The Grand swim was an occasion that I’ll cherish for the remainder of my life. Even now, a couple of months on, it’s unattainable to place into phrases how unimaginable the expertise was. I get overwhelmed once I take into consideration the assist we had, the folks cheering us on each stroke of the way in which. It nonetheless provides me chills. Humbling doesn’t even reduce it. I’m over humbled and filled with deep, deep gratitude!
I do know I’m not the one one on the staff who had the perfect and worst occasions of their life inside that 37 hours. Once I stated I needed the ocean to swallow me up, I used to be severe. The elation of finishing the duty overpowers any darkness that was met out at sea.
The end line
There was no higher second for me, than feeling the sand beneath my ft, and realising that my legs did in actual fact nonetheless work. I wasn’t positive they’d be capable to carry me to the excessive water mark, so once I put my full weight down and my saturated legs carried my weight, the reduction was immense. Most of us will always remember the ‘dance strikes’ I pulled off in that the majority majestic of moments. I needed to point out everybody that I used to be of sound thoughts and physique. I knew how a lot my family and friends had been worrying about me and, yeah, I used to be displaying off!
One factor I wasn’t prepared for was the noise. So many individuals had come to West Bay Dock to welcome us house. I had been alone with my ideas for a lot of the journey, being surrounded by folks shouting and cheering my title was unbelievably intense. I stored my ear plugs firmly in place however the wall of noise was nonetheless so loud. I had my medical crew there ready in an ambulance with fluids and ache reduction. All I stored pondering was, quickly I can sleep!!
The Help
All through this text I check with “us”, not “I”. I didn’t swim round Grand Cayman alone. Sure, I used to be within the water placing one arm in entrance of the opposite as a person however there isn’t any manner I’d have made it to the tip with out your complete crew. From venture supervisor, kayak assist and all spherical legend Jen Wardman, Probability Eaton, the bottom crew, boat crew, complete kayak assist staff, the college children I met alongside the way in which, radio presenters cheering us on, everybody who donated, and all of the sponsors. Each single particular person had such an enormous half to play. Every puzzle piece was integral to the success of the swim.
There’s something magical about having a assist crew of people that have solely identified you for a short while, coming collectively and dealing in direction of a standard objective.
The Dawn
Swimming by the night time, in the dead of night abyss, feeling chilly from publicity and the depth of the water was draining in so some ways. When the solar began to rise on the morning of day 2 I used to be crammed with vitality and reduction. We had been over half manner and my spirits lifted on the identical tempo because the solar coming over the horizon. The entire crew had been completely happy to be out of the darkness.
Faculty Visits
Firstly of my journey, college visits would have appeared on my checklist of 5 lows! I used to be not a public speaker and never an enormous fan of being placed on the spot. I used to be given the chance to speak to the younger folks of Cayman about my earlier swims and the trigger that we’re elevating consciousness for. I used to be fortunate that a lot of the college students had been engaged and listened nicely, with different college students it took much more work to carry their consideration. They needed to know in regards to the animal encounters (sharks) that I had whereas swimming! They checked out me with eyes large as we talked in regards to the route we had been planning on taking. It’s all very nicely and good to be speaking proudly about earlier achievements, nonetheless, I felt one thing of an imposter speaking about one thing that I hadn’t even tried but.
It was the reminiscences of those college visits that actually stored me on observe when issues received powerful. When my mind was telling me to drag the plug I recalled the faces of the youngsters who had been in awe and it stored me robust and it stored me swimming. I needed to verify I might be the hero they already thought I used to be.
The Buzz
The entire Island of Grand Cayman was speaking in regards to the swim. We made fairly the ruckus, as was our preliminary intention. The construct up included radio interviews, fundraisers, and gathering raffle prizes. We had been fortunate to have so many native companies on our facet. This was all earlier than I even received within the water!! On the day, the excitement was unreal. We had a small get together of individuals waving us off initially line (at 5am) however because the miles had been clocked, and the hours glided by, increasingly folks got interested on this loopy, ginger dude who was reaching unimaginable feats at sea.
