English Channel Swim

The Swim!

2009-08-06T17:29:00.101+01:00

Well! Finally, it's done! After over 18months of training, I managed to swim from England to France, on the 2nd August 2009 in 12hrs 35mins. It was incredibly tough but MORE than worth all the work that was involved. The feeling in my heart when my hand scraped through the french sand, I can't begin to explain. My legs went to jelly and I started shaking uncontrolably. I could barely stand up. I grabbed a stone to keep, shoved it down my costume and swam straight back to the boat.... much to my poor sister, Danielle's, dissappointment after she swam the last 100metres in with me - I think she invisaged us lying on the beach for a while to take it all in! There was no collapsing on the sand and crying with joy.... I knew that if I sat down for just a few seconds, I would never get up again!

So the journey took place as follows:

On the Thursday night I got a message from my pilot, Neil Streeter telling me to prepare to swim on Saturday 1st August. The weather, in my amateur opinion, didn't look great so I was nervous before we even started. We got to the marina in Dover at 6am and set off shortly afterwards. Once we were out of the marina we were all completely dismayed at the awful conditions.

We had to hang on for dear life and couldn't think how we'd manage hours of this....... as you can see from my worried face - I was honestly thinking to myself (and I can admit this now that I succeeded the next day!) - 'I didn't prepare for this'. I started to cry at the realisation that this might end in a failure.

The waves were horrific, but according to the Neil, 'there have been worse conditions'... WHAT I thought! Anyway, you can't be picky, so I tried to be positive and prepare for the enormous challenge ahead. Neil said we'd try swim for two 2hrs and see if the weather improved. He was not going to 'log' this as an attempt until we knew whether the weather was getting better or worse. After only 30mins into the swim, he motioned me towards the boat and asked how I was feeling. In my heart, I was terrified. But I didn't say this and I was half prepared to carry on. I could see from the faces of my crew, namely Mark, Mum, Danielle & Jason... that this was going to be a rough ride. He asked if I wanted to carry on and make it my attempt, or whether I wanted it to be logged as a training session. I was in a huge dilema.... if I gave this up, there may not be a better day and with the conditions that have been thrown at this seasons attempts, this might actually not be that bad. FORTUNATELY Neil had the honesty to tell me that 2 boats had already turned back. Only five boats with swimmers had gone out that morning with an idea of a swim. This made my mind up... I called it a day and said we would have to hold out for better weather. After looking back at that weather, it was similar to the weather at the end of my actual swim, and I did 4.5hrs in that. I honestly can't see myself having managed much more than about 6hrs. The hard thing was returning to our accommodation, everything had been perfect, Sue and John (Mark's parents) had come all the way down from Chester to watch the children... Danielle & Jason had come from Bedford to crew for me. My half brother, Dean, had come all the way down from London, leaving at 3am, to surprise me and wave me off from the beach........ and of course Mum had flown all the way from Zimbabwe to be on the boat and crew for me.

Now, this may all fall apart if I didn't manage to get out there within my 'slot'. There was one positive thought in my mind and that was that all five boats turned back that day and nobody attempted to swim the Channel. I hadn't turned out to be the only fool to attempt it!

Neil said to be prepared for a Saturday night swim, which wasa hard thing to deal with, a night swim etc. We then got another message from Neil saying that the weather was still not good enough for the Saturday night but to meet him back at the boat at 5am on Sunday morning, to have another 'look'! We didn't hold out hopes as the forecast didn't look good but as we came over the hill that morning and saw a calm sea (no white horses at all) we realised it was all go. The two unfortunate things on this day were that Jason couldn't be on the boat because of work committments he had on the Monday (however, he kindly watched the boys until Sue & John got back from Canterbury where they had spent the Saturday night) - the other thing was of course that Dean couldn't see me off from the beach as he had had to head back up to London the previous day.

I was in much better spirits though. The boat ride to Shakespeare beach was smooth enough for everyone to 'grease' me up this time...!

I was actually excited today and in hind sight the previous days rough weather gave me confidence that anything must be better than that!!! So I jumped in the water, swam to the beach and waited for the fog horn to blast out! On hearing that, I ran straight into the water..... and started this very exciting journey!

The first 2hrs were probably 2 of the hardest. Mentally knowing you have so many more to come, trying to get into a rhythm, trying to warm up, and of course no feeds for the first two hours, so it's lonely. The next 2hrs were tough too, but they were getting easier as I was now feeding every 30mins. A cup full (250ml) of maxim energy drink dosed up 4 x the recommended amount!

I could see Danielle suffering badly from sea sickness and I felt so sorry for her for trying to hide it from me - when I saw her dissapear from the deck, I slowed down slightly to see her throwing up off the back of boat!!! The good thing for the crew was that the sun was shining, but when they all took their jumpers off that irritated me a bit - they must be WARM - not fair!!!

Between 4 and 8hrs were really good. I got into such a nice rhythm and I was counting my strokes between feeds. About 1300 - so I knew if the crew were late with my feed! I was in really good spirits, making jokes about seaweed for lunch and very very positive mentally.

THEN the weather changed! I thought a boat must have passed but soon realised the wind had picked up....... and this wasn't going to drop! The waves were 5ft/6ft and were absolutely relentless. I have no idea how the crew managed to fix up every single feed, perfectly on time without any hassle - or none that I could see. Out of what must have been 25 feeds we only had one where I had to pass it back because it had got salt water in. They had pain killers & sea sickness tablets ready each time I needed them. Amazing. Honestly, it sounds easy but they had to heat my 'feed' up on a gas stove in a cabin that you could hardly stand in if you let go with one had. The weather was 'shit'! I think they could sit down for about 5/7mins between having to go down and start the process again! Danielle's sea sickness seemed to have subsided which was good because although she wasn't showing it, I know she wouldn't have been enjoying the 'ride'!

