Update on work in Nepal

Hi All,

Just thought I'd give an update on where your money went, especially for those donating to the Nepal Educaiton project via Mondochallenge.

The library and roof are almost finished now and look great! (See photos below) Work on the computer lab should start soon, now that big Dashain festival in Nepal (a bit like Christmas) is over. Also, we raised so much more than we expected, that we're going to be able to build another library for another needy school, and perhaps some other projects, will keep you posted.

Ram says: "furnitures for the Patan Niketan library are ready and we have put them in library...Please do find enclosed photos of 3 book shelves, 4 benches and 1 big tables. They all really looks great. Due to the Dashain festival, we couldn't put the books at the library which we will do as soon as the Dashain festival finish..... Chaukot school: we have finished the renovation of the class rooms, changing ceilings, seperating class rooms, plastering class room walls and fixing the floor with concretes and cements. We are now plastering on outface of the class rooms..."

So thanks once again for being so generous!
Michael


[The Classroom before at Chaukot]

[Plastering the walls]


[More plastering]

[The new library furniture in Patan]

[The headmistress of Patan school in the library]

We Did It!

In the early hours of this morning we hit the French coast near Wissard, just past Cap Gris-Nez.

We started out at 10am west of Shakespeare Beach Saturday morning and completed the crossing in a very respectable 14 hours, 11 minutes and 30 seconds.

There's lots to tell about swimming in the dark, jellyfish stings, sea sickness and just general sickness, big waves, small waves, ferries and more.

We did it as a team and people swam their legs with style, with bravery, with super human-efforts and in the face of illness and adversity - however they needed to do it, when their turn came, to get the team across.

The pictures, videos and stories will appear here in due course.

Big thanks to all our sponsors, friends and family who helped us with our training, motivation, and with the words and messages that kept us going yesterday.

Channel conquered!


Click here to see out route:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=51.02153,1.5271&spn=0.366268,0.85968&t=h&z=10&msid=111830722398376078093.000455aaaf09592793ff3

T minus 24 hours

Well, we think the day's finally come. Tomorrow that is.

After lots of weather delays, we heard from our pilot last night, that we should gear up for Saturday morning. We still need to double check tonight, but it's looking increasingly certain.

Because of the tides and going so late in the week, we won't actually set off until about 10am. That means we'll definitely be doing a significant chunk of the swim in the dark and we'll all have a leg in the darkness. Those of us mocking Jen and Kerry about having to swim off into the scary dark before the sun was up are slightly less smug about it now.

Uncertainty continues...

We were all set up and ready to go for Wednesday or Thursday this week, but it's all change now.

The weather is getting worse, but is due to clear Thurs or Fri and there are still two teams to go before us. That means it's looking increasingly likely we won't go til next weekend - unless we take a big risk and go on Wednesday anyway, but it'll be pretty choppy and rough. There's not much appetite for that in the team.

Mixed News

We went down to Dover yesterday, as we'd heard we wouldn't be swimming until Tuesday at the very earliest.

We did between 1.5 and 2 hours for a first swim and some of us did a second swim of varying lengths. The harbour was flat calm and the sun shining. It didn't help for me - I'm just bored of swimming in that harbour now!

We got some news from our boat today and it was quite sobering. Of the six teams that attempted it yesterday, two failed. Yesterday was supposed to be the best day of the week for the weather as well.

There's not any extra preparation we can do at this stage, so it's a case of waiting until we get the call and tackling whatever we find on the day.

The Latest Word...

Potentially we could have been swimming as early as tomorrow (Sat) or the day after.
But we've just got word that it's more likley to be Wednesday or Thursday.

I was set up for doing it earlier that that but I'm pleased we've got a bit more time - it lets Chris recover from a nightmare week at work, lets me recover from a dodgy shoulder for a bit longer and not doing it on a bank holiday weekend helps the logistics quite a bit.

So a few more days of waiting yet...

Final Run-in

It's been quiet on the blog front because we've been super busy in advance of our swim - not because nothing's been happening!

