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The sea is relatively calm here,
close to the
English shore. We haven't really gotten into the main channel yet. Tim
looks strong; his channel grease hasn't washed off yet.
Our guide boat cleared Customs and
Immigration
at about 9:40 a.m., and we left Folkestone Harbour, hurrying to
Shakespeare
Beach, Dover, hoping to catch the 10:30 a.m. outgoing tide. If we
missed
it, hours would be added to our overall crossing.
On our way to Dover, we passed a
smaller escort
boat, bearing a marathon swimmer, Stella Taylor. At age 45, she became
the oldest woman to swim the English Channel. She is now 55, and with a
successful swim today, she would improve on her record. (her guide boat
broke down at Shakespeare Beach, and she never got a chance to compete.)
We had met Stella last week at a lawn
party for
this year's channel swimmers. The gathering was hosted by Ray and
Audrey
Scott, chairman and secretary of the prestigious English Channel
Swimming
Association. Stella, like ourselves, and many other international
channel
swimmers, has been delayed by the meanest and coldest summer in 35
years
on the channel. Today the weather broke clear, and 11 attempts are
going
to be made this morning.
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I see Krista taking off her
sweatsuit and getting
ready. Tim is maintaining his pace. Everyone is in good spirits. I
think
the family realizes that after months of preparation, waiting and
frustration,
the great adventure is finally under way! I just hope I can keep them
in
this frame of mind as the journey progresses and the going becomes more
difficult.
I had been at the Scott's house
earlier in the
month when I paid our registration fees. On that afternoon I was
accompanied
by my son, Jason and Julian McConnie Jr. His father is the head of the
Seamos Amigos y Seamos Justos society, a nonprofit organization that
raised
the funds for our swim. The English Channel Swimming Association has
been
keeping accurate records of swims since the 1876. Due to the
association's
diligent efforts, the strict rules of Channel swimming are rigidly
enforced.
Because of them, swimming the channel today is as difficult as it was a
century ago.
That terrifying body of water still
presents one
of the world's greatest physical challenges, comparable to climbing
Mount
Everest. Modern technology has created space-age mountain-climbing
equipment
and computerized electronic assists for the Everest challenge but the
Channel
swimmers still enter the water armed with only a bathing suit, a swim
cap
and a pair of goggles and swim their way across 22 miles of treacherous
currents. They fight numbing hypothermia, stinging jellyfish, high
waves,
giant oceangoing ships (the channel is one of the busiest shipping
lanes
in the world), fatigue, seasickness, oil slicks and loneliness. Only 10
percent are successful.
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Krista is having problems making
her relief
of Tim on the scheduled timetable. She has gotten grease all over her
goggles
and can't see out of them. The official observer, Ray Brickell, is
warning
her to replace Tim in two minutes or he will disqualify our relay! (Page
3)
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