The last couple of miles into France were endless, the tide was against me and it took me about 1hr15 to do 1.2miles instead of the usual 25/30mins. No wonder they call the French shore the 'oasis' - oh my, it just did not get closer. I had to swim quite a way from the boat as my crew were shouting at me that I was going to be crushed. I could see the dop deck of the boat when it swayed and rocked over the enormous waves. Occassionally the boat hit a wave at an angle and it totally threw me - goggles smashed off and totally dis-orientated.... these were shortly followed by Neil opening his door and shouting 'soooorry'! A nice considerate pilot.

As I said at the beginning of this write up, what an amazing journey and what a tough ride, but I couldn't be more pleased and proud and I am just so glad to have finished. Not for one single minute did I think of giving up. There was a job to be done that day, and that job had to be finished!

England getting further & further away.....

In the middle somewhere!....

France getting nearer & nearer.....

The journey back was pretty bad! It was still really rough and going fast was worse. We had to stay in the cabin where we had to lock our feet against walls and grab our hands onto anything we could to avoid being thrown from one end to the other....Danielle and I had to pass a bucket between us whilst mum and Mark managed to pass a cider between them!!!! The worst worry was letting go of the sick bucket!!!!!! I had imagined a trip back on the top deck watching the sunset and sipping a beer! NOT! I had totally emptied my stomach of 6litres of energy drink and was now having stomach cramps while I was wretching into the bucket. It was easier to just pass out - which is what I did! not long after hearing Mark say 'is she breathing'!!! Only just.

Totally finished!!!

In 1875 Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel. The statistics of my swim, since then, are as follows:

I am the 1st ever Zimbabwean female to swim the English Channel
I am the 564th fastest swimmer to cross the English Channel
I am the 1025th swimmer who has successfully swum the English Channel

My training has involved:

473.1 miles of swimming
262 miles of running
132 miles of cycling
along with 9700 sit-ups and many gym sessions!

Celebrating with champagne the night after....

Here are some pictures of my crew, who were absolutely amazing throughout, thank you again. Also a picture of my very loving and patient boys, whom I hope I have made proud.

Wow, so that is done now. I have DONE my part! Now I am asking, only one LAST time for everyone / anyone who has not done so already to please spare ANY money you can. One pound will go miles in Zimbabwe... I am not asking for a fortune, just a small donation. To date I have raised (offline & online!) £4,511.27. Not far at all from my target of £5,000.00. Please help me achieve this by visiting:

http://www.justgiving.com/jacquismithschannelswim/

Thank you thank you once again to absolutely everyone for their support. I am going to have some time with the family now and get back to normal.... but, I shall be trying to keep up the charity work with an up and coming art auction to be held in London. The children at Tichakunda school have already been working hard on their pieces.....

Have a close look at their innocent faces... these lovely children deserve happiness and a good education, you can make a difference with just a few pounds....

These will be auctioned along with work from well known artists... Details to follow!

So, I can only say it once more - THANK YOU.

& goodbye
Love Jacqui

July update...

2009-07-22T15:56:00.024+01:00

ALWAYS REMEMBERING THE REASONS

BEHIND THE CHALLENGE.......

The children in their typically colourful African clothes

School photo at Tichakunda School

Tichakunda Classrooms

Outdoor learning at Tichakunda

The playground at Tichakunda School

The 'well' where ALL their water comes from.

While looking at those photo's it helps me remember why I am doing this challenge and why I am constantly asking for support. These children need our help, we can improve their education facilities, every single penny will help.

So, the challenge! I'm nearly there now. With less than one week to go, until the start of my 'slot', things are heating up. I wish!!! When I last wrote I had just had the fundraising event, and the week before that I had completed my 6hr qualifier in Dover. Since then I have completed a 6hr swim in Windermere, and a further two, 6hr swims in Dover again.

Ready to go & seeming happy!

This way!

Windermere was a lovely weekend. Accompanied by Marks parents, Sue & John (very kindly watching the children while I did my swim! - I need to thank them for all their help as they have had the boys many times while I swim, ie: when I went down to Dover in June), Danielle, Jason, and obviously Mark - who were my 'crew'! I also need to thank Dan & Jason because they drove about 4hrs there and back just to crew on the boat for me! - and they have helped many times before as well, for example driving all the way up to Loch Earn, Scotland, to watch the boys while I did my swim. Thank you, everyone. I am going to owe a lot of favours when this is done!

Windermere was planned as a good training weekend but also to master my feeding technique. Armed with Fig Rolls, Mini Rolls, Peaches, Maxim energy drink, water, thermos flasks, valcrose, bottles, string, telescopic extension pole etc - we felt pretty well equipped. Lots of laughter and fun beforehand - as always with us four together, the mood was good! The weather was good - no scorching sun, but not thunder / rain / strong winds either. I got in at Bowness (half way up the lake, or slightly more north than half way). The plan was not to swim the 'length' as such, but to get 6hrs in again. Whilst I swam 'the crew' very carefully mapped out the distance I was covering. Going back to school geography days I could see them working hard with a piece of string! It was great because they knew the distance & speed I was swimming. They kept a steady check on my stroke rate, which is a lot lower than I realised - about 52 per minute. But it is a long hard stroke so I am not concerned about this being quite low. As long as I can maintain this, and not drop the strength or 'speed' I will be happy.