The Grand Swim captured the eye and the hearts of your complete nation. Not solely because of the world document try, however as a result of Plastic Free Cayman has been working so exhausting to maintain the seashores of the island freed from trash. Everybody who lives right here is conscious of how dangerous the difficulty is. You’ll be able to’t take your self to a secluded seaside with out being confronted by tons of ocean plastic. It hurts to know that in our lifetime we’ll do nicely to see a pristine seaside once more. Even when single use plastic was banned tomorrow it might take a whole lot of years to rid the oceans of this suffocating substance.
Feed plan
This was my first downfall and it in all probability led to others down the street. I created my very own feed plan primarily based on my Isle of Wight swim which was an error. I needed to make the entire thing as straightforward as potential for the crew nevertheless it’s one thing I ought to have spent extra time on. It was all slightly final minute and I ought to have examined sure mixtures earlier than heading out onto the water. An novice mistake. I additionally failed to make use of the coconut oil as deliberate to supply some safety from the salt publicity. When the swelling began to get dangerous it was nearly unattainable to get any strong meals down. Bananas, vitality balls and peanut butter had been all tough to devour at this level.
I’m so fortunate that the crew on the boat had been in a position to improvise with what they’d. On high of this I used to be battling a shoulder harm and I had been given a excessive dose of anti-inflammatories. A Slight mistake to my medicine plan triggered me to have a reasonably upset abdomen from early on within the swim. My physique merely wasn’t absorbing the vitamins I wanted. We had been solely 4 or 5 hours in at this level and the size of this swim was already beginning to sink in!
I learnt alot from these errors and would say this…. Get used to consuming whilst you’re swimming, and eat what you’re used to consuming!
The Headphones
Listening to music is one thing I don’t usually do once I’m swimming. I really like the sensory deprivation, the quiet and quietness it brings me. I purchased some waterproof headphones for my Isle of Wight swim however by no means received to some extent the place I felt I wanted them on that swim. Nonetheless, on this swim because the hours rolled on the voices and sleep deprivation made staying relaxed and targeted all that a lot tougher. I can channel out the ache, discomfort and exhaustion to some extent… however I used to be past that! The music would show a a lot wanted distraction, by singing alongside to my favorite tunes may push additional than I’d ever gone earlier than.
Nonetheless, there was a slight downside! I’ll let Jen inform the story from her perspective right here:
As a assist kayaker, I had some crucial jobs to do, steer the swimmer, feed the swimmer and supply leisure for the swimmer. A particular bag had been packed filled with crucial gadgets akin to vaseline, coconut oil, first support package and the all essential music machine, this bag was supposed to remain on the kayaks always, it was not. When Oly requested his headphones, I received on the radio and requested the boat crew to find stated bag. At this second, I knew the bag wasn’t on the assist boat. It had been left behind on the Ocean Frontiers craft once we had been rising from the south channel at night time.
The bottom crew had the bag in place and had been ready for us to get to Spots Dock the place we wanted to make a personnel swap as nicely. It had already taken us 2 hours longer than anticipated and the tempo wasn’t about to enhance. I used to be contacted on the radio by Probability who let me know that the bag was not obtainable. He instructed me to tell Oly, this was not an choice. I may see how a lot psychological and bodily ache he was in and there was no manner I may break the information to him. A brand new kayak assist crew was prepared to finish a shift change, nonetheless, I insisted that I keep out on the water till the headphone state of affairs was resolved.
When Oly requested me once more the place the headphones had been I let him know that they had been on their manner. I pleaded with the boat crew to ship the coast guard forward to satisfy the bottom crew, make the personnel swap and return with the bag.
My luck was in! The coastguard sped off into the space and I used to be lastly in a position to breathe. Oly was changing into involved and stated that if he needed to proceed to take heed to the voices in his head he was going to swim up the seaside and get out the water. Little did he know that there was no seaside, simply cliff faces at this level. I didn’t have the guts to inform him.
When the coast guard got here into view, the reduction was astounding. They pulled in tight and handed me the bag. We additionally had provides from the bottom crew that made it a heck of loads simpler to get meals into Oly too. And there they had been, the almighty music machine. As soon as I used to be in a position to present Oly along with his leisure I used to be completely thrilled. It undoubtedly supplied him with a a lot wanted enhance at this late stage within the swim.
