Swim the Channel

This programme contains strong language

You have to understand before you start

that the sea will always win.

It's very hard to look after someone

that wants to put their lives into danger.

Off you go!

We do give a warning out with Channel swimming

that it will change you.

My swimmers coming up this year are a mixed bag.

-I work on the basis that they all tell lies.

-They tell lies!

THEY LAUGH

The swimmers need something to do and something to pull them together

to guide them, so they all meet in Dover on Saturday and Sunday

from the 1st of May through to the end of season.

You're in there to swim and to push it,

not to have a talk, not to stand up just because you can.

That's not part of the training at all.

Freda is on the beach there,

and she does the training, along with Barrie and Irene,

who all sort of gel together

and spend all their time dedicated to feeding people, to help them.

Have you all booked in?

You all booked in with Irene?

Come on, let's have your numbers, girls and boys.

I'm more hands on, and Irene's more on the paperwork side,

which works well with us two.

If there's nobody down there with the board, give it to us at the top.

We must know you're out.

Have you all given your numbers to us?

We're going to alter the course a little bit for you now,

because we've got sailing boats...

'I've been training Channel swimmers for about 34 years now.

'I really don't know why I do it.

'It takes every weekend of mine from May to September.

'But I really, really love helping people achieve their dreams.'

OK, is everyone ready for greasing?

Jack. Jack!

'I started off with three, and we now end up with something like

'130, 140 swimmers.'

She's my mum.

What have I done wrong this time?

Bobbing, chatting,

-too long in the water.

-And a pink hat.

-And the pink hat.

But other than that it was a good session!

THEY LAUGH

We've been in for just over an hour.

Probably swam about 500 yards.

HE LAUGHS

We spent most of the time trying to dunk each other under the water.

You're shivering, aren't you?

But you're holding it in so no-one sees.

You're weak! You're weak!

Some of these people are good friends,

and it's just nice to be back with everybody.

-What are you doing this year?

-Round Jersey.

Oh, you're with Charlie, are you?

-Yeah.

-That's lovely, that is, nice little swim.

Swimming is an individual thing, but in the Channel

they have to become a part of the ship with the pilot.

It's something that is now becoming a habit,

is to find the next most dangerous thing that nobody else has done.

It's the requirement people have these days to push their limits

and push the limits because of the pressures of life around them.

They're doing it for their achievement,

but I'm doing it to pitch myself against the tides,

the weather, the conditions and the day.

It's our job to stay clear of the traffic.

We're the hedgehog crossing the motorway.

If the swim's successful, it's down to the swimmer.

If it's a failure, it's the pilot's fault.

GULLS SQUAWK

'My last Channel swim was...

'It was either four, or I think it was five years ago now.'

Oh, you're joking!

What is this?

'And that's the main reason I want to do it again this year,

'is cos I want to prove to myself that I can still do it.'

It's not actually that difficult.

-What, to swim the Channel?

-Yeah.

'My occupation during the week is I'm a barrister's clerk.'

It's for a poxy little firm up north that you're never going to work for again,

so don't worry about it. Cheers, bye.

'Work gets in the way of training, obviously,

'because quite a lot of the time we might be

'out socialising in the evenings.

'Basically in the pub when I probably should be training.

'But it's a good life, I enjoy it.'

You could make a few quid by doing seminars to immigrants

and showing them how to get over here.

HE LAUGHS

Dover is completely different.

It's completely separate from the rest of my life.

A lot of them down there just think I'm a cocky little Essex boy

who doesn't give a shit, but I do.

I certainly don't want to fail.

I'll be gutted if I don't make it.

-When was your last solo?

-Five years ago.

Muscle memory.

Got a good memory?

Muscle memory.

Got best muscle memory in the world, ever.

When you breathe, move your whole body.

Off you go, Sam.

Sprinting!

'Some people think I've lost it.

'They think I haven't got what it takes any more,

'so it's as much about proving it to them as about proving it to myself.'

-So, when are you going to stop drinking?

-I'm not.

THEY CHUCKLE

A week before, a month before?

I'll try the night before.

You're not as young as you used to be, mate.

Trying to say I'm getting old and fat?

TRAIN WHISTLES

ANNOUNCER: Christchurch, Pokesdown for Boscombe, Bournemouth,

Poole, Hamworthy, Holton Heath, Wareham...

