Ros Hardiman is a very special person. I don’t know exactly how long she’s been training in Dover, but it is at least as long as me, if not longer. Some of you will know Ros as the swimmer in the wheelchair. You could say a ‘disabled’ swimmer. I don’t see disability, I simply see ability. Our swim paths have crossed many a time. Before I hand over to Ros, I will share a couple of examples…….

9th October 2008

I was part of a 3 person relay. As a team of 3, swimming with the CS&PF, we had the choice of 1 hour or 2 hour rotations. This was actually quite a difficult decision as the air was cool and the water temperature had dropped. I voted for and encouraged 2 hour stints as it’s the getting in bit that I don’t like (I’m totally OK with getting out!!). I was second swimmer in. I jumped in and immediately thought that 2 hours was a mistake - brrrrr. In the end it was OK and we had a successful day out, but I’ll never forget that feeling. So, why am I telling you this? Well, this day was also the day that Ros had her first attempt at the channel. She swam for what I recall as over 24 hours and came within a mile of France when the attempt was called off. To this day I don’t know how she did that.

27th September 2009

This was the day of my second attempt at the channel. Ros had started her second attempt the afternoon of the 26th. It was an absolute privilege to share the water with her that day. As the swim progressed I would ask ‘Has Ros finished yet?’ You can imagine the motivational boost that I received when I heard the good news that she had indeed finished successfully. She completed the swim in 20hrs 17mins, so faster than her previous attempt. I too was successful that day. I can’t think of anyone better to share a first channelversary with.

Point of note before I hand over to Ros - I don’t intend to follow in to a Loch Ness solo - brrrrr!!

The ‘Ds’

Monster disappointment - I didn’t see the (alleged) monster!

Seriously though, mythical cryptosaurs apart, open water swimming is weather dependent. My attempt to swim Loch Ness in July was cancelled due to excessive wind (climatic, not the effect of the chilli!). Earlier, my Channel swims were repeatedly delayed due to adverse weather. I was devastated and certainly in 2008 allowed this to influence my attitude to the swim. I’m not happy to admit it but for a while I allowed tears, rage and despair to take over. It’s easy to ‘go off the boil’ when swims are cancelled but one lesson I’ve learnt is to accept the situation and not to get upset by delays or allow a creeping depressive feeling to derail training and focus so that then the worst ‘D’ sneaks upon you - defeatism.

Safe swimming is essential. The pilots are experienced and when they say ‘no’ because of the weather, then it’s for good reason, they don’t cancel lightly. My Loch Ness swim was cancelled when strong winds were forecast and it was explained that the risk of heavy waves dumping me on a rocky shore was high, let alone the chance of being swamped whilst swimming. Due to the peculiarities of the loch, the wind had also caused a turn-over event. This is when the wind causes the warmer (relatively speaking) upper layers to flip under lower colder water – a 5 degree drop in two days! Having travelled the length of England and a large part of Scotland to get to Inverness and spent a large amount of cash on accommodation, it’s cost me a lot to have half an hour practice swim and then to stare at a grim expanse of water – no swim and no monster but at least the ducks were having fun!

In my case, conquering another ‘D’ word has been a fight. Those who know me are aware that I am disabled and while I try to work round my limitations, it has a tremendous effect on my daily life, let alone swimming but I’ve had to use two ‘D’ words to achieve things - defiance and determination. Even though few of you have disabilities to contend with, the mental attitudes I’ve had to develop transfer more generally to open water swimming – if you want something badly enough you have to work hard to get it, often in the face of active discouragement. Confound disbelief and turn ‘You can’t do that’ into ‘Yes, I can do it’.

Dover is a ‘D’ word, sometimes with mixed associations: the camaraderie during training, the safe swimming environment (as much as any open water swimming can be), sometimes the disappointment of not completing swim whether a Channel crossing or a training swim but for those of us who train there, the dedication of Emma and Paul together with the many volunteers who ensure that the sessions take place makes Dover a special place.

More positive ’Ds’ : ditch those negative feelings, dare to dream, confront and dominate your fears, use the extra time given by delays to put in extra training and preparation, through determination you too will reach your own D-Day. Do it!

This was the blog that Ros wrote after returning south without swimming Loch Ness. However, later the same season she returned to Inverness to face the Ds again. This time the ending was different. I received a very simple email from Ros, see below…..

Done it ! Fort Augustus to Lochend 20 hours 10 miinutes. It was hard and cold and I'm feeling pretty wrecked but I should bounce back in a few days - but please excuse me from this coming weekend's swim!

Guest Blog: Ros Hardiman

9th October 2008

27th September 2009

The ‘Ds’