The men hard at work, one steers and one controls the speed,
rocket science!!!!!

My shoulder gave me trouble a couple of hours into the swim, and as per every long swim I've done, my mind started to wonder and I had to fight back thoughts of making excuses to get out. I reached the southern most point of the lake, Lakeside, after 3hrs. I started to complain to my crew and said that I don't know if I should carry on and risk aggravating my shoulder etc etc etc. They had none of it and told me to carry on swimming. Of course I swore at them underwater and of course 'they have NO idea how sore it is and how hard this is', 'idiots'. But they were right, and I plodded slowly on. The water temperature felt Mediterranean! It was about 18, far too warm for Channel training, but still good practice and of course the actual distance was great to do. The best thing that happened, about 4 or 5 hours in, was when Mark told me that the boys were on a boat and would be passing soon! Sue & John had got them on a cruiser and of course had their mobiles to check where we were. This made me put my head down because of course, they had to see me swimming, not messing about or whining asking to get out! It was lovely when they came past and I could hear them shouting 'muuuuumy' and see them waving. BLESS!!!

Can you spot them!.....

Thank you Sue & John for doing this with them, and of course thinking of keeping in touch with us so that I could see them. We saw them on the return leg of their trip too - this I was even more grateful for, because I thought they might have aborted the return leg in favour for a pub that was showing the rugby match for John! The only problem with this little distraction was the concern of fellow boat drivers who, when they saw us waving our arms around madly, thought we were in trouble! Obviously this was explained away by the crew when the boats came screaming across the lake to rescue us! So, all in all. It was a long hard day for the crew. Boring I think would some it up! They all had back ache and as you can see from Danielle's face, purely fed up! So you three, imagine how bored I was!!!

The face sums up the feelings!!! Still pretty though!

It was brilliant to be able to finish it. I did exactly 12miles in exactly 6hrs, so that is nice and easy to work out 30mins a mile, including feeding time! I have since spoken to the 'Channel General' on my trip down to Dover and the reason I was probably feeling ill, was that I was taking in too much energy! I was feeding on gels, followed by a bottle of maxim. I have since cut out the gels, and will feed purely on maxim in my Channel swim, every 30mins. I will need to keep these feeds down to about 20 seconds each as I do not want to put unnecessary time onto my swim. I tried eating some solids but this didn't agree with me either so that is a no go in the Channel. I loved swimming Windermere and it was simply amazing to have those three on the boat... it HONESTLY did help me. Jason narrowly missed a dip in the lake with me which made me laugh to myself for ages. The funniest was at the beginning though when they all looked slightly concerned and waved me to stop. I stopped immediately and they all shouted 'can you swim a bit faster, the car ferry is coming across and you need to beat it'. I put my head down immediately and then after about 10 seconds though to myself, 'shit, are they actually SERIOUS'. Sure enough on looking up, it was coming. HELLO! CAN YOU SWIM FASTER TO BEAT THE CAR FERRY. Simply hilarious!!!! Of course I stopped and told them it might be easier to just swim across a bit, wait for it to pass, and then carry on. Anyway, it made a good start to the swim and made me giggle to myself for ages afterwards! You fools!

Going strong & enjoying the scenery....

Finished!

So.... in-between Windermere and Dover it was the usual training in the River Dee and a couple of trips to Blackpool beach. Where my friends, Michelle & Claire and I have found some new friends. Some seals! At first we were totally freaked out and after suggestions that this 'bobbing' thing looked like a bear, sanity got the better of us and we realised it was just a friendly seal. So it's nice to have company and a little distraction to the back and forth, in and out swimming!

Then came DOVER harbour! This was HARD. I can honestly say it was the toughest mental challenge I have ever had, apart from maybe giving birth! Having to constantly fight back the demons saying 'get out, it's cold', 'get out, your shoulder is too sore', 'get out, you can rather do more tomorrow and less today', 'get out, pretend you have cramp'.... etc etc etc! It took all my will power to stay in and although I wanted to do 7hrs on the Saturday and 5hrs on the Sunday, I managed 6hrs on Saturday and another 6hrs on the Sunday. This in total is obviously 12hrs. I hope to have covered the distance, or thereabouts, of the Channel but it's hard to tell because of the intense wind which pushed us back a lot of the time. Going on my speed I might have covered about 24ish miles / around 40km's, but of course like I say, this may have been a lot less! An incredible bunch of people that dedicate their weekends to training aspiring Channel swimmers. Namely Freda Streeter, the Channel General! Truly amazing advice and such genuine characters. I look forward to seeing more of them in the next two weeks while I wait for my swim.

This was definitely a worthwhile trip and has set my mind in gear for what I need to be prepared for. Although I hope they would not send me out in such bad winds, I need to be prepared for the weather to change in the middle of my swim, and then of course the winds may end up like that. It was tough, but I managed it, and I am so determined to manage whatever the Channel throws at me. Thank you again to Mark, who had the boys the whole weekend, despite it being our 5 year wedding anniversary, he never complained once! Poor man spend it at the hotel bar on his own, while I went to sleep with the boys at 7.45!!!!!!!!! Next year, I promise! Mark has been amazing and the boys have had such lovely times with him. He took them over to France on the ferry where Josh practiced his 'bonjour's'!!! Alex spent the afternoon eating mussels, and Josh & Mark had snails..... this was the highlight of their day! It was a long tough weekend for Mark too - 12 hours driving and solid childcare in-between, so thank you. Not to mention he has been in agony with whip lash since being crashed into last Thursday, so he certainly goes on my 'brave' list.

