Hi all,
Thank you all so much for your kind wishes ahead of the swim and congratulations after. Knowing I am being thought of, helps keep me on track throughout.
Making the call to go was hard as the weather suggested it was swimable but not the beautiful flat day I really wanted. However, if I did not go, it is unlikely I would get to go on my tide which would mean a lot more waiting and uncertainty. The weather was forecast to get worse on Saturday but the window was me-sized.
The conditions lived up to expectations. There were patches where it felt like I was being tossed about like a leaf ,wondering how much longer I could realistically manage but the majority of it was swimable and I could feel currents underneath pushing me along.
There was also wildlife! The jellyfish appeared in ones and twos early on and I got a few initial stings but at some point we hit fields of the critters (fun fact : collective term for jellyfish is smack or fluther). Most of these were jellyfish which don't sting, they just nudge against you but lurking amongst them where the long tentacles of the stinging variety and there was little I could do except keep going. Particular mention goes to the one that got my entire face. It actually wasn't the worst but it took me by surprise to swim face first into a jellyfish! I stopped counting stinging encounters at 10.
There was definitely more of a mental aspect to this swim as well. I had been warned and was unsure how it would feel to start all over again. I felt calm going in but in the first few hours, I did question why I was putting myself and my crew thought it all again. I had no good answer, just told myself that it would be very embarrassing to get out after 3 hours so I should at least stay in a little longer before revisiting the question.
All that makes it sound like I was miserable for a very long time but that's not true. I really enjoyed the start in the glorious sunshine and the transition from light to dark. I enjoyed the first few hours in the dark. I even kind of liked the non-stinging jellyfish which kept bumping into me. The sunrise was beautiful, mostly because it signalled a massive lift as I entered the final phase of the swim and, in all honesty, one of the main reasons for doing it again is that nothing beats the feeling of standing up on French soil and realising you've actually made it to the other side.
Obviously a massive thank you to my excellent crew of Mike, my mother and my father who were fantastic as always. We also lucky to have a new crew member Michael Ventre onboard who was super keen and enthusiastic throughout and has some exciting plans which you might hear of soon.
I swam alongside Suva for a very long time and I was really happy to have such a solid pilot in Neil Streeter and his crew.
I was lucky to have Kevin Murphy as an observer so all in all I felt I was in very good hands as I entered the water.
Thank you all for your support before, during and after the swim. I appreciated it all and it helps keep me going when my head goes off into places it shouldn't.
Hopefully see you some of you next weekend for Rosie's 1 mile and 1 metre race. Deirdre
