Early days in Stokes Bay. Pte Charlotte
Catterall giving the thumbs up before disappearing off into the darkness.
glowsticks for safety, jumped from the boat and swam the short distance to shore where she exited the water and waited for the blast of the horn, signalling the start of the swim. At 2104hrs the horn blasted, and Lieutenant Hayley Ellis powered into the sea, over the next hour delivering an outstanding first leg in some seriously choppy water. After a seamless takeover, Staff
Sergeant Alex Millard (SPS) was next up. It is hard to imagine as you read this article the disorientating nature of swimming in choppy, pitch-black water with a large boat bobbing alongside you, and the lights of Dover never appearing to get further away. Staff Sergeant Alex Millard took all this in his stride and for 60 minutes propelled the team forward and then swapped out by Major Tom Coole who spent the next hour swimming, whilst being unaware of a large fish that had followed him throughout. The next up was Private Charlie Catterall (SPS), the newest member of the AGC Open Water Swimming team who delivered a strong performance in a truly challenging environment, with waves and wildlife all around she got her head down and simply ploughed on. At 0100hrs, with a clear starry sky Major Marion Kingston (ETS) took up the challenge. At this point in the swim, we were crossing one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, an incredibly daunting task with gigantic cargo ships bearing down on us. Entirely undaunted Major Kingston delivered an effortless and calm swim, finishing in high spirits.
Things Take A Turn
Sergeant Kamal Gurung (SPS) swim proved to be one of the most eventful. Despite only recently taking up sea swimming he delivered a solid hour, however shortly after he entered the water, the pilot boat lost its ability to steer and under autopilot had drifted onto a circular course, wiping out any progress he had made! We were also stranded in the middle of the shipping lane and a very concerned HM Coastguard wanting to dispatch a tow back to port, jeopardising the swim. After much hammering below-deck and jamming a screwdriver into the mechanism, steering was temporarily restored, thankfully allowing us to get underway.
The Final Stretch
Each swimmer had now delivered a second hour of swimming; dodging large debris, circumnavigating tankers and jelly fish stings. Faced with a sharp turn of the tide, that threatened to drag us out to the North Sea it took a third mammoth swim from Lieutenant Hayley Ellis, Staff Sergeant Alex Millard and Major Tom Coole to get the team within touching distance of the French coast. Private Charlie Catterall delivered the final burst and had the honour of being the first team member to pull themselves clear of the water on to very slippery rocks at Cape Gris-Nez France, officially ending the swim after fifteen hours and four minutes.
We made it! The whole team make landfall in France, the smiles say it all.
Maj Maz Kingston in her element.
Deep sea training in Poole, Maj Maz Kingston with Sgt Kamal Gurung.
AGC JOURNAL 2022 33
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