Ladies & Gentlemen.. and Zac.. ‘The Viking Princess’...

I took the opportunity whilst passing through Dover the other day, to have a short 2 hour dip and board our support vessel. Folkestone Fishing Trawler ‘The Viking Princess’. Every year Captain Reg Brickell and his brother Ray, lift her out for a complete deep clean and re-paint ready to assist her  ‘slightly mad charges’ in their adventures across the Channel. I thought that you would like to see more of her..   The fore deck.. where many dramas unfold daily during the swimming season....

“So you think that I’m fat?”

Uhmmm.. of late there have been a few comments … People have noticed that I have put on weight. This actually has been strategic and quite difficult to do given that I already eat enough food to feed two adult men each day!   The advice came from and was taken on board by a guru in the ‘cold water swimming world’. The ice maiden herself.. Fiona Southwell from Brighton Sea Swimming club. “Gary.. think like a woman.. and eat chocolate and ice cream late at night!”   So, I did.. well errr.. eat chocolate and ice cream late at night. Mrs Anne Jenkins will say “So what’s changed??” Don’t listen to her,   I needed to put on some weight to help try and insulate my vital organs within the body’s core and to provide some fat reserves. This weight is essential to aid my ability to fight against the prolonged cold during what could be up to 14-18 hours in the Channel.   Hey, why not I’m in!   Cross training is also vital to avoid injury and build general body resistance. However, as with many of these ‘time consuming pursuits’ there are barely enough hours in the day to do the swim training itself. So I cannot report that this side of my training has gone terribly well.   However, I have managed extremely competitive rides to school with my No1 fan club… and contributed massively to the ‘ice cream stall fundraiser’ after school.. mainly chocolate cones.....

I’m back !

Well haven’t you lot been lucky? No active blogging for a few weeks! Boy are times about to change. Apparently, I have another job which actually pays my salary, which demanded a little of my time.   But hey, I’m back and swimming ferociously. I have just had a great trip to San Francisco where my good friends, FastEddie Peinado, English Channel soloist 2010 and Pedro Ordenes, Straights of Magellan 1999 were on hand to ‘give me a good beasting’! That’s English terminology for ‘it was terribly hard’.   I began in the Cove at Aquatic park meeting and swimming a few laps whilst they sunned themselves and ate my rations on the dock.. this lasted for a South American nano second, 2 hours to you and me, when they decided that it would be more fun to be on paddle board and in kayak where their barracking would be more effective.   After being led inside and outside the breakwater to battle with the current of the flood tide, which is great raining but very tiring they finally decided to jump in and join me for the last hour of my 4 hour swim.   The weather was fabulous and I was...