Eighteen months ago I couldn't swim, writes Charlie Masding. Ok, I could do breast-stroke, but mainly heads-up and for a chat. Hang around the Serpentine Swimming Club long enough, and, before long, you are wanting to get more out of being both in the water and surrounded by the most inspirational yet down-to-earth bunch of people I've ever known.
My own swim journey is documented in a short piece I wrote for a website associated with a rival swim club (shh!) earlier in the summer, but aside from learning to swim front crawl, it has also been important to me to embrace the whole community of long-distance swimming and to be part of the team that can help make a swim successful.
Crewing on long-distance swims has none of the glamour of a successful finish, nor the drive of wanting to come back and attempt a previously unsuccessful challenge. It can be nearly as miserable as being in the water and there is little opportunity for down-time. Yet if the sun is shining it can also be a wonderful day out on the water with a sense of pride that the swimmer you are supporting is coming ever closer to achieving their dreams.
Crewing is very practical and it helps to know your swimmer beforehand, although much can be learnt on the day if necessary.
My own experience extends to crewing on Windermere and Zurich, and also to observing in the English Channel (another fantastic way to get experience and to support the swimming community.) There are many other swims out there and I am very much a novice in all of this, but eager to inspire others to get involved too. I wanted to crew to get experience for an upcoming EC relay (hopefully a few days away as I write this) and am now thinking about a Zurich relay too...something that wasn't even on the cards before!
A good crew will support a swimmer both morally and logistically. You could be crewing on a small rowing boat, a slightly larger fishing-style vessel or anything in-between. Know what your swimmer's feeding schedule is, what the feeds are, how the equipment works, what the rules of the swim are. Learn what you need to say to your swimmer to keep them slogging on and their stroke rate up. Take anti-seasickness pills, keep warm and / or wear sunscreen and make sure you eat and drink enough yourself: you need to look after yourself to look after a swimmer. Practise feeds in advance if possible, and be as familiar as you can be with what you are doing because your swimmer will really, really appreciate it, especially when they are reaching a very cold and miserable place and know they have to just keep going.
At the end of the swim they will tell you they couldn't have done it without you, and it's true. Your name won't appear on a medal or a certificate, but the sense of pride you will feel will be enormous. Your swimmer will always acknowledge the support you have given and, since this sport is all about giving back, will, at some point, do the same for you.
*See: http://fitandabel.com/swimming/charlies-story/