So, not long now, and if you could all keep your fingers crossed for the wind & rain to go away. As Josh says 'rain rain, go away, and not come back another day'.

Watch this space & I'll keep in touch. My 'crew' will be in touch when I set off and they will hopefully be able to update this blog with a vessel tracking link that you 'should' be able to track my boat on........ providing there is signal etc.

Thanks again to everyone for their support.

Jacqui xxx

2009-07-02T15:23:00.009+01:00

Hi all,

Firstly, an update on WEZIMBABWE's most recent project. They have now officially become partners in the Kuyamura Trust, who are currently working to build and operate Tichakunda Pre-School in Hatcliffe on the outskirts of Harare, Zimbabwe. Kuyamura Trust means 'To Help' in the Shona Language.

Please visit their website now and have a look at the horrific conditions that these children are expected to learn in. It is totally heartbreaking reading what they have to put up with, they have no choice, there is no other option. The option WE have, is to help improve the facilities they have available to them. Having two boys myself, whose education needs are incredibly well catered for in this country, I have cried and cried looking at the photo's of these little African children, singing their nursery rhymes in the scorching hot sun, it breaks my heart. WeZimbabwe are now DIRECTLY helping to improve these childrens chances of a healthier, happier eduction. The first thing they will be doing is the sinking of a borehole to provide clean water. As I mentioned, please visit their website: http://www.tichakunda.com/ or you can follow the link directly from http://www.wezimbabwe.org/

My son's school was shut down immediately when there was a burst water pipe (which meant there would be no running water for a few hours). At Tichakunda Pre-School they have NO running water, ever, just a deep un-protected well which is meant to cater for the whole school - all their cooking needs, drinking, cleaning etc. They have three toilets, to cater for 700 pupils and all the staff. These children's classrooms are wooden shacks, which have holes in the rooves, they have no floors, just dust & stones covered with plastic sheeting. If the children are lucky, they get ONE meal a day of porridge. We all know too well how a well fed mind performs better, how are these children meant to have a chance? This is an example of ONE of the schools in Zimbabwe. There are so many underprivaledged children that we can help. Please, if you have children of your own, put yourself in these pictures and imagine your child in this school. We can help to improve these conditions, at least give them running water to start with. Every single pound helps.

http://www.justgiving.com/jacquismithschannelswim/

Thank you.

On a slightly lighter note...... I would like to thank everyone that HAS helped so far.

And HOW:

......the fundraising event held at The Shoulder of Mutton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, this past weekend was a tremendous success. Thank you so very very much to all my close family who helped so much during the run up to the day - mainly with the ticket sales and organising of the X Factor competition! I appreciate your help so much, I have a lot on my mind with the swim only being four weeks away and you managed to alleviate any stress which may have come from organising this event. It was a great day, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. The X-Factor competition went down a treat! As you will see from the picture, I was very honoured to have Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole & Louis Walsh turn up to judge the competition. Well done to the winner, Trudy, who won (better than any record deal and £100,000) - a meal for two at Coco's Restaurant and a bottle of Baileys!!!

So, an update on what we managed to raise through the raffle, x factor competition,BBQ, killer pool, bouncy castle & various other little games! - a WOPPING £2007.77. I am so very very pleased with this amount, I never expected to riase so much and I am so grateful for everyone's contributions. In total, along with contributions online through my justgiving website, to date, you have helped me raise £3565.77 for WEZIMBABWE. Since the event took place I have had a chance to sit down and page through the raffle tickets and I can't believe how many people bought tickets, and how many tickets they actually bought! I really am so grateful. Thank you very very much. I am only sorry that everyone couldn't win something, but I hope that those who did are pleased with what they won!

Nearly there now with just under four weeks to go until my 'slot' starts. I am off to Windermere this weekend where I hope to complete at least a 6hr swim. Mark, Danielle & Jason will be on the boat 'feeding' me with my new state of the art 'feeding stick', whilst trying to figure out the best way to encourage me to keep going, and of course driving the boat away from any hazards. I will be sure to post an update after the swim, along with some photo's as I'm sure Danielle will be happy snapping after a few hours of boredom!

Once again, thank you VERY much for everyones generosity. Every penny helps improve the facilities available to the little children in Zimbabwe, like those at the Tichakunda Pre-School.

All the best,

Jacqui

2009-06-24T11:37:00.012+01:00

A forced smile at the end?!

The harbour & me in the distance, the dot, not the man!!!

Surely that ferry would be quicker, easier & cheaper!!!

Well. At least the six hour qualifier is out the way. With approximately 4/5 weeks to go I am glad that it's out the way. I can honestly say that I enjoyed the swim. Mark and I arrived in Dover on the Friday evening and went for a HUGE carbohydrate based meal in preperation for the morning. Bed at 8.30 & awake at 7 followed by a big bowl of porridge, I was then ready for the job! The weather was good.... not sunny but not raining! The wind was rather strong but nothing inhibiting. I got in at 9am after being appropriately greased up and briefed as to what time to come back into the shore for my 'feeds' of warm maxim energy drink. The first stint was 2 hours, during which Graeme Schlachter kindly accompanied me (Graeme completed the Channel last year in a fantastic time of 11hrs 45mins and we have since got in touch because of having one big thing in common, being Zimbabwean!). It was great to have company, even though you can't really talk, it's nice to see a face next to you every time you breath! From then on it was one feed every hour, which Graeme kindly made sure was ready for me on arrival...... along with a mini roll & ibuprofen at one point! The good thing is that I wasn't really exhausted at the end, nor was I cold. My only concern is the shoulder pain which I have had in the past returned after a couple of hours. But I am now working on this with pain killers & physio so it should be fine!...... I had a good HALF a lager to celebrate and was in bed for 8.30 again!!!

