WARM-UP OPEN WATER NEWS
XTREME DREAM AT AN END
Diana Nyad’s dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida is over, aſter two failed atempts. The first swim, in early August, was stopped by her support crew aſter 29 hours due to a severe asthma atack; her second, on 25 September, ended at the 67-mile mark aſter an encounter with jellyfish. The American
sexagenarian was said to be deeply disappointed but, despite canning any future plans to swim the 103-mile distance, said she had come to terms with her loss. In a speech to her crew, aſter the second failed atempt, she said, “Life is about determining your own finish line. This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore, no mater what it is, and that dream continues."
HEART-ATTACK SURVIVOR COMPLETES
LAKESIDE SWIMFEST
On 30 June 2010 Stephen Hall suffered a massive cardiac arrest. He spent 10 days in a coma, a further 121 days in hospital and continues to atend rehabilitation clinics. He still suffers short term memory problems that can make geting through the day difficult. Yet, on 18 September this year, 40-year- old Hall completed a mile-long swim at the Lakeside Swimfest. He raised £1,375 for Headway Essex, a charity providing support to people recovering from brain injury. Talking about swimming , Hall says, “It really helps me. It keeps me motivated to do things.”
10 OLDEST MAN TRIUMPHS
He spent 11 days waiting for the right weather,
swam on a powerful spring tide and spent nearly 18 hours in the water but, on 31 August, Roger Allsopp became the oldest person, at 70 years and four months, to swim the English Channel. Despite the months of preparation and the significance of his achievement, Allsopp’s first thought on finishing was to praise others for their help. “My pilot, Neil Streeter, was absolutely superb," he said. “He’s a great communicator and very thoughtful. He took something of a calculated risk taking me out on an ebb tide, but did everything he could to get me across.”
Allsopp being given his Guinness World Record certificate
ALLSOPP’S STORY CAPTURED MEDIA ATTENTION "I WAS A BIT SURPRISED ABOUT THE FUSS OVER AN OLD GEEZER,” HE SAID
He also praised his wife (“she’s been extremely tolerant”) and wanted to thank everyone who donated to his cause, Wessex Medical Research. “The equipment we want to buy should allow work that currently takes two years to be completed in two months. It’s a cause that’s very close to my heart.” Before the swim he said his biggest worry was the cold, but in the end that didn’t cause him too much of a problem,
although he was shivering badly when he finished. In the end it wasn't the cold but the dark that was the biggest concern. “It was very confusing as I could see lights but they looked like they were in the clouds,” he said. “Rebecca Simmons, who crossed in 2009, guided me in. She was cajoling me initially but later she was yelling to keep me going. I think my support team were very brave to let me carry on at that point.” Allsopp’s story captured media atention around the world. “I was a bit surprised about all the fuss over an old geezer doing a swim,” he said. He was so tired when he returned to Dover he had to be propped up to give interviews. To find out more or to donate see
healthspan.co.uk/ liveyounger. Funds raised will be used to purchase equipment to assist Professor Paul Townsend at the Southampton University Medical Facility with his research into biomarkers of cancer.
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