A Challenging Swim
Amber Nolson (née Button, 1991-94) took on a relay swim across the English Channel in June. She had enjoyed the sport of Wild Swimming for some time, and had recently discovered that her Great Great Grandmother had, at the turn of the century, swum the Channel, so she wanted to add this to her challenge list. However, she writes:
“Hours of open water practice with no wet suit (not allowed) in temperatures sub 14 degrees was not enough to prepare me for what was to come. We arrived in Dover and waited to receive our crossing window. At midnight we boarded our support boat, “The Optimist”, and prepared to swim the 21 miles which we soon found varies enormously due to the currents.
The worst part of the swim, perhaps due to spring tide, the full moon, or just our bad luck, was the jellyfish which were out in swarms during our night swims. For an hour it was like being flayed with nettles. We successfully completed the swim, in a time of 15 hours and nine minutes. However, it did not all end there, we then had the three hour rough ride back to England. We had swum the distance that a boat with engines took three hours to get back across! But we were Channel Swimmers. We had come and conquered. We had achieved.”
She raised over £1500 for the Neonatal Unit at Leeds General Infirmary. Read more about the charity and donate here.