ponderings.
Paddlefish Ponderings
Sharpen the Saw
Walter the Worry Monster has asked me to talk about the importance of recovery. I’m aware that I’ve already spoken about that and also discussed the principles of training. So, I’m going to take a different angle instead.
Stephen Covey, a renowned American educator and author, inspired countless individuals to achieve their highest potential. One of his most famous motivational quotes is "Begin with the end in mind."
This simple yet powerful statement encourages individuals to focus on their ultimate goals and intentions before embarking on any endeavour. By having a clear vision of what they want to achieve, individuals can stay motivated and on track, even when faced with obstacles or setbacks.
This approach is especially helpful when setting clear goals and creating a plan. By starting with the end in mind, individuals can identify the steps needed to take in order to reach their desired destination. Those steps include recovery.
In his book ‘The 7 habits of highly effective people’ there is one habit that caught my attention and has absolute relevance to the recovery phase for any athlete.
Habit 7 - Sharpen the Saw
Suppose you were to come upon someone in the wood working feverishly to saw down a tree.
“What are you doing?” you ask.
“Can’t you see?” comes the impatient reply. “I’m sawing down this tree.”
“You look exhausted!” you exclaim. “How long have you been at it?”
“Over five hours,” he replies “and I’m beat! This is hard work.”
“Well, why don’t you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen that saw?” you inquire. “I’m sure it would go a lot faster.”
“I don’t have time to sharpen the saw,” the man says emphatically. “I’m too busy sawing!”
The seventh habit is about taken time to sharpen our saw, our own resilience, energy and wellbeing.
In the context of swimming, this to me speaks to the importance of recovery.
I see this most starkly demonstrated in two types of swimmer:
Those who don’t feel good enough
Those who have had forced time out due to illness or injury
I don’t feel good enough
It’s a tough lesson to learn, but if you’re doing a swim to demonstrate to yourself that you are good enough, you’re probably, without realising it, actually trying to find evidence to support your hypothesis that you aren’t good enough. Have you noticed that you tend to believe the bad stuff but ignore the positives or think that they are somehow random?
Spoiler alert, swimming the channel probably won’t change that. You may be left confused even when you’re successful - your internal narrative doesn’t fit your perceived reality.
Let me tell you, you are good enough. You always have been.
Embrace the process, you stand to gain more that only a pebble to mark your success.
Illness or injury
This is a toughie and can really play with your head. When we are grounded, we watch the days and sometimes weeks slip away. Panic can set in. Emotion may lead us to want to play catch up. A better approach is to work with your body in its recovery. Progress gently and watch for signs that your body is coping with the load, watching for any signs of reactive fatigue. Slowly, slowly to start and you’ll bounce back as fast as is possible. Push it too soon and you’ll be left in an injury / illness viscous circle.
There are lots of other scenarios that I’ve seen play out that lead people to over train. Bottom line is the same though. The principles of training are real. Progressive overload (taking you just outside your current comfort zone), followed by a recovery phase will lead to the best outcomes in your aerobic capacity, aerobic endurance, minimises the chance of your speed slowing down and minimises the risk of illness & injury.
Remember to Sharpen the Saw.
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 be ‘On Tour’ for that session.
On Tour
Once a month we will be On Tour on on a Saturday:
Saturday 17th June (we’ll advise location on Thursday / Friday. At the moment Hythe is looking likely)
Saturday 1st July (see above)
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.
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.
We have a small and unique range of clothing. One of our favourite items is our hieroglyphics t-shirt.
The design is simple, 4 iconic markers that you see in training and sometimes on the big day:
The ferry wall at the end of the swim zone
Sandettie light ship
ZC2 buoy
The slopey groyne
Photos
A few photos from the weekend….
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:
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.
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.