Mark's original plan was a trip to France while I swam, however, he was devastated that this trip to get 'provisions' had to be abandoned because he had forgotten his passport!

I have two / three more long swims planned before the big onr. I will be up in Windermere on the 4th July, with Mark, Danielle & Jason to crew for me and I hope to do a good, long swim up there - at least another 6hrs. The plan is to go back down to Dover mid July to take part in one of the infamous training weekends and do a long swim on both the Saturday & Sunday. We will have the boys with us this time so hopefully the weather is good and it won't be too hard for Mark to keep them happy for all that time! He may even be able to nip to France, providing he doesn't forget his passport this time!

Thanks again for all your support...... Nearly there now. Jax X

May / June update!...

2009-06-13T10:29:00.003+01:00

Sorry it's been a bit quiet on the update front, but that should be a good sign as most of my time has been spent training! As you will see from the picture I have attached I will be having a casual gathering at the local pub in Chapel-en-le-Frith to draw my raffle and to get myself psyched up for the last 6 / 7 weeks of training!

May was good. I spent my birthday trudging up and down a very 'reedy' lake near Danielles home in Bedford, while she very kindly dragged herself out of bed at 7am to watch the boys for me. I have spend nearly every Sunday at the Albert Dock where the jelly fish are out in force this year! I'm getting in my full quota of 2hrs there and it's now about 16 degree's on average. I competed in the Ivan Percival 4 mile race which I did in 1hr 27mins... I was really pleased with this because last year I did my 4 mile race in 1hr 48mins. I came 4th out of the woman, and fourth overall!!! - The women really do rule in this sport!

Thursdays are spent at Boundary Water Park in Knutsford. Water temperatures are rising slowly (which isn't necessarily a good thing as I need it to be about 15 to prepare myself for the Channel). I did 2hrs in the River Dee last Wednesday which was frreeezing, but really good practise as there was quite a strong current..... it took 20mins less to swim downstream that it did to swim upstream! Tomorrow, Sunday 13th, I will be going to Blackpool to swim in the sea. I am going to try and get a 3/4hr swim in which should prepare me for my trip down to Dover next weekend. I am hoping to get my 6 hour qualifier done there (weather permitting) however, I SHOULD do it! After that the next task is Windermere at the beginning of July. Again I want / need to do at least a 6 hour swim there. So at the moment, it's go go go..... when I'm not outdoors swimming I'm indoors trying to build up speed & endurance....

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me, I hope I can make you all proud! More pictures to be posted next week!...... Bye for now, Jax X

2009-06-13T10:18:00.001+01:00

April update...

2009-05-06T13:04:00.012+01:00

Hello!

Very exciting, open water swimming has started! The first dip was in the Albert Dock, Liverpool, the water temperature was just under 10 degrees, I stayed in for 12 minutes. I have built this up slowly and have now reached an hour @ 13 degrees. So the distances are picking up again and my body is getting used to the cold. Of course it's really cold and as soon as your head goes under, you get a headache! but it's very stimulating and really rewarding when you've finished. The pain of the cold fades away as you get more & more numb! I did about 3km on the last swim and felt good. The jelly fish are around, in their large shoals but of course they are still very small at the beginning of the season. It's very strange how to begin with they were one of my biggest fears, and now they feel like my friends! I say hello every week and talk to them as I swim by, in a strange way it's like having company!

First Dip in the dock!

The slime almost looks like pleasant green grass?!

The boys still aren't convinced that the dock is too cold for them! Soooo....

when we got home we had to replicate the dock... needless to say from their facial expressions, it was COLD!!!

Boundary Water Park, in Knutsford, Cheshire starts up tomorrow which I'm looking forward to. So in a few weeks I should be able to make good use of both these open water sessions and should really get in 4hrs of open water in each week.

My first open water event will be the Albert Dock 4mile on the 23rd May. This will be quite tough mainly because the water will still be really cold.
The next 'gathering' apart from the weekly swims, will be my trip down to Dover at the end of June. This will be for one of the infamous 'training weekends'. I will be heading down with just Mark as his very kind parents are having the boys for the weekend! I am really grateful for this as it will give me time to concentrate on my swimming (while Mark nips to France & collects some 'provisions'!

Beginning of July I intend to swim a 2/3 way Coniston. This is about 5.5miles long so I need to do at least a two way for my 6hr qualifier.

18/19th July I will head down to Dover again for a training weekend. This time Mark AND the boys will be with me! So that will be fun.

The following weekend is the final trip down to Dover..... we have two weeks accomodation booked and I hope that my swim will fall inside those two weeks. Of course, as I have mentioned before, this is so weather dependent so I just have to keep my fingers crossed for a good summer!

Thanks again for ALL your support..... & I will keep this updated more now the swimming is 'heating' up!

Cheers,

Jacqui

March update.....

2009-03-24T15:16:00.001Z

Once again it's been a while since I updated this, sorry!

