During the summer I taught a 12 week course, hosted by Classrooms Without Walls, called “The Adventures of Marathon Martin and Friends” to 35 Afghan women and girls. The title of one of the lessons was “Climbing Everest – One Stair at a time,” and I shared with them the story of virtually climbing Mount Everest. I did this with my wife Sue, daughter Kristina and grandson Nathan. Every day, for 95 days, we climbed 14 sets of stairs for a total of 11,600 feet, the elevation from Base Camp to the Summit. I then asked the students for ideas for a virtual challenge they would like to do and 14-year-old Sophia suggested a virtual swim of the English Channel.
This was a challenge I could not resist.
On October 16th I started "The Great Virtual English Channel Swim." The goal was to swim from Shakespeare Beach in England to Cap Gris Nez in France, a total of 34 km. The plan was to complete 2 km a day at the SLS Centre pool in Cochrane, and I arrived at Cap Gris-Nez in France on November 17th. However, I have to tell you it was not all plain sailing.
Now, I hear you saying: "What is so difficult about doing lengths is a swimming pool verses the sea?”
I agree there are challenges in the sea: jellyfish, seaweed, hypothermia, sharks. But there are also challenges in the pool: too many swimmers in a lane, getting pulled out for a swim-a-cise class, and leg cramps. Just out of interest it took me just over 18 hours of swimming to complete the swim. The Guinness World Record for the crossing (male) is 6 hours 57 mins 50 secs set by Petar Stoychev in August 24th 2007. This is one record I will not be going after.
Here is the swim by numbers:
Real Location: Spray Lake Centre Pool, Cochrane, Alberta
Virtual Start: Shakespeare Beach, England at 6.12 a.m. Monday October 16th
Virtual Finish: Cap Gris-Nez, France at 7.38 a.m. Friday November 17th
Distance: 34 km
Swim time: 18 hours 07 mins 48 sec
Laps: 1,360
Strokes: 20,400
After I finished I celebrated and went to Guy's boulangerie for a decaff Americano and an au paine chocolate. So, time to pick the next virtual swimming goal.....any thoughts?
© 2023 Martin Parnell
