Below is a copy of an article written by Serps’ member Sean Kelly on the late, great Jon Erikson. Sean is Cameron’s Dad, and Duff & Jesse’s brother and wrote the piece for Opus magazine when he lived in California in 1980. Lucky Sean to have been a contemporary of Jon Erikson, who was an extraordinarily accomplished marathon swimmer.
Conquering the Channel
By Sean Kelly
A force seven gale is blowing as Jon Erikson reluctantly abandons swimming in response to pleas from his trainer and pilot. He has been swimming steadily in worsening weather for 21 hours having already completed the England to France crossing in 10 hours. (Channel Swimming Association log final entry, August 31, 1980.)
A long, arduous and fruitless summer has ended in Erikson’s failure to achieve his self-imposed quest.
Erikson used to play Little League Baseball until he was 10 years old, but he has put a lot of water between himself and those memories of 16 years ago.
The husky, Nordic-featured blond from Chicago is now one of the world's best long distance swimmers and attempting to become the first person to swim the English Channel three ways a distance of 66 miles or more.
Erikson, a junior high physical education teacher, has had considerable marathon swimming experience. He attempted his first channel swim at the age of 13, but failed. The following year he became the youngest boy to make the crossing at that time.
In 1975 Erikson established a world record, double crossing (England- France-England) in 30 hours, breaking his father's record 10 years earlier by 10 minutes. Four years later, in another thwarted three-way attempt, he broke the men's record for (England to France) swimming the distance in eight hours and 38 minutes. On the return leg, he bettered his own men's double record with a time of 22 hours and 16 minutes.
Most channel attempts begin from Shakespeare Beach in Dover, England, because it is the closest point of crossing between England and France. Once in the water a channel swimmer’s troubles really begin. Erikson, in his eight completed channel crossings has had to deal with the full complement of this sort including cramps, seasickness, jellyfish stings, variable weather and tides and even supertankers.
They say in the Channel Swimming Association rules that a swimmer has the right of way," he mocked. "But who's going to argue when it takes seven miles to stop one of those freighters? So a couple of times on my two-way (crossings), we had to turn back a quarter of a mile."
While swimming, Erikson takes food once an hour and, like many of his contemporaries, he will take food that is high in protein. Prepared by his trainer, Rosemary George (a former channel swimmer herself), these mixtures include coffee, soup and tea mixed with glucose.
For Erikson psychology plays the major part in any swim of a great distance.
The whole trick is to try to keep your mind off the actual swim," he said. ”It’s very hard to psyche yourself up for some 30 hours, so if you cankeep your mind off actually what you're doing then the body keeps going. CSA rules state the swimmer must clear the water unaided to complete the swim - an almost impossible task for a swimmer beyond exhaustion who lands in a rocky area. For a two- or three-way attempt the rules state that the swimmer must clear the water unaided and then walk back into the channel ankle-deep water where they have 10 minutes rest time. The reason they did that (make the swimmer return to ankle depth water) they said, is that they don't want people running a half mile down the beach to get a better vantage point,” Erikson said. ”Personally, I feel that if someone is in good enough shape to run 10 minutes down the beach, let ’em."
Swimming across the English Channel is an expensive proposition. Financial sponsorship is difficult to obtain. The cost of hiring a knowledgeable pilot and boat for each single crossing is over $1,200 and rising each year. In addition there is also a CSA fee for providing a qualified accompanying observer to validate the swim. Finally the cost of room, board and traveling fare should be enough to deter all but the seriously determined. However, every year sees a few extrovert publicity seekers making such zany attempts as tying together their wrists and ankles, or towing a dory. They never finish the crossing.
Despite the numerous attempts to emulate Captain Matthew Webb who first swam the channel over a century ago, only some 200 persons have been successful in crossing the channel. Only five men and one woman have accomplished a double crossing.
For most swimmers, completing a single crossing is the apex of their hopes. For Erikson only the triple will fulfill his ambition. Beaten by the unpredictable and insurmountable weather for the second season in a row, he feels the disappointment of having let down all those who helped him through the arduous training and preparations. Despite the doubts and frustrations, the challenge remains and Erikson hopes to be able to return again next summer when the weather is best.
The strength, endurance and determination for this gruelling feat are all there. Only the weather is in question, but that's what swimming the channel is all about.
More details regarding Jon's extraordinary swimming achievements are contained at this link
A link to other news on Serpentine SC about Jon is here