Firstly - to invite you ALL to my fundraising event. Details are as follows:

I am going to be holding a fundraising event at The RAA (Richmond Athletic Association) on Saturday 30th May 2009! I am hoping this will start as a great 'family' day out and then follow with a good party in the evening. The event will be running from 2pm until late evening (11pm ish). There will be a price of £15 per person (no charge for children under 13). This will include a hog roast meal which will be served around 5pm. There will be an open cash bar from arrival until the end. There will be a bouncy castle for children along with a couple of other games and an 'assortment' of activities for the adults including either a live band or DJ in evening.Please come along! This enormous challenge has been the main occupant of my mind for a very long time! The training is exhausting, along with juggling family life & work - so please support me and help me reach my target of raising £5000 for WEZIMBABWE. The support that I have received so far, by either donations directly to WEZIMBABWE, or through the many messages & emails that I have received, has been amazing. I hope this event will be a great gathering of friends & family. I will then be able to personally thank everyone who has helped so far....So, PLEASE accept this event ASAP if you plan to come along. At the moment it's running as a facebook event 'Channel Swim Fundraising Fun Day for WEZIMBABWE!' - go on there and join the event, it's open to everyone. I will then forward the details to everyone on how to purchase tickets. Please pass this on to all your friends & family, the more the merrier.... If you don't have a facebook profile please just email on jacquismith@baileysmith.co.uk and I will send details on to you directly!P.S. For those of you that do not live near enough to Richmond to be able to get a train / bus / cab home, here is a link with hotels / B&B's - not sure on availability so I'd call sooner rather than later!http://www.activehotels.com/wl/servlet/search/freshSearch.do?trkref=SMU&latLong=51.469131,-0.294897 http://streetmap.co.uk/postcode/tw92ssSo - onto an update on my swimming!!! - Training is going WELL! The new year was good and I felt really strong after starting up at the gym again. January was a great month and I managed to cover a lot of distance in the pool. February I found very tough. For some reason I felt like I had hit a brick wall! I asked advice from fellow swimmers and I also emailed Alison Streeter - Queen of the Channel - swum it 43 times! The feedback that I got was to maybe cut back on either the gym work or the cycling. Maybe I was overdoing the 'less necessary' parts of keeping fit. Rather spend more quality time in the pool, than spend half hearted time in the pool because of being too tired. This seems to have worked and at the moment I am either cycling in the morning and swimming at night, or going to gym and then swimming at night - not all three in one day! Also I think I was pushing too many weights. I have gone back down to doing 'few weights and many repetitions' - for endurance rather than strength as it were.

So, unfortunately there is not anything particularty exciting in winter training to update you with! However, open water starts very soon which I'm really excited about. The first 'dip' in the Albert Dock is on the first Sunday in April. This is going to be a nice breath of fresh air after the stuffy indoor pools! Amazing how quickly your body adjusts to actually enjoying the cold!

There has been a lot to think of in the last month or so. I am in the middle of booking all my swims for the year. There are three or four organised swims that I will register for but one that I will have to attempt individually is Lake Windermere, which is 10.5miles. I need to cross this successfully in order to qualify for the Channel (it's required that you do a 6hr swim in 16degree water). However, this is not the only time I intend to swim for that long in cold water. I intend to go down to Dover for one of the 'training weekends' that are available in the harbour for aspiring Channel Swimmers. Apparently these involve a long hard 5/6hr swim on the Saturday and then another on the Sunday. Usually the distance covered is that of the Channel, or nearabout.

So. Once the open water starts again I shall post some pictures up and keep you up to date with swims I intend to take part in!

Thank you SO much to everyone for their support. To date I have raised £970 for WEZIMBABWE. I am so pleased with this as I haven't even swum the Channel yet! Thank you EVERYONE.

Coming soon will be a raffle - open to all. Many great prizes so far - but watch this space for a more detailed update!......

Cheers for now,

Jax

After the Christmas break....!

2009-01-20T13:01:00.022Z

Hi again,

I thought I would put a little update on for the New Year. Training is going very well and I can feel myself getting fitter & faster. My times have come down per mile / km and I'm feeling very strong. Gym is obviously helping, and possibly the fact that I've stopped drinking!

Christmas was a little quiet as I wanted to spend some quality time with family before this hectic year of training. However, I did manage to get to the Albert Dock on Boxing Day and do about a 40second swim! - it was apparently 3.5Degrees Celsius so it was not really a 'swim', but more of a dip for people who wanted a 'kick'! It was good fun & actually not that cold because of the amount of time spent in the water. Unfortunately Mark was (selfishly!!!) really sick on Christmas Day & Boxing Day, so my designated photographer wasn't there!!! However, I managed to get some pictures from another source that was there photographing for her website, she managed to get me in one!

Me on the very right, contemplating the dip - I did get in I promise!

A nice clear winters day.

Plunging into nearly freezing water...

It might have been sunny but it was cold!

Otherwise, I'm busy planning my dairy for the year! - it doesn't look like there is going to be a free weekend for a few months. Hopefully it will all fall in to place and as soon as the open water season starts I'll be back in Salford Quays every Thursday evening, and the Albert Dock every Sunday morning. Along with my other 3 nights a week of swimming, every day cycling & gym work, I'm hoping this will be sufficient for my crossing! At the moment I'm managing to swim about 12/13miles a week, cycle about 15miles a week, and about 30mins of gym 4 times a week. Along with sit-ups & my physio exercises at night, this is about all the time I have spare! At the moment I get home at about 8, eat dinner, sit down for half an hour then go to bed! Ready to get up at 5.30 to cycle, then sort the kids out for nursery, get to work, finish work, straight to gym... and the circle repeats itself! Luckily I'm still working four days a week so I manage to get a nice quality day on Friday with the boys, otherwise I would feel like I never see them. Josh is really sweet and knows that I'm going to try and swim to France soon.... I took them swimming the other day and told him 'this is where mummy does all her swimming' and he asked me 'so is this France'! IF ONLY!