Michael, Jen, Kerry and I spent a week in the Scilly Isles on Swim Trek having a great time and doing some swimming too. Water out there was considerably chillier than the south coast, so it should be good training for the bits in the middle of channel. There were many highlights of the week - not least Michael being bitten on the backside by a seal (no, seriously he was). To swim in water that was clear, where you could see the bottom and even the hand at the end of your arm, felt great compared to the usual boggyness of Dover.

Since then, Michael's gone on holiday to Canada, but we've received word from him that he's training in some very cold water now.

We've had two further sea swims - the first I couldn't make, but Kerry, Jen and Tom made our last trip to Dover week before last.

On Saturday, Kerry, Tom, Chris and me headed down to Brighton, for a change and a shorter train journey. The weather was rough and even entering the water against the surf proved a bit of a challenge. But we stuck it out and had a slow, if hard training sessions. When we got out the lifeguards were showing a red flag, warning people not to enter the water. We all felt suitably tough.

This is our final week and it'll be mostly taken up with logistics I reckon - sorting out food, boats trains, glowsticks etc.

Ratifying - a very long swim

Last weekend at Dover was our 'ratifying swim' - this is the time in the water you have to do before you attempt the crossing. Well, not quite, that doesn't come in as a rule til next year, but it's currently the unofficial standard for whether you're up to the task.

Six weeks ago in a pub by London bridge, we decided that the 26th was going to be our date to do this.

The recommended aim is a two hour swim, followed by an hour's break, followed by another hour in the water - although, this can be altered depending where you've got up to and what standard you started from.

The good news is that everyone made their targets. The bad news is that it hurt (well for me at least and I'm sure I wasn't alone). Michael and I ended up falling into an informal race over the first two hours. That meant we really pushed ourselves - definitely a good thing. But by the time the second swim came round, it was sore just to swim at a decent pace. I think Michael may have fared better - managing to go a bit further on that second hour.

We also bothered to track our distance this time. In my two hours I covered 3.49 miles and in my second swim 1.76 miles.

So working our our speed, a (very) roughly averaged team speed is 1.62mph. That means if we swim in exactly a straight line, don't get caught in the tides, have excellent weather conditions, enjoy good water temperatures and don't tire as we go on, we'll cross the channel in a really speedy 13 hours.

I'm just thinking of the best case scenario here - the worst case scenario is a rumour of one team who took 25 hours!

Who says channel swimming is all hard work?

I say this because we have just spent a really nice weekend in Bournemouth, swimming, sun bathing, chilling out and having some beers.

We signed up for the British Heart Foundation Bournemouth Pier-to-Pier swim, so we decided to make a weekend of it, by going up Saturday and camping there.


Kerry and Jen deserve a very special mention - acting as our tour guides for this mini-break. They went from London to Wiltshire, picked up tents, sleeping bags and everything we needed, got to Bournemouth, pitched everyone's tents and then met us on the beach for midday ready to swim. Amazing!


We swam from Bournemouth to Boscombe pier and back (4,600m) and then a bit more to take us up to two hours on Saturday. The conditions were OK, but they were rough coming back and the waves slowed us down - except Michael, who was on super-human form this weekend.

On Sunday, the race was only one way and it was really fun, with 1200 other swimmers, a calm day and a really warm sun. We even got a medal for our efforts! I felt especially tough, just wading in with my shorts with all these other wimpy triathletes in their fancy wetsuits. Wimps!


On Sunday, there were family visits for Jen and Kerry, and Gerry took some photos for us:

Team shot on beach - note Pier in background and a lot of other swimmers.

It only took Jen and Kerry 36 minutes to finish the race - very speedy

Tom, Michael and Chris finish to rapturous applause.

I'm clearly very proud of my medal.

New Video!

Here's the video of our first trip to Dover, edited by Michael.

It doesn't have any footage of us swimming, because there was no one on the shore for us that time. But there's plenty of footage of us shivering!

Brighton for a Change

Unable to make Saturday's swim in Dover, I combined a day out in Brighton with a swim between the piers.

I didn't have time for two swims, so planned to do two hours, which I thought was a lot (until I heard Michael and Chris did a total of 3 1/2 hours on Saturday!).

