-
We are in the main channel now.
You can't swim
directly across the channel-the 21.7 miles from Dover, England, to Cap
Griz Nez, France. You must swim a zigzag course following the strong,
changing
currents. Krista is now riding the outgoing northerly current towards
the
North Sea, and moving at a good pace. Her stroke rate is about 62 per
minute.
It is amazing how fast your arms must move in order to create enough
internal
body heat to survive. The legs don't need much blood in marathon
swimming,
but the brain, heart and lungs do. Tim says he feels fine and should be
ready in five hours for his next shift.
Krista arrived in San Juan two weeks
after Jason
and I left for England. She had started a new job and could only get a
short leave of absence. Jason and I needed five weeks of advanced
acclimatizing
training in cold water, since we would be in the water 12 to 14 hours
on
our solo swims. The other family relay members did not need that long a
period since their portions of the swim would be of an hour's duration
each time they entered the water.
My wife Caroll, Krista, and Tim
practiced at the
DuPont Plaza Hotel pool before leaving to join me in England. One of
the
problems I faced while preparing for the crossing was trying to find a
pool in which to train for three to four hours daily. I wanted to train
in a freshwater pool, because the density of freshwater is less than
that
of saltwater, making it harder to swim in. Therefore, after months of
freshwater
training, we would find the buoyancy of the channel an added physical
and
mental boost. The management at the DuPont offered its pool and dining
room as a training camp. Living just across the street, it was
convenient
for my family to train any time of the night or day.
-
Jason is on the forward deck now,
preparing
for his turn. He is rewrapping his knee brace to make sure it doesn't
come
off. The sky is clear, the sun is shining brightly. It is fairly warm
on
board if you haven't been in the water yet. Tim is lying on the deck,
still
trying to recover from his portion of the relay. He covered about two
miles
during his turn.
I had hoped that Jason could make the
solo swim
with me. He was born in the Presbyterian Hospital [now Ashford
Presbyterian
Community Hospital] in Condado. He would have been the first
native-born
Puerto Rican to swim a solo of the English Channel. But this wasn't to
be. Ten days before the scheduled swim date, he dislocated his left
kneecap
playing squash, and was rushed to the hospital. For a while, it looked
as if he would be out of both events (the solo and the relay), as he
was
in a cast from hip to ankle for eight days. I didn't tell the rest of
the
family and they were alarmed when they saw him in England. Fortunately,
the doctor took the cast off and gave us the OK for him to swim the
relay,
but he had to wear a brace and be very careful about not using the leg
while swimming! He had one short practice in Dover Harbour beforehand,
and his knee hurt him a lot.
-
12:30 noon: Third swimmer: Jason
Krista is on deck now, telling us
how she
was stung by some jellyfish during her first turn at swimming. Jason
relieved
her on time, even though he had to go down the ladder stiff-legged
while
the boat was rolling back and forth. He's swimming well now, dragging
his
leg and breathing out his left side. He is swimming almost directly
across
the channel now, because the northerly current weakened near the end of
Krista's turn. She covered about two miles also. Several large ships
passed
very close to us during her turn.
Miguel Rivera, one of my former Pan
American Water
Polo players, and a Ph.D. in sports medicine, joined us in England as
our
trainer. He had worked with me while I was training in ice-water in a
walk-in
freezer at the Veterans Hospital for several months prior to leaving
Puerto
Rico. Unfortunately, Hurricane Charlie set us back in our scheduled
swim
date and Rivera had to return to a teaching commitment in Puerto Rico
prior
to our relay attempt.
Rear Adm. William Prescott, an M.D.
from Washington,
D.C., had also joined us in England, but, once again due to "Charlie,"
he, too, had to leave. Julian McConnie Jr., who was supposed to be our
manager and photographer, had to leave England before the attempts,
also,
in order to start college. This left me on board the boat, trying to do
all their jobs (doctor, trainer, photographer), plus swim my own turns.
An old friend of mine, a Puerto Rico master swimming champion, "Bud"
O'Hora,
came to England on vacation with his wife, and volunteered to come
along
on the relay attempt and help us out. (Page 5)
|