I'm really enjoying it at the moment and am loving feeling so fit. The putting on weight thing is going quite well. I'm a few kg's heavier than before Christmas, however, it's not as easy as you'd think with all the exercise.... never thought I'd be allowed to eat so much in a day.

Will keep this up to date & will make sure I post new news when I get any!

Thanks again everyone for your support.

Jacqui

A little update! (20th November '08)

2008-11-20T15:09:00.000Z

Will I be this happy at the end of the Channel? Or will I need one of these rings midway through?!

Someone said to me the other day that nothing much happens on my blog! Sorry...... I thought it might be boring to post my training updates but maybe not.......?!

When I last wrote I was trying to find a squad to join to enable me to get more constructive sessions in - rather than plodding up and down a pool on my own. Well, I have been quite lucky in finding a gym which is on my way home - in Denton... (an Esporta gym). They have two sessions a week 0n a Monday & a Thursday which are pretty tough. I must admit that they don't compare to the sessions I used to do, they are not as long and probably not as tough. But, I think they are pretty good - I'm always exhausted afterwards. I tend to do half and hour or so in the gym first so that contributes to my fitness. I am starting weights tonight so from now on I will do some running / cycling, followed by weights, followed by swimming on Mon & Thursdays..

On Wednesdays I have been going to Stockport Central where they have, once again, a rather exhausting session. They are all part of a 'masters' scheme which is mostly made up of ex-GB swimmers.... hence the sessions being quite hard. I am trying to make sure I do two forms of excercise every week day.... ie: I cycle most days at 5.30am unless I'm going to be going to gym before swimming that night!... I am feeling pretty good and slowly feeling the fitness picking up.

Socially I think I've been good too! I have pretty much stopped drinking in the week altogether. I have a couple of drinks over the weekend unless there is a big party scheduled! I know December is going to be a bit hectic, obviously, with Christmas parties etc but I'm justyfying any drinking by being really good beforehand! Offering to be the 'designated' driver helps a lot.... it's rather boring but it's not forever! As I'm sure I've mentioned before, from the 1st January I will stop drinking until I have crossed the Channel.

This coming Monday I am going to try and do a 3/4hr swim at Esporta gym. I will take some energy gels and will only stop to feed / drink every hour or so. I will keep going unless my shoulder starts to ache. I don't want to take any uneccessary risks at this stage. The plan is to try and increase this distance / time every couple of weeks and then do a 10/12 hour swim indoors at some point in the beginning of the New Year.

So apart from my training update, there is not much else to let you know. I will post updates when I've done my indoor 'longer' swims to let you know how much I managed.

Hope this is sufficient for those of you that are interested in my progress!

Thanks again to everyone who has given me support up to now. WEZIMBABWE are so pleased with the current donations (already £525). I am really proud of this amount, considering that my swim is still 8months away. Sounds like a long time but as each week passes my nerves grow, time is flying by!

Thank you & 'watch this space'!!! x

Loch Earn Swim, September 13th 2008 - 6.5miles

2008-09-22T13:04:00.019+01:00

Josh & Alex looking happy when I'd finished!

Josh pointing to Loch Earn on the map, while I try to enjoy a Magners!

Josh & Alex keeping Jason entertained!

Mark looking tired after 4hrs on 'lifesaver' duty without ONE cigarette!

Mark checking his lifejacket, me greasing up &......

Josh testing my cap & goggles!

Eventually making our way into the water, nearly an hour late!...

Josh in very capable hands? Jason that is a GUILTY look, what are you hiding?!

Danielle & Alex waving bye to Daddy on the boat!

Discussing tactics with the boat handler!

Okay. Sorry this is a little late... but better late than never....

After many weeks of preparation and nerves, we made our way up to sunny Scotland on Friday 12th. It was a long drive, nearly 5hrs after stopping half way to let the kids stretch their legs. Danielle & Jason had flown up and then hired a car.. we met them at the lovely cottage we'd rented for the weekend. Friday night was spent relaxing.... a good pub dinner (with no booze for me!) followed by a very early night.

I was really nervous on Saturday morning, mainly not knowing what to expect. Before now, as you will probably have read, my longest swim was the 4mile swim at Rivington Reservoir. When I used to swim for Zimbabwe, the longest I had ever spent in a pool was probably around 2.5hrs and the temperature was no where near the 14ish that I was about to attempt! I started the day with a huge bowl of cereal, topped with syrup & sugar. This was followed by a couple of energy bars! During the few weeks leading up to the swim I have never eaten so much, so continuously! - it was fun, but filling!.... amazingly enough I didn't put that much weight on because of all the exercise I was doing. The aim was to put on a lot of weight, so I am going to have try even harder before the Channel..... I have been told a good stone or two is very good insulation!

On arrival at the Loch, there were a couple of familiar faces, being some of the people I have spent the past few weeks swimming with in the Albert Dock, Liverpool.... so that was encouraging. A lot of time was spent hanging around, greasing up, loosening up etc etc. I have learnt a lot from this swim - first thing being, do not undress too soon. I was all ready and greased up about half an hour too early! I was chilly before even starting. Anyway.... at 10.50 we jumped in and got in a straight line. The rules are to swim out and your 'boat' will come and find you. Mark was my lifesaver & food & juice provider! I am SO grateful to have been able to have him on the boat otherwise I would NEVER have carried on... and so that is down to Danielle & Jason for making the effort to come all the way up to watch the boys, and me of course!!!

