Brighton Sea Dogs

Picture the scene: it’s minus 2 degrees and pitch dark; there’s a hefty wind chill factor blowing across Brighton beach from the north; the only others awake as we cycle down to the sea are wrapped up in huge coats, scraping ice off their windscreen; the pebbles on the beach are frozen together; and we are about to strip down to our speedos and get in another sea swim before school starts for us both. Why? It’s the question most commonly asked of us, and the question we have probably most commonly asked ourselves. The quick answer is that we’re training for our Channel swim. A huge chunk of those who fail in the Channel do so because the cold takes them down, so we’re hoping our regular winter sea swims will stand us in good stead. But, the question remains: why? It can feel utterly horrendous, as if your skin is burning and freezing all at once. Some of our early swims left us shaking and shivering on the beach, fumbling with zips on coats and desperately trying to pull glove

Decision Time. For me, it wasn't so much 'why are you swimming the channel?', as 'why have you waited so long?' Childhood questions as we crossed the sea for a family holiday, wondering what it would be like to swim "in there". Teenage dreams as swimming became more serious - one day I will do it. And then.... nothing. Still swimming, still into endurance events, but the Channel had faded firmly into the back of the mind, overtaken by triathlons, not to mention work, family and responsibility. Two people changed that. The first was a Scottish mountaineer from 1930s. WH Murray is not exactly a 'big name', but he was very much at the heart of opening up the most commonly used route to Everest's summit, and that used by the successful 1953 team. His famous quote is powerfully dangerous: "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary tru