It was choppy, but the sun was out and warm and it made all the difference. I went between the piers about 5 1/2 times in my two hours, and probably could have gone on, but I was too bored by then, plugging away on my own. I don't know how solo swimmers manage all that time on their own - it must be so dull.

I didn't have the camaraderie of the Dover trips with team mates, other swimmers, Freda and her helpers. But the Brighton lifeguards are very friendly and came out on their canoes to say hi and have a chat about the weather, training and water conditions. They also helpfully pointed out I'd strayed into the jet skiing area and was liable to get my head knocked off. As I said, nice people.

Jellyfish and floaters

Chris and I went for a two man trip to Dover. Conditions were worse than normal, a little choppy, grey skies, just stopped raining, and visibility in the water was awful. Even with my fancy goggles I couldn't see past my elbow.

As we approached the harbour wall, this lack of visibility proved to be a good thing. My arm brushed against something slimy, but solid. I stopped swimming, and saw Chris stop a second later.

"Did you feel that...?"
"Yeah..."
"Eurgh"

We're not sure what it was, but I think it's better that way...

Michael

Laying Down the Hundreds

No Dover swim to report from last weekend - a mixture of engineering works on the trains and bad weather meant we didn't manage to get down to the coast.

But since Jen, Kerry and me got some more preparation advice from Freda, we've all been hitting the pools again.

Most of us noticed that when we moved from lots of pool swimming, to more lido and sea swimming we lost some of our fitness. The stamina increased, but when we went back to our programmes for the pool, we'd all slipped back a bit.

So we've been focusing on getting out of breath with interval training again. Freda's tip was to do lots of sets of 100m, trying to cut down on the time you give yourself to do each one. This was what Gerry started us off with when he wrote up our programmes for the pool.

I'm currently aiming for 20 sets of 100m, with each set being completed in 1 min 45 secs. I can almost do it. It means being able to do it in 35 mins. Today I managed it in just under 36mins, so just one more minute to peel off.

Doing just 100s gets boring and repetitive, so once I've done that, I think I'll go back to Gerry's programmes for some variety.

"Localised Bobblyness"

This is the technical term for the water conditions we faced on Saturday. Well, we were trying to think positively about the waves we saw crashing against the shore from the train window as we pulled into Dover.

I assured everyone it would be entirely different in the harbour - and it was: flat as a mill pond as long as you were within 10 metres of the wall. Kerry's post below describes the rest of the 1190m between the dock walls pretty well...

Seriously slow going at some points and as for breathing bi-laterally, breathing any way was enough of a challenge.

On the up side - it was very sunny and warm!

Sunburt Saturday!

As for Saturday... how shall we sum this up guys???? Cyclone Saturday? Salmon swimming training? Sea sickness Saturday? Slime on face Saturday? Sunburn Saturday?

I guess you get the picture. It was eventful. Toughest water conditions have ever swum in which was both scary and exhausting. Felt like one stroke forward and 2 metres back! We estimate the waves were 2 metres high at points. We had trouble with breathing (waves seemed to hit me straight in the face everytime I needed air) and seeing (looking left, right or ahead all I could see was a wall of water). We we absolutely amazing troopers though and did 80 mins followed by 75 mins. Well done us!

See some of you on Sunday! I really hope it is calmer!

I managed to work this blog thing!!

Wow,

So my technologically backward brain has finally managed to work out this blog! How exciting! I don't have much to say other than I think I need to get my speed up as I don't fancy the idea of four one hour swims on the day! To do this I am planning at least two morning lido sessions a week of about half an hour at high speed, will be asking Gerry for help with the programme and keeping up with the evening Lido/ Dover swims too! Ah- what fun!

At the moment the teams main problem appears to be balancing work and swimming, along with trying to get the time off to do the swim- difficult when the tides mean that we don't really know exactly when it is! I have been negotiating today and think I have achieved my goal!

Our team meeting on Wed was an amusing affair- with the Chairman (Mike) desperately trying to keep order- I think he did well considering the number of pints etc that were consumed!!

Anyway- I will be contributing more from now on if this works so I will try to think of witty things to say!

Killer Stingray!

