Aborted for safety reasons by the pilot
My intention and longtime dream was to make my 3rd English Channel swim into a Peace-Triathlon from Dover via Calais and Brussels to Heidelberg, dedicating it to Peace and World Harmony by connecting countries not too long ago at war, through swimming, biking and running – uniting, instead of dividing.
The weather for our tide was very windy and our last chance (we were slot no 2) was to swim on the last day of our neap tide window. With strong tidal currents plus a westerly wind, and later the wind picking up against the turning tide, the swim was called by the pilot for safety reasons after 7h 45 min – not even half way.
We started around 7:40 am from Samphire Hoe, in balmy 18°C water and crispy air into a sunny day and everything seemed promising. Especially with such a great support crew: Oceans Seven swimmer Abhejali from Czech Republic and Zurich lake helper Edwige from France.The swells were there, but from the side, so no big trouble. 
Except that I kept being pushed towards the boat or rather the boat towards me, even more so in the short feeding breaks, as I was swimming on its left and the wind and current were pushing the boat from the West. After less than 8 hours of swimming, just about to enter the seperation zone in the middle of the Channel which separates the NW and SE shipping lanes, the wind started to pick up to F5/F6 and the change of tides meant wind against increasingly stronger currents and bigger swells. This would make feeding quite dangerous and retrieving the swimmer back to the boat in case of emergency very risky, especially with a swim which would continue for quite a few hours into the night. And saftety was a top priority after a swimmer had died again in the Channel the year before.
Five more channel boats out of 11 also turned round that day (one experienced helper writing it was the worst conditions out in the Channel she had ever experienced), and 2 more pulled their swimmers a few hours later, not reaching France. An expensive “training swim” with lots of “dancing in the waves”, but nothing to regret. The Channel is the Channel and this is open water swimming, and safety comes first. But I will be back in Dover – and hopefully finish my EC-triathlon project Dover-Heidelberg still in this incarnation! 🙂
Even Captain Matthew Webb (first English Channel swimmer, with his famous statue below) was unable to help! So – see you again at some point! The dream continues….
Short video from the pilot boat: https://www.youtube.com/live/MErp61Rl_-Y
O seeker,
Never allow frustration
To clip your aspiration-heart-wings./ Never allow anyone
To clip the silver wings
Of your golden dreams.– Sri Chinmoy
August 2024
My 10th Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich in the books (26 km, in 12:20 h)
Pfoto: Women Masters (over 50): Tita Llorens Bagur (Spain) 1st place in 9 h 31, Kate Mason, GB, 2nd in 11 h 47, and myself 3rd in 12 h 20.
After the sad “wipe-out” in 2023 due to horrible weather and storm everyone was happy the 36th edition of our Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich went ahead in so much better conditions. 25°C water, mix of sunny and overcast – good for helpers and swimmers alike. Just a challenging head wind on the final stretch to make it quite difficult for rowers to keep up! Still not easy, especially for salt water swimmers used to more buoyancy. I was lucky the weather allowed to extend the 12 hour cut-off at the end, so I was able to finish my 10th Lake Zürich swim officially in 12 hours 20 min. – yeah!!!
(In the early years slower swimmers were allowed to start 1 hour early, but I did not want that. The cut-off is mainly for safety reasons and flexible if the weather stays calm and the swimmer is still strong.) Our team member Andrea Marcato, who is running the 3100 mile race in N.Y. for the 5th time again this year (after 4 wins!) also swam Lake Zurich – his 5th finish!
Results and photos from August 4, 2024 here:
https://ch.srichinmoyraces.org/z%C3%BCrichsee-schwimmen-marathon-swim/previous-results/2024#node-75385
or here: https://eurgallery.srichinmoyraces.org/Ch/36-Int-Sri-Chinmoy-Marathon-Schwimmen-2024
My swim report from 2022 is pretty much still valid for 2024 – with a nice interview with Andrea at the end: https://ch.srichinmoyraces.org/files/ch/result-pdfs/2022/Race%20Report%202022%20by%20Vasanti%20Niemz.pdf
Updates Cork DIstance Weeks 2022 / 2023 /2024 missing
Swim Camp Jersey Mai 2024
Training Bretagne July 2024