Mark was under strict instructions to give me energy juice (Maxim) every 30mins and then on every hour, to give me a 'Smart Gel' followed by another drink of Maxim. This went well and it was the first swim I'd ever done where I'd 'eaten' so I was grateful none of it came up! The water was icy, the wind was icy, and my body was icy! I found this REALLY hard and really mentally challenging. The wind was coming from the left and therefore I spent the entire swim breathing to my right.... this was nice as I could see Mark ALL the way..... whatever he did, I saw it! He has learnt a lot from this too - don't cross me when I'm swimming! Anything would have got to me during those few hours. When he yawned I felt angry, when he said 'you're doing really well, keep going' I felt angry! But most of all, when he pulled his hood up because he was cold.... I felt FURIOUS!!!

One main thing that came out of this swim was a lesson with regards to the feeds - .......do not use feeds as a break, it only discourages you when you have to start up again. Mark said I lost so much time during each feed, I never realised how much I was being pushed back. I think he was a bit scared this time to tell me to hurry up! I now know that we need to devise a feeding system - ie: a piece of string on a rod! - it took me ages to make my way to the boat and then get back on track again. I have also learnt that I need to do a LOT more mental preparation. The kids were with us right till the start, which I loved, but I think that my mind was not in the right setting before I got in! I thought it would have been good because it kept my mind off the nerves, but realistically, I need to prepare more.

The most distressing thing that has come out of this swim is my shoulder pains! About 1.5 / 2hrs into the swim, my left shoulder starting aching and I remembered that it had happened in my Rivington swim, but of course that was only a 1hr 53min swim so it was not sore for long. I carried on swimming, thinking that it must just be a natural ache from continuous swimming with the wind blowing onto it. But it didn't improve and at the end I was crying constantly under water. It was agonising. I don't know if I should have carried on but I just wanted to finish! - stubborn or stupid I don't know. I went to the doctor when we got home and he said to rest it for two weeks and then go to Physio. So I'm booked in for that next week and I just hope it goes away and doesn't disturb any future swims! The tears underwater brought back horrible memories of crying underwater, when I was about 10, during early morning swimming when Mr Mathieson was being horrible!!!!!!!!

So, all in all, it was a great experience and I'm so glad I finished. It took me 3hrs 54mins in the end. That is longer than I had hoped but everyone said afterwards that it was a tough swim so I was glad to have finished at least. I tried really hard to celebrate afterwards, but my throat was so sore from swallowing cold water, that cider didn't slide down well, I was in bed by 9.30! Saying that, Danielle was asleep BEFORE me. Now, does that prove that watching two kids under 4, and a 30yr old fiance, is more tiring than swimming 6.5miles. Maybe?!!

So. The plan for winter is to step up the training in the pool. I am in search of a 'squad' to join nearby home / work so that it is feasible for me to go as often as possible without putting too much strain on the family life. Mark has been amazing up to now and so THANK YOU to him! In summer I was going a couple of nights a week to the Manchester Aquatic Centre, straight after work, and then every Sunday to the Albert Dock - which meant at least half the week he was getting up at 5.30am - getting to work for 6.45, a long hard 10hrs at work... then straight home to fetch the kids, feed them, bath them & put them both to bed!.... a LONG day. So thank you again, I REALLY do appreciate it.

I'll update this soon & thank you all for your interest. Lets hope next summer is better than this one so that the Channel is WARM!

Cheers, Jacqui

26th August 2008

2008-08-26T15:09:00.000+01:00

OK. So it's about time I started to update this. I won't bore you with daily updates but I'll keep you informed when I've done a big swim / cold swim / boring swim / hard swim etc etc!

If you have arrived at this page, I'm sure you would have read the reasons why I'm attempting to swim the English Channel next July. I'm sure you would have read about all the hurdles I need to overcome and I'm sure you would have read all about my training schedule!

I am still going swimming at either Salford Quays, Manchester 0r Boundary Water Park, Knutsford on a Thursday evening.... and then Albert Dock, Liverpool on Sunday mornings. I am managing to fit in two indoor swims every week aswell - usually a Monday & Friday evening. I'm still running every morning (weekdays only!) which is keeping my fitness up. When the open water swimming comes to an end at the end of September, I am planning to join a gym and start to work on 'muscle building'! Through winter I will try to maintain 4 swimming sessions a week, aswell as my runs in the morning (which I will try my hardest to do in just shorts & a T-Shirt no matter how cold - followed by the usual cold shower!), and I will then work out a routine of gym sessions too.

To date I have done the Albert Dock 2mile race and the Rivington Reservoir 4mile race. The next challenge is Loch Earn on the 13th September. I am especially nervous of this one - not because of the 6.5mile distance so much as the COLD water. I have been told it can be as cold as 12degrees. So please please please let the next three weeks warm up so the temperature may pick up to a lovely warm 14 at least! I will make sure this is updated after my Loch Earn swim unless anything particularly extraordinary happens in the meantime! (ie more jellyfish down my costume!)

Cheers for now,

Jacqs

August 2008

2008-08-06T15:24:00.001+01:00

Please bear with me while I get this up and running! I promise to update it a.s.a.p!

Jacqui