While reading "The London Lite" on the tube to the lido I was horrified to see that a killer stingray has been sighted off the English coast. Thankfully not the south coast but these things can swim so we need to keep our eyes peeled!

Kerry's View - Fourth Dip at Dover

This time it was a 5.30am start to get the 7am train to Dover! Ooowww!

5 of us headed down this weekend being myself, Jen, Tom, Tony and Mike. I in particular was not in the mood for this at all (maybe as I'd just got back from a 2 week holiday in Cuba where I'd got used to swimming in the Caribbean).

We arrived at the beach just after 9 to interrupt Freda's first cuppa of the day (we were not in the good books). We were instructed to swim for an hour. I was very worried after having to get out early two weeks earlier due to what I can only describe as "feeling like someone might like to start mining for salt in my mouth". The nausea this caused for painful and I didn't want the same to happen this week.

We managed our swim but conditions were tough (very rough and windy very salty although the temperature was bearable at around 14 degrees) and there were some casualties on the way. Dizziness from Jen which forced an early departure. And vomiting from Tom which caused a stir on the beach. These two casualties only highlighted the still ever challenging task we were up against and the difficulties our bodies had to overcome. In true fighter style the two casualties were back in the water for a second swim just 90 minutes later and both excelled in doing the full challenge set by Freda.

It takes quite some guts to get back into water that has caused dizziness, nausea and vomiting so good job guys! I'm sure it's this kind of perseverance that pays off in the end.

Tony had an excellent swim as well doing 2 one hour swims (a big jump up from his previous 40 minute swim). Mike did a good 1 hour swim to start with and then was excused by Freda for a second swim who sent him off to "have fun" at Clare Foster's wedding. Mike we hate you for leaving us alone for our second swim. But Freda is God to us so if she says it's ok then it is!

So what we learnt this week: - How to dodge waves. - That Freda is always right and we must do exactly as she says! - That we're a pretty hard core team. - That Freda will send crying swimmers back into the ocean (we saw it happen to a solo swimmer with our own eyes). Mental note - no excuse will get past this woman!

With just 10 weeks to go training is going to pick up. Big team meeting on Wednesday to discuss! We'll keep you all posted!

Ciao for now. Kerry xxxxxxx

Third Trip to Dover

For the third trip to Dover, only four of us could make it. Chris was away and I was on holiday too. So Tom, Michael, Kerry and Jen braved the cold.

Gerry (Kerry's Dad and a proper swimming coach) came along to, so I'll leave him to explain how it went. As for him never having seen people shake so much - Gerry's yet to see me in action!

"Four of the swimmers ( Mike, Tom, Jen and Kerry)attended the Dover training session on Saturday 31 May. They were joined by Kerry's Mum and Dad, Diana and Gerry) who offered encouragement, hot drinks and took some photos and videos.
The swimmers were set the challenge of swimming two one hour sessions, by Freda The Dover Channel Swimming Coach. The air temperature was about 20'but the water temperature was only 13'. The first session was good with Jen and Kerry managing to do the full hour and Mike and Tom managing about 55 minutes. The hard part is getting warm when you get out and the challenge of getting clothes on and having a hot drink is almost beyond the swimmers. It really does make sense to have someone there to help with the dressing process and to pour hot drinks. However, very little of the hot drinks actually get swallowed and I have never seen people shake so much that most of the drink ends up on the floor. The Mars bars did go down well and it is important to both eat and drink before getting back into the water.The next challenge was getting back into the water and all 4 swimmers managed about 30 minutes. This is good for this stage of training.
Gerry had an interesting experience when the first person he met on the beach was someone from his home town in Northern Ireland. Jim Boucher has swum the channel twice, once as part of a team and once in a solo swim.He managed a 3 hour training session. He was pink when he got in the water and blue when he got out. Something for the team to look forward to.
Overall the team of Tom, Mike, Jen and Kerry were very impressive in technique, endurance and perseverance. This bodes well for a successful swim."

Gerry also took pics of the team in hats and hoods:

Marathon Monday

I'm only just blogging Monday night's training session because I've only just warmed up from it.

