When the sea is calm, the jellyfi sh come out in full force
SO WHAT MAKES IT SUCH A TOUGH SWIM? IT'S THE COLD AND THE JELLYFISH
All successful crossings of the channel have been made across the 18.5 mile distance. In 1948 the fi rst was made by Tom Blower, a Not inghamshire miner’s son, but four years later the crossing became known as ‘The Killer Swim’, when Blower dropped dead in the street at the tender age of 41. His death was blamed on his cold- water training, which – it was thought – had thickened his blood and led to his fatal heart at ack. Four years later, Jason Zirganos, a major in the Greek army, lost consciousness and died while undertaking the crossing, adding to its sinister mystique. Many others have tried to cross this treacherous stretch and also
failed in the at empt. Among those who try, there is a success rate of only 13 percent – just 11 solo swimmers have succeeded. So what makes it such a tough swim? Colm O’Neill, who became the
fi rst Irishman to complete the crossing back in 2004, has no doubts about that. “It’s the cold and the jellyfi sh,” he says. “The water gets down to 11.5-14°C, so a lot of swimmers are aff ected by this. But for me the biggest issue was the jellyfi sh. The lion’s mane jellyfi sh, which have tentacles of up to 30ſt in length, roam this stretch of water.” O’Neill tells how, two or three hours into his swim, he hit a patch of them and was being stung relentlessly. He couldn’t see anything except jellyfi sh. “When I came in for my next feed, my face had swollen up like Rocky Balboa’s in Rocky, and I couldn’t even see the bot le of drink in front of me!” Kevin Murphy, who is known as ‘King of the English Channel’ for his 34 successful English Channel crossings, describes it as “the toughest swim there is”. Murphy has completed three successful North Channel crossings (in 1970, 1971 and 1989), but on each occasion he had to be sedated aſt er his altercations with jellyfi sh. On his second crossing, his team tried hanging a net from a boom out from the boat to try and hoover up the jellyfi sh ahead of him, but the net became so full of jellyfi sh so quickly that the boom broke within minutes. From then on, Murphy realised he would have to bear the pain.
There are three varieties of jellyfi sh in these waters, according to Meharg, who has piloted several successful swims and many unsuccessful ones, too. “The moon jellyfi sh doesn’t sting, but the lion’s mane and mauve stinger are the ones you need to worry about,” he says. In 2000, one North Channel swimmer, Steve Price, had a novel way to combat the jellyfi sh problem. His helpful solution was to cover himself in udder cream, which is normally used to soſt en cow’s udders for milking and to protect them from net le stings. The dangerous wildlife doesn’t stop with the jellies. One of O’Neill’s compatriots, Henry O’Donnell, was accompanied by a pod of orcas for part of his 2008 crossing. He said at the time: "The killer whales... that was an amazing encounter. The team spot ed them about 100 metres away, they're really formidable. To see them in calm water... the power and the ease with which they go through the water, it's absolutely amazing." Yet, despite its killer reputation and wildlife, the North Channel swim is still at racting brave and foolhardy souls every year. In 2010 Anne-Marie Ward was named Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year for her successful completion of the North Channel solo, in a time of 18 hours and 59 minutes. This year, just four hardy solo swimmers are scheduled to
at empt it, while a team of celebrities and regular swimmers hope to complete an even longer crossing, from Wales to Ireland on a 60- mile trip for Cancer Research UK. If they make it, they will join one of swimming’s most elite rolls of honour. Courage to you all! ○
Simon Murie is the founder of SwimTrek (swimtrek. com), the leading provider of open water swimming and coaching camps in the UK and overseas. He is a qualifi ed swim coach and an experienced swimmer with a solo crossing of the English Channel and other big swims to his name. He is passionate about introducing people to the joys of open water swimming and to fi nding new swims.
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