24 Mile Swim

Day 1 of Triathlon to the Rugby World Cup - Monday, August 13th

An Inspiring Start to an Amazing Journey

An eventful 48 hours leading up to the start of the triathlon. On Friday afternoon Michael Oram, our pilot for the cross-channel swim, rang to say that Monday looked like being the only day this week when a channel swim would be possible and so we moved to Plan B and prepared to travel down to Dover on Sunday and compete the swim two days ahead of schedule. Then, almost as we reached Dover on Sunday afternoon, Michael rang again to say that the weather systems were moving faster than expected and the weather would not be fit to swim across to France until Friday at the earliest – the day the cycle ride begins!

Dan and Rob had been so focused on the channel and the immediate reaction was huge disappointment but there was not time for regrets. Plan C was to complete the swim in the Serpentine – all 388 lengths – but there was an alternative. What emerged as the final plan was to stay in Dover, to swim on Monday as intended but to complete the 24 miles of the Deca-Ironman swimming in Dover harbour.

And so at 7am the swimmers arrived, finished their preparations and were in the water by 7.15am. They swam over to the Prince of Wales Pier and began the first of many circuits. The harbour is a regular training ground for cross-channel swimmers and although it is protected from the full force of the wind still experiences rough conditions with strong tidal currents and 4-5 foot waves. To begin with the weather was calm and bright and the guys made good progress completing their loop of the harbour in 45 minutes. We had met John from the Dover Water Sports Centre, the previous evening and he had generously offered to provide a rib and driver to act as support vessel, to protect them from other water traffic and essential for feeding over an endurance swim.

Gradually it became clear that Dan was swimming more strongly and a gap opened up between the two which grew larger and larger and after 3½ hours the Water Sports Centre were able to offer a second boat – this time ably steeered by Rob’s father, Stephen – and the pattern for the day was set.

The feeding schedule prepared by Dan and Rob was for hourly feeds for the first 3 hours and then ½ hourly thereafter with a mixture of high energy drink, water, chocolate, banana sandwiches and meal replacement drinks. With high water around 11am, the wind picked up and conditions deteriorated, the swim against the tide and wind became very challenging and the swimmers took a wider loop to try and find easier swimming. Both had shoulder injuries and were swimming through pain from early on and after 8 hours swimming – about half distance – both had sinking moments when their energy reserves began to run out, they were feeling very cold and it all seemed too much.

It was then that the support teams of Ed, Mark, Faye, Jono and Jord came to the fore and as well as feeding the swimmers, their mixture of encouragement, banter, threats, humour and abuse brought smiles and Dan and Rob battled on relentlessly. Messages were being constantly relayed back to mum, Sandra, in the motor home who did a fantastic job making sure that supplies of food and drink, light sticks, pain killers, torches, waterproofs, socks, the list was endless, were always available.

From mid-afternoon the wind calmed and the conditions improved a little and both swimmers were looping in around 60 minutes with Rob stroking like a metronome but tiring and Dan retaining a good rhythm despite meal breaks getting longer. After 12 hours, over 22 circuits, Rob who was bitterly cold, decided to complete the swim another day and was dragged into the support boat and back to the shore to be warmed up.

Dan, however, driven by the memory of his brother, Tim, pressed on and as the light began to fade he passed the 20 mile mark and slowly, painfully, purposefully closed in on his goal. One question to ask him (included in the excellent supporters notes he had prepared) was – ‘Can you swim 100 strokes?’ – and that evening each 100 strokes turned into 1000, into another lap and another mile crossed off. By 9.30 pm he began to run on 'empty' but still pushed on – mind over body – still smiling at Jord’s jokes, tempo slowing from the growing pain from his right shoulder. It was dark now, with the boat lit up by light sticks and around 10.30pm, after 15¼ hours in the water, he said – ‘get me out’ – and we hauled him in, totally exhausted and very cold from the blackness of the water.   

Back on dry land with gradual warmth, hot drinks and high energy food, both swimmers soon started to look much better.

Subsequent checks confirmed that although he had been hoping to swim on to make sure of the distance, Dan covered almost 24½ miles and Rob over 18 miles. Rob has confirmed that he will complete the final 6 miles in the Serpentine on Wednesday morning – why not come along to give him a cheer?

It’s impossible to describe how much both guys put into it; a truly inspiring start to an amazing journey. The thanks of all the team go to John, Harry, Bill and everyone from the Dover Water Sports Centre for their brilliant support and kindness, above and beyond.

PS My camera got soaked right at the end so pictures to follow!