Swimming the English Channel
“Nothing great is easy” – lessons in motivation from an English Channel swimmer
On 25th August 1875, Captain Matthew Webb was the first person to swim the English Channel. Completing the swim he uttered the words “Nothing great is easy”.
In July 2014 I swam the English Channel to raise money for two small children’s charities in the UK, Harrison’s Fund and the Demelza House Children’s Hospice. Riding the wave (!) of euphoria that follows such an undertaking, I’ve had many hours to reflect on the motivation required to train for and attempt the challenge.
In these blogs, I’ll share what motivated me through the months of training and the swim itself, lessons which I believe can be applied to our personal and professional lives. Let me set the scene….
The English Channel is 21 miles wide and is the busiest shipping lane in the world. It took me 14 hours and 4 mins to swim across, using approximately 46,600 freestyle strokes, burning approximately 21,000 calories and I was stung three times by jellyfish. The water temperature was 15 C/ 59F when I started in Dover, England (at 1 o’clock in the morning) and 16C/ 60 F when I finished in France. I had trained in water down to 6C/ 42F. All of this with no wetsuit.
You swim alongside a pilot boat, who will get you safely through the shipping lanes. You cannot get out, touch the boat, hold onto the boat or hold onto anyone on the boat. You can only wear one pair of “Speedos”, one pair of goggles and one swimming hat. I put Vaseline under my arms and around my neck to stop rubbing. Once you start, the next time you stop is in on the beach on France or the swim is over. If you need to go to the bathroom, you do it in the water. If you want to eat or drink, you do it in the water. If you want to do anything, that’s ok…. you just do it in the water.
Through my training, I had always felt very hungry. During my swim I stopped to feed every hour for the first three hours and then every 30 mins after that. My support team (my wife and my Dad) prepared my feeds and lowered them into the water in plastic bottles on pieces of string. I ate 7 bananas, 2 family packets of Jelly Babies, 2 tins of rice pudding with honey, 2 tins of peaches, 2 hot cups of tea, 6 energy gels and 12 pints of carbohydrate drink. I think I’m the only person to swim the Channel and put on weight!
Through my blogs I will talk about such things as: success, focus, fear of failure, dealing with negativity, support and team work, managing your expectation and the pride in achievement.
Nick is a company executive, performance coach and motivational speaker based in London. Nick can be contacted at nick@nickalford.com or through his website www.nickalford.com and on Twitter @nickspeaker.