Well not quite, but Jen, Kerry, Tom and I had a bit of a gruelling Monday evening.

We arrived at Hampstead Lido for 6:45pm with the water and air temperature both at 15 degrees. Pah! Nothing we thought - the channel was 12 degrees at the weekend.

We got stuck in, with some of us doing up to 70 minutes. It was definitely chilling down quickly towards the end of our session, but we didn't quite realise that we'd over done it until we got out.

Jen was so cold she went to bed at 10 still freezing, shivering and wearing ski-gear. Kerry hobbled to the tube with the shakes so bad she couldn't keep her shoes on. And frankly, I'm gutted I missed that bit because it sounds hilarious.

I chose that night to go for my medical which I needed to send to the official Channel swimming people. Noticing I was shaking somewhat the Doc took my temperature and to my surprise, and certainly his, he found it was too low to register on his electronic thermometer. I had to sit there wearing a duvet and a hat while I warmed up. We finally got a reading of 34 degrees. Three degrees below normal and consistent with 'stage two' hypothermia. After some rigorous questioning of how long I would be in the sea and at what temperature, he passed me fit.

Amusing in retrospect, but perhaps we should be a bit better prepared even for lido swimming sessions after work.

Jen's Spot

Here's Jen telling us how she's felt about the Channel swimming so far. I, like her, hold booze responsible for signing up to this madness:

"The main reaction when I tell people I am swimming the channel has been- ‘you know you can fly/ get a ferry/ train there don’t you Jen?’ Usually shortly followed by; ‘but you can wear a wetsuit so it wont be that bad, will it?’ The response that no we can’t wear a wetsuit for it to be a legitimate attempt, is often shortly followed by ‘you are mental’ or words to that effect!

Waking up at 6.20am on a miserable Saturday morning I was definitely in agreement. I had had to leave the party at 11.30 the night before (turning down free drinks) because of this and I did not want to go to Dover. Once again I silently cursed Mike for suggesting this Channel swimming malarkey, and myself for (admittedly after a few drinks), thinking it sounded like a fantastic idea and proclaiming (no doubt quite loudly and enthusiastically) sign me up!!

Anyway, I made my hot chocolate, met the guys at Charing Cross Station and we made our way (on the 7.30am train) to Dover. We arrived to grey skies and a mild drizzle, not really the sort of weather that makes you want to strip down to your swimming cossie (or Trunks) and go for a swim. Freda (the matriarch who oversees the proceedings) set us our challenge, which was a lot further than we had swum the previous time (a fortnight ago), and given that Kerry and I started to wonder if we would die out there the last time, we were a little hesitant. However fresh from our adventures in the Lido we set off!

It is a little scary when you are cold before you get in the water, and the breathlessness created by the shock of the cold water (12 degrees) does restrict our swimming ability! This combined with the waves on this particular day made it heavy going. Everyone has different reactions to the cold water, for me it’s my hands, they sort of cramp up and I end up swimming along trying to clench and unclench them as I swim- ineffective at best! When we get out we can’t walk because of the effects of the cold water (after 40 minutes in there) on our bodies, we then have to wrap ourselves up in as many layers as is humanly possible and try to stay warm. Normally we would be required to get back in the water, but thankfully as these were ‘The worst conditions you will face’ Freda decided it would be reckless for us to get in again!

So…looking forward to the next swim as it can only get better from here can’t it?"

Crisis over, it's freezing again

Just in case you were all worrying what we'd do with the shockingly warm 20 degree water, I can assure you it's ok, it was back down to a brain numbing cold of 14-15 degrees today.

I was the only person in the lido for the best part of 65 min swim. I knew I'd got my moneys worth when I had the familiar sensation of having bags of ice attached to the bottom of my calves instead of feet. It's quite hard to walk on bags of ice.

But, I stayed in 5 minutes longer than last time, so on the inside, I was doing victory laps and handstands.

Live Action in Dover

We went to Dover for the second time this weekend.


This time we weren't greeted with a sunny spring day - but with wind and rain and a dive in temperatures. We did it anyway - and each swum for between 35 and 45 minutes.


We were accompanied this time by my charming and beautiful girlfriend Ally, who got some live action shots of us.

