Congratulations to Nick Adams for completing his 17th solo swim of the English Channel.
Setting off at 7:13am on Tuesday 3 August 2021, Nick arrived in France in Eleven hours and 35 minutes.
Nick Adams on completion of his 17th English Channel solo swim
High tide was at 7:55am and only 5:18m, and it was possibly the smallest tide of the year.
Nick’s swim started at 07:13 from Shakespeare Beach, and he started alongside fellow Serpentine swimmers who were doing a relay swim to France. The relay team included Angela Barson, Paul Weller, Toby Stevenson, Ali Stevenson and Rob Ouldcott. And it was Rob Ouldcott who had the pleasure of swimming along with Nick for the first hour.
Nick Adams at Shakespeare Beach Dover for start of English Channel solo swim
It took Nick three hours exactly to reach the South West shipping lane, and it was then, that the sun finally and kindly put in a warm appearance for the swimmer and the crew.
Nick was swimming with ‘Gallivant’ the escort boat piloted by Lance Oram. His support team included kind calm friends Stu Bowman, Beren and Graham.
They also had the home-made extras of an amazing Malteser cake made by young Chloe Adams, and in true Winnie the Poo style, Stu had brought some honey sandwiches; now there's a story in the making.
View from Gallivant piloted by Lance Oram
Beautiful day
Steady progress from English waters towards shipping lanes
Even time for tea pot handle impersonations
And they were all half way through the separation zone by 6 hours - Nick from Dover, and the support crew subtantially separated from the Malteser cake.
AT ONE STAGE NICK COULD HAVE BEEN HEADING FOR AN IRISH SHIPPING LANE
On entering the North East shopping lane, the hero gave a thumbs up from the water, perhaps because he was thinking of getting some duty free for the homeward leg.
Swim swim swim
The tension at home was unbearable for many
Are we there yet
But in reality, nothing great is easy, and as Nick progressed, the waters started to chop up a little, but true to form, he just got on with it.
French waters
And despite the low tide, the wind was doing something strange, pushing them down the channel. This added a bit of time to his swim, but surely it is all about reaching France and not trying to set a ‘record’.
France very much in sight
1 6 August 1993 14:12 [hours and minutes, England to France unless stated]
2 15 August 1994 10:51 (France to England)
3,4 23 July 1995 11:40 (England to France, first leg of a two-way swim) 3,4 23 July 1995 15:48 (France to England, double solo)
5 31 July 2001 12:05
6 14 July 2009 13:03
7 25 July 2011 10:22
8 24 July 2012 12:34
9 14 July 2013 12:16
10 5 Aug 2014 in 12:10:00
11 8 Aug 2015 in 14:16:00
12 14 July 2016 10:00 and 15 seconds
13 13 August 2017 in 12:56:00
14 25 July 2018 in 12:27
15 25 July 2019 in 12:58
16 17 July 2020 in 12:04
17 3 August 2021 in 11 hours and 35 minutes
[John Tierney]
Nick Adams route to France 3 August 2021
Tracker courtesy of Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation and website Boris Mavra from Riskpoint