Hi!  My swim was tough, but I think that the soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq put forth that same effort daily while serving our country.  And those who come back injured, like Jeremy Feldbusch, continue to exert that effort in their daily lives, almost  like swimming the EC two ways everyday :)   To see this for yourself, I encourage you to watch the documentary “Home Front” about Jeremy.  You can either buy it online or rent it on NetFlix.  I hope that my swim raises both awareness and more funds for the Wounded Warrior Project.  Please click on the tab above to donate.

Above is the GPS route of my 07-13-08 EC swim recorded by my pilot Eric Hartley with the CSA.  Eric.  What to say about Eric.  He is the best, really.  That’s it.  If you swim the EC, book Eric.  Simple as that.  He knows the water.  He knows swimmers.  He is behind the swimmer 100%.  And same goes for his first mate Lee - my hero!

My mom’s blog in the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

www.timesfreepress.com  blogs  first person

or

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/jul/14/swimming-english-channel-mission-accomplished/

Events as they unfolded:

Arrived at the Folkestone harbor at 5:45 am. Met Eric and official observer and boarded the Pathfinder at 6:00 am.  It was a clear day and you could see the outline of France from the White Cliffs.

Jumped at 6:45am.  Felt really strong and took it easy the first several hours (based on everyone’s suggestion).  Held a stroke rate at around 55 spm when my normal is 60.   I couldn’t really see France from the water unless I did breaststroke to ride to the top of the wave and see it from the crest, so I threw i few breast stoke pulls and kicks in there too, but that’s why they call it freestyle...

Not much to report until hour 3, when I barfed, a lot.  Probably from all of the antibiotics I have been taking for my spider bite.  And yes, there are recluse spiders in the Bay Area.  My Mom was barfing from the boat too.  But she got better.  The rest of my family had no problems with the rocking.  Fed well at 3.5 hours to replace.

At 6 hours I started fading a little, and my stroke rate continued to fall throughout the rest of the swim, but I was still efficient in pulling water and moving forward.  When I was swimming, I never once thought that I wouldn’t or couldn’t make it.  I just kept swimming.  Determination I guess is what I felt.  It masked everything.  The cold, the distance, the time in the water.  None of that mattered.  I was swimming to France!  I am so happy I felt not one little twinge of pain in my left shoulder or hip flexor.  No cramps, no muscle aches, no injuries during swim.  My massages from Sue and Laurel and my JMU shoulder series workout worked to keep my shoulders strong and prevent injury.  I’ve never had a shoulder injury! 

France grew bigger and more crisp.  My pilot primed me perfectly for a beach landing.   I wasn’t eating too much towards the end and I was fading mentally.  The cold must have crept in because I forgot for a second what I was doing out there, but then it came back to me.  It was unfamiliar out there without the landmarks of the SF Bay.  My Mom noticed my eyes glazing over during the last hour, but the observer was satisfied that I could answer questions and respond to his instruction to swim closer to the boat or move away from the boat.  And I was still moving forward with each stroke.

So far so good.  The drama comes in the very last moments of the event when I actually reached the sandy beach in France.  I swam until the sea became so shallow that I couldn’t swim anymore.  I tried to stand up to walk a few feet to the beach to clear the water, but I fainted.  I hadn’t stood up in 12.5 hours!  Hank said that it appeared I was in 4-6 inches of water.  When I fell, I tried to stand up again and I fainted again and collapsed to my hands and knees in a few inches of water right next to the beach.  Lee, the first mate, came out in a small motor boat to escort me from the beach back to the Pathfinder.  I was unaware that he or the boat were there near me.  It appears in a photo that I was looking at Lee, but I didn’t “see” him.  Weird!  He later said that he came right behind me and was yelling for me to crawl to the beach.  But I didn’t hear him.  Maybe ear plugs?  Maybe I was incoherent.  Probably both.  I think if he would have blown an air horn or a whistle  that I would have snapped out of it.  Kinda like in Indiana Jones II when Short Stop puts the flame on possessed Indie’s back to bring him out of it.  Anyway, when I was not responding to him and fainted the second time, Lee was scared and made the decision to retrieve me.  I  was later told by everyone (including Lee) that Lee picked me up and carried me on his shoulder, wrapped me in towels, and laid me down in the small boat and drove over to the Pathfinder.  Then Lee picked me up out of the little boat and lifted me to the people on the big boat.  I was dead weight.  My mom then wrapped me in blankets she and my aunt dressed me.  I have no recollection of any of this, except for a little bit of my mom and aunt dressing me.   I really blacked out! 

I woke up maybe 20 minutes later all warm and cozy in my mom’s arms and next to my pilot on the trip back to the Harbor.  I saw the gps swim trace on the screen.  I saw that I made it and felt relieved!   And then my mom told me what had been taking place in coherency world.  I didn’t completely clear the water.  And, I was touched before I cleared the water.  But I did stand up and swam until I ran out of water.  And my GPS route clearly shows a completed swim.  And the Coast Guard and my pilot said it was a completed swim.  So, to DQ or not DQ?  That night the answer was to DQ.

No tears.  A rule is a rule.  We had few words.  We were tired.  We got home at midnight.  I couldn’t sleep.  Felt it wasn’t right.  What is a couple of feet when I had swam 26 nautical miles?  I gave it my all, so I had no tears or remorse.  But a little anxiety.

So the next morning at 9:00am (this morning), I got a call from my observer who said that he had discussed the events of my swim with the President of the organization, the pilots, the other observers, etc, etc, and they all agreed that my swim should be recognized as an official crossing!  Phew!  My family cheered as I relayed the information.    My observer said he and my pilot were “over the moon” that it ended up this way.  Me too.

Today I feel a little sore and tired, but that’s it.  And hungry.  I ate 2 bags of potato chips.  I want more.  Chips are so good!   And I do not have sea tongue.  I took Johnathan’s Maier’s advice and rinsed at every feeding - with water first 5 hours and with dilute mouth wash after that.  No swelling no sloughing!  It really worked!  You can see a pic of me feeding with the bucket and pole method (Eric had his boat equipped with this).  My cap said Feldbusch WWP on one side and SERC on the other.  Now check out my cap tan - bottom of page!

the end.

P.S. I still kinda want to go for it again.  I really think I can do it in 10 hours.  Maybe next channel i will not arrive sick and with a fresh brown recluse spider bite!