THE MENTOR: Nick Adams Time and again, when you talk to those who have swum or been close to the Channel, you get the feeling that completion isn’t just down to swimming, but a combination of luck, skill, determination and humility. CS&PF president Nick Adams certainly thinks so. “Guts and determination are more important than technical ability,” he says. “You have to train hard, but fi ght easy.” It's a bat le of wills between the swimmer and Mother Nature. “The Channel is the boss and occasionally she lets us across,” he laughs. Adams fi rst crossed the Channel in 1992 when he was just 16. “I was a very poor swimmer then," he remembers. "I had
no swimming background at all, and when I occasionally went swimming, I was a thrasher.” Since then, however, he has improved his technique, and added another six crossings – one of them a double – to his pile. As well as these practical successes in swimming, his current role at the CS&PF is more organisational, as president and commit ee member. His real-life career – as a maths tutor at Eton College – has also made him an ideal candidate to act as a mentor for other at empters. He insists, however, that where the Channel is concerned, the process of mentoring is cyclical. “You meet people that inspire you to be a bet er person, and somehow they make you give more freely of yourself,” he says. It’s like a family – “the bond between swimmers is phenomenally strong. Only a Channel swimmer knows what other Channel swimmers have had to go through; they have an unspoken bond.” Nick wants to make the sport more accessible to everyone and will be launching the new CS&PF website later this year to help people be able to get more information on Channel swimming and how it works. In his mind, prior research – whether on- or offl ine – is one of the most important parts of Channel swimming, as it can be frustrating for CS&PF members and mentors to be asked the same questions again and again.
Other than that and the weather, he says there are very few frustrations to organising Channel swims. He says successful Channel swimmers have to be loving as well as determined, “which leads to one of the most generous and giving communities. “The rewards of Channel swimming are strong friendships and a sense of confi dence that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. You will be amazed what people will do to help you achieve your goal.” ○
When Luke Birch (leſt )
swam the Channel, Nick Adams mentored him
CHANNEL HALL OF FAME There are so many more English Channel heroes it’s impossible to name them all. We’ve listed some below, and we trust those we’ve omitted will forgive us
Captain Mat hew Webb First person to swim the Channel and an inspiration to the thousands that followed.
Gertrude Ederle An American who was the fi rst woman to swim the Channel in 1926, set ing a record that was unbeaten for 35 years.
Roger Allsopp A 70-year-old grandfather from Guernsey who became the oldest person to swim the Channel in August of this year.
Alison Streeter Queen of the Channel with 43 crossings. The only female three-way Channel swimmer.
Jon Erikson In 1981, he became the fi rst three-way Channel swimmer.
Philip Rush Set the world record for a three-way Channel crossing in 1987 with a time of 28 hours 21 minutes.
Petar Stoychev Holds the record for the fastest one-way Channel crossing with a time of six hours 57 minutes
Mike Read Former holder of the male record for the number of crossings (with 33 ) and now president of the Channel Swimming Association.
Lynne Cox In 1972, at the age of 15, Cox swam across the Channel, breaking both the existing men’s and women’s world records with her time of nine hours 36 minutes
Marcy McDonald The fi rst American woman to complete a double crossing in 2001, and since then has done another double and 10 single crossings.
Elizabeth Fry In August this year, Fry became the oldest person at 52 to complete a two-way crossing of the Channel.
Marcia Cleveland First crossed the Channel in 1994 and has since crossed it a further fi ve times in relay teams or as crew, she’s also author of Dover Solo.
Ann Cleveland Previously held the record as the oldest person to make a two-way crossing and was awarded the Gertrude Ederle Award for the Most Meritorious Swim by a Woman in 2004.
Yvet a Hlavacova Holds the record as the fastest woman, set ing a time of seven hours 25 minutes in 2006.
Julie Bradshaw Holds the record for the fastest but erfl y stroke crossing, set ing a time of 14 hours 18 minutes in 2002.
Des Renford A veteran Australian who died in 1999, he held the King of the Channel title in the 1970s for crossing it 19 times.
Barrie and Irene Wakeham Part of the beach crew at Dover, they spend hours greasing up swimmers and mixing their drinks. Without their dedicated support many crossings would not have been possible.
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Photo © Nick Adams
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