An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir October 2019 www.dfmagazine.ie 32 | 18°-20°, I knew I didn't need to worry about the cold. My window was 22-30 July and I was number 4, due to go on a neap tide, which means less moving water and a smaller S shaped course. However, one person cancelled and storms at sea resulted in only one swimmer making it to France. If I could hang on for the spring tide (more moving water and a bigger S shaped course) I might just get my chance. I had the support of 2 Bde HQ and was told to stay as long as I needed, although I had to say goodbye to my crew, who didn't have such flexibility. Cliff, my mentor, was the only crew member able to stay and he was living an hour away, so I was alone in an empty house. Within days, however, I had numerous offers of back up crew. This is one of the reasons I love the open-water swimming community. As well as offers from London-based swimmers I also had offers from De- fence Forces colleagues to fly over and do whatever was required. In the end Andrew Ferguson, an accomplished sailor from London, and Gavan Hennigan, a Galway friend who has completed many of his own epic endurance adventures to date, made up the perfect additional crew with Cliff. At 1853 hrs on 3 August the message came from my pilot, "Midnight meet for 1am splash…" and it was on! With the crew not arriving until 2100, I was on my own preparing for the swim; readying all of the equipment needed for the boat, all of my feeds, and snacks for the crew. However, my military training and in particular my SERE instructors course gave me the confidence I needed to go into this swim, and I realised just how much of an advantage I had undertaking this challenge as a member of the Defence Forces. In the days leading up to this swim I had meditated regularly and focused on enjoying the swim, and after such a long wait to hit the water there was no way I was going to do anything but enjoy it. I had also been told that the ratio of male to female swimmers was 60:40 and a large driving force for me was to nudge this ratio closer to equal. Keeping this stat in mind it is a good time to mention that Rachel Lee, a member of the Dublin Fire Bri- gade, completed the fastest Irish time for a crossing, and Alison Streeter is the person who has made the crossing more times than anybody else. Women may be the minority of people cross- ing, but the ones who make it are top quality. I was early to the beach, officially starting in darkness at 0053hrs, with a spotlight on me from the boat to ensure I had cleared the waterline, and to officially start the clock on the swim. The first four hours were in darkness which was a good thing as I never had to face looking back on the looming white cliffs of Dover, and the sunrise felt like the real beginning of the swim. I did meet jellyfish along the way but was lucky to only have one bad sting and not need to take any medication for it. The crew saw some porpoise accompanying me but the only sign of wildlife I saw, other than the jellyfish, were some lobster-pot buoys that I collided with as the tide turned off Cap Gris Nez, and although they were stationary the tide was pushing me so fast it seemed they were coming at me at a blistering pace. In order to get a good position on leaving the final shipping lane I had to spend half an hour power swimming, which was only made possible by all of my crew lining the side of the boat and cheering continuously for the whole time. Coming out of the shipping lane is where the swim really starts. I had been warned that this point is comparable to Everest base camp with the beach as the summit. Up to this point I was so comfortable that if I had been asked to swim back to Dover I felt I would have been able to do it, but the half hour of power, coupled with not being entirely sure if I should be pushing for the cap or not meant that when I even- tually heard the claxon indicating I had cleared the water on Wissant Beach and the swim was complete, I was extremely happy to jump aboard Suva (my pink boat!) Although it was a solo swim, there is no way it would have been possible without the immense support that I had along the way from friends, family and colleagues. Training swims take anything from one to six hours and yet I was never short of shore crew and water support, and in a time of poor water quality the Lough Dan Scouts let me use their grounds. This was an expensive journey and I am so grateful for the financial support I gained through the gofundme page I set up as well as numerous private donations. This has been such a positive experience for me and I am so excit- ed by what I have learned and achieved along that way that I would A feed stop Support boat 'Suva' (my pink boat) Escort to the finish Sunrise on the channel

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