Just looking at them now makes me feel cold.

Here's the vid of us taking the plunge!

Now the water's too hot!

Now that we've had a spell of warm weather, Hampstead Lido is now about 20 degrees.

Rubbish for cold water training!

We're off to Dover again this weekend and a few of us went to Hampstead on Monday to get us back used to the cold water. But 20 degrees is no use for that, when the channel will be 11 or 12 at the weekend. In fact, on a hot and sticky day the water was lovely. I didn't even shiver at all.

Now, why aren't there any properly chilled pools in London?

Cold Water!

We've recently started our cold water training - and however good we thought we were in the pool, it was a different story in the sea and the lido.

We had our first dip in the cold water a week before we were due to try it out in the sea. We joined some ducks in Hampstead Lido and managed about 20 minutes at about 14 degrees. We didn't do a lot of swimming, but quite a lot of talking about how tough we were being in such cold water.

Looking back, it wasn't much of a trial before the sea. First weekend in May we headed down to Dover with all this year's Channel swimmers for our first go in the sea. The water was a chillier 10 degrees, and wavy and salty with no ropes or sides. We had two swims of about 25 mins each and had just about enough of a break between the two for me to stop shivering (this tends to take about two hours after a dip in cold water and provides my team mates with no end of amusement).

I found the first swim pretty tough, even tougher than I thought it would be. But for some reason found the second one a lot easier and could have gone on for longer. I got into a good rhythm and before I knew it I'd reached the turn around point.

We recovered after the swim by heading to a pub, sitting in the sunshine and making a dent in their Magners stock. And we definitely deserved it too!


Check out the photos:




Check out how many clothes the man on the left is wearing!

For some reason, there weren't many other people swimming in Hampstead Lido on a cold and rainy April day.

Jen and Kerry team-up to warm-up after the swim. See the sea wall in the background? That's where we'd just swum to.



Tom unpacks a hypothermia blanket.

Well earned and warming cup of tea from my newly bought thermos.

Group Training

We're all going for our first group training session tomorrow.
We're being accompanied by Gerry Robson (Kerry's Dad and a proper swimming coach) so we'll definitely be put through our paces.

Hopefully Gerry will be able to help us with our technique. I have an image of myself suddenly being able to fly through the water with new found efficiency once my stroke is corrected. However, I suspect it may be a tad harder than that.

It'll also be quite hard cos I've just spent 10 days on holiday drinking too much and eating too much. That's going to be my excuse anyway.

London Fields Lido

I went for my first outside session this morning in Hackney Lido.

It's the only lido in London that's heated apparently. The water was at 22 degrees, so colder than a normal pool, but a fair bit warmer than the Channel.

The most unpleasant thing was the air temperature - which was 7 degree and provided a really good incentive not to stand around resting too much at the ends.

I definitely like the 50 metre lengths of a lido better. I found I got into a far more sustainable rhythm than a normal pool, which feels really stop-start in comparison. There's also lots of really good swimmers there, so I felt a good bit of indirect peer pressure to try to look good and go faster.

In short, I recommend it.

Monday Training Session

Somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed early enough to get some swimming in before work.

I managed 15 x 100m @ 2 mins (well, not quite. I took a sneaky longer-than-I-should-have break at the tenth set and slipped quite a lot after that).
Then did the drills and stuff from the week 3 programme - 3 x 75m (Kick-drill-full stroke)

Blog what sessions you manage to fit in this week.

Blogging the Channel

On Friday night, in a curry house on Brick Lane we decided to blog our swimming efforts. We felt the need that more people should know about our hungover training sessions, days at work with water in your ears so you can't hear anything and our fury with old women doing breaststroke to keep their hair dry who don't get out of the bloody way.

Basically, all the general stuff that's going to make swimming the Channel difficult.

One of the things that really caught my imagination (read: inspired real fear) was the descriptions of swimming through stinging jelly fish shoals that choose to hang out between England and France.

That's why I was delighted to hear that this year will see record jelly fish blooms in Europe because of a mild winter: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/29/spain.conservation

Anyone got any tips for warding off jelly fish?