Brighton Sea Dogs

By Raphael Ruz: By Steve the Observer:

When Graham and I decided we wanted to attempt the Channel together, we immediately began searching for information on blogs and websites about a two-person relay and discovered... almost nothing. Quite understandably, there is a huge amount of material on solo swims, 'standard' relays of four or six people, but hardly anything at all about a two-man relay - and a quick glance at the CSA list of 2-person swims reveals that there have only been just over 20 successful 2-person swims since they started recording them (not including CSPF swims, of course). So, for anyone weighing up a 2-person relay, here are our thoughts and lessons learned, for what they may be worth. Specific Challenges: Clearly any swim in the English Channel has the obvious challenges, but these are some which we think are especially relevant to a two-person attempt: 1. Cold and the Afterdrop As with any long swim, the biggest enemy of a 2-person relay is probably the cold. You swim hard for an hour...

In any sort of endurance event, we all know that - at a certain point - 'it is all in the mind'; the moment when your limbs or lungs are already hurting, you have been contemplating stopping for ages, and something 'in the mind' keeps you going, keeps you from stopping. Determination, willpower, drive, grit - it's all in the mind. In long-distance swimming, more so - I think - than other long-distance events, the battle within those 'top two inches' is not just about keeping going; it's also about managing both the boredom and the strange wanderings of the mind to ensure that the stroke remains efficient and effective. We must add to the 'determination and drive' a strange cocktail of random, confused and bizarre musings which are also 'all in the mind' when swimming for a long time. Consider this section of internal monologue from our recent 2-hour qualifying swim in the sea off Brighton beach: "Ok, off we go. Two hours. Two h...

"Do you think you'll write a book about your swim?" My Mum was quick to clarify her question: "I know not many would read it, but I probably would." More than a little put out, I hit back: "I think we'll be too busy making the film, to be honest, Mum, so the book will have to wait." So much is already in place. I have a working title for the film: some sort of clever play on 'Jaws', and with our Sea Dogs name, I'm trying to choose between 'Claws' and 'Paws'. Deciding who should play Graham was easy; I just need to track down Chewbacca, and see if he can do his strange roar/cry with a soft Edinburgh lilt. I think we have most of the key elements of a good film. We've had set-backs: there was a time when Graham and I were both in and out of A and E; I discovered that hitting the side of a car whilst travelling fast on a bike is not ideal for the shoulder, and definitely not ideal for the bike itself, and Graham'...

1. Thou shalt not turn up in shorts and t-shirt when the ambient temperature is less than 5 degrees. (GK) 2. Thou shalt not forget a swim cap and goggles. They really help. (GK)   3. Thou shalt not swim off at right-angles. Regularly. (SMT) 4. Thou really shouldest check which way the tide is going before you swim. 4 minutes one way, 24 minutes to get back doesn't impress anyone. (SMT and GDK) 5. Thou shalt not be overly concerned if a saxophonist turns up to practise pre-dawn on the beach and plays ‘Careless Whisper’ whilst you take off all your clothes. On more than one occasion. Remember, it's Brighton. 6. Thou needest remember that just because you feel reasonably good when you get out doesn’t mean you won’t develop a serious case of shivers 20 minutes later. ‘Afterdrop’ means the cold blood from the extremities floods the body's core after a delay, meaning hypothermia is delayed… (SMT and GK regularly). 7. Thou wouldst be wise to always pack two towels, a ...

'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.' (FD Roosevelt) And 400m-long tankers which could smash a ferry in half. And millions of jellyfish. And floating pools of raw sewage. And sharks (apparently). And cold. And the heebie-jeebies. And the busiest shipping lane in the world. And sudden changes in weather and sea conditions. And sea sickness. And pirates (apparently). And failure. But apart from 400m-long tankers, and jellyfish, and raw sewage, and sharks, and cold, and the heebie-jeebies, and the busiest shipping lane in the world, and weather and sea changes, and sea sickness, and pirates, and failure, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

There's a great scene in the Life of Brian when Brian approaches the secretive looking group sat on the steps; 'Are you the Judean People's Front?' he enquires, nervously. 'P***off. We're the People's Front of Judea.' There are more than a few passing similarities for the uninitiated Channel-swimming wannabes, desperately looking for a pilot to charter them across the busiest shipping lane in the world. Compared by one writer to 'like navigating a snail across the M25', it's fair to say the choice of pilot feels like a pretty crucial decision. There are two associations who provide pilots to get the aspirational swimmer across - the CSA and the CSPF. We were warned in very blatant terms by one pilot's mother to be 'watchful' - in her view, one offer we'd received from a pilot was surely too good to be true, and, she warned that "he must be from the other side". CSA or CSPF? Was one better than the other? Was t...

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...