Exhaustion
There’s being drained, and there’s the form of exhaustion I used to be feeling at hour 30 one thing. Because of the poor meals plan and upset abdomen, I used to be completely depleted. I had barely something left within the tank. The brand new meals provides did give me some gentle reduction however I used to be so drained, all I needed to do was sleep. I’m fairly positive that I stored swimming whereas having micro naps within the closing stretch. One eye was closed for a good period of time within the final leg, inflicting a stye to look within the days after the swim.
All I stored pondering on this state was how naive I had been and the way a lot larger this swim was than me. Who do I believe I’m, doubling my longest ever swim time and having a restricted coaching schedule? However…there was no manner I wasn’t attending to the end line. If my coronary heart was nonetheless beating, the swim was getting completed. The faces of everybody who supported us stored flashing by my thoughts, the college youngsters, the sponsors, my household and all of the assist crew. I wasn’t going to place them by all of this then to not end. I needed to do it, for them and for the state of the oceans. My mission remained robust even when my physique began to crumble.
Seeing the end line
This sounds prefer it ought to be in amongst the excessive factors of the swim nevertheless it was probably the most tough. We had been nonetheless round 7 or 8 miles from the end line when it first got here into view. There was an inexpensive headwind that led the kayak assist to waft into my path a couple of occasions. This led to me being continually shocked by the shark shields which isn’t splendid once you’re coping with full physique ache and a mind that’s shedding the plot.
In these moments I used to be so exhausted that I used to be in a position to fabricate hallucinations. I used to be in a position to put my head beneath water with every stroke and resolve what my assist kayaker was carrying. He had a guitar, a mexican hat, an enormous moustache and a trumpet, all created by the facility of exhaustion. I used to be so able to sleep, I had sufficient, it was all simply an excessive amount of, but we nonetheless had one other couple of hours to go. After we lastly received to the end line, the reduction wasn’t simply felt by me. Each member of that staff was so prepared for it to be over.
Afterdrop!
Once I say afterdrop, I’m not referring to the drop in temperature open water swimmers can expertise after getting out of the water, (though I did expertise this to a sure diploma) one of these afterdrop lasted far longer. The elation after the swim was one of the crucial highly effective emotions I’ve personally ever skilled, nevertheless it was additionally comparatively quick lived. I skilled an analogous drop in temper and basic sense that I lacked goal after the final large swims so I knew it was coming, I assume I hoped it wouldn’t nevertheless it arrived and with vengeance!
I’ve all the time been fairly open about my emotions and psychological well being (though I’m typically not nice at expressing it) and I’m not ashamed to confess I battle at occasions. Swimming for me, as I’ve beforehand talked about, is my medication, it calms my thoughts and provides me focus. The issue is as with all medicines, in case you over use them they’ll have unwanted effects. I assume actually what I’m referring to once I say afterdrop is melancholy. The weeks after the swim, I dropped right into a stoop, using a excessive for thus lengthy and having such a goal and within the blink of an eye fixed it was accomplished. As soon as the preliminary elevation subsided, I struggled, like actually struggled. I used to be in probably the most lovely nation, being handled like a hero, surrounded by probably the most unimaginable folks you could possibly probably wish to be with and performing some wonderful issues, studying to scuba dive and experiencing what was or ought to have been the time of my life. In some ways it was however trying again I’m undecided I used to be current, I used to be in some way distant and empty. I believe it was partly exhaustion from placing my sick ready physique by the trauma of a 37hr swim and half an absence of goal. For round 6 months all the pieces was Grand Swim, I ate, slept and breathed it. I’m an all or nothing form of man and I used to be giving this all the pieces, then all of a sudden it was accomplished, what now?
Flying again to the Uk didn’t change my temper and I spent many weeks fighting a sense of lethargy and slept an terrible lot, I truly placed on 10kgs within the 2 months after the swim, my shoulder harm meant I wasn’t coaching almost as a lot and I believe meals was a type of consolation. If I’m trustworthy I believe I used my shoulder as an excuse to not prepare…
I’m happy to say I’m feeling a lot significantly better, stronger and as soon as once more have the drive and fervour I had going into the swim. I’ve even received my sights set on subsequent yr’s problem!
I wish to say a large thanks to my ever supportive fiance Tess, who totally helps me and is aware of that with these highs comes the lows. Love you TESS and I’m sorry I put you thru all of it.