I literally woke up one morning in the US

where I was working at a big business, I woke up

and suddenly thought, "What does it take to swim the Channel?

"What's the logistics involved in it?"

So I did a little bit of research, and from that point on I thought,

"That's what I'm going to do."

I work in London, so I have to get up at 4:30 on a Monday morning

and head down to London.

Tuesday involves getting up 5:30,

going for an hour's swim

in the cold water, which over the winter period,

the lowest temperature I've been swimming in has been six degrees,

so that's been cold.

Because I'm landlocked,

I'm doing as much as I physically can

within the time I'm allowed between work and family life.

I think it is going to have a greater impact

the closer it gets to the swim.

It's been a massive challenge, the swimming.

I've known Al for maybe 16, 17 years,

and I've never known him like he's been this year.

I've seen a completely different side to him.

I joined the Army shortly after I was 18.

At that point in my life, I was extremely rebellious.

I'd fallen out with my father, mostly through my own fault.

When I joined the Army,

they literally gave me everything I need -

food, education, clothing, and certainly some discipline,

so it certainly worked out.

I've not done anything of this size before.

In the military they always train you.

"You're going to train harder than war,

"and if we ever go to war, you'll find it quite easy."

And that's the mentality they put into whatever training you do.

Be interesting to find out how cold that is.

It can't be 12 degrees yet,

I wouldn't have thought. I don't know.

Everybody looks upon the pilot as just being the pilot,

but to me, the swim is mine

and the swimmer is just my third engine.

I have a lot of things in life,

but one of them is not a will to persecute myself

to prove something.

I'm aware of the dangers,

and that's the thing that swimmers don't understand.

They've never quite reached the limit

where they actually realise

that they've gone over the top.

They just dream.

Kevin Murphy - he's the greatest endurance swimmer ever known.

I'm known as King of the English Channel,

and I swam the Channel 34 times.

I was the tubby little kid who couldn't play football very well

and couldn't run as fast, perhaps, as other little kids,

and then I found that I could swim.

Suddenly, the boy who's been down the pecking order

has found his niche.

I could be better than all the other kids.

I wanted to be better. I wanted to be the best.

-ARCHIVE FOOTAGE:

-What I want to do is a 3-way swim.

That's the triple - from England, France,

and back to England,

and then back to France again.

Last year I got within six miles,

and I'm ready to swim myself into unconsciousness

in order to do that swim.

What really means something to me is being the male record-holder.

It grates on me a lot that I'm not the overall record-holder,

because Alison is way out in front there.

I've got the title Queen of the Channel, cos basically I've done it

more times than any other woman,

but I've also done it more times than any other man as well,

so I am the overall record-holder,

but they haven't got a title for that.

When my daughter first said to us that she wanted to swim the Channel,

she was about seven years old.

And that was it. You know, then she swam the Channel,

and we thought that would be it.

Big mistake.

I think out of the 43 crosses,

I've only missed two.

She's not human.

I reckon she's been built in a laboratory.

I used to go through so, so many emotions out there

that you ended up a wreck at the end of it,

but we also got to a stage where we actually got incredibly close.

But I certainly was on her epic 3-way,

and that was something else.

34 hours, 40 minutes in total.

Was a pretty amazing feat.

To actually witness something like that,

and I know it's my own daughter -

to actually witness something like that is pretty damn amazing.

She didn't like being in the limelight, and that sounds strange.

She did all those mad things,

but she didn't actually like being in the limelight.

Oh, it's brilliant. Have you seen his hat?

I've got my trunks on as well.

I've sort of established a role

as the grand old man of Channel swimming.

Somebody asked me how many times

have I swum up and down Dover Harbour,

and it must be hundreds, thousands.

And now, all of a sudden, I'm just sort of playing at it.

I'm the secretary of the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation.

I'm sort of a gatekeeper.

I administer the process of registration

for getting people into the Channel.

It's been enormously frustrating

that I'm injured now.

Upsetting.

I still have this dream that I can.

I still have this dream I will.

You touch that other shore, it lives with you.

You are forever a Channel swimmer.

And people come along and say,

"Oh, you're nothing, you can't do this, you can't do that."

But you can think to yourself, "I know how good I am."

All those records that Kevin Murphy holds,

they're all defunct. They're all non-records.

They don't count any more.

15 years ago, you'd be able to ring up a pilot and say,

"I want to swim next week," and they'd take you.

These days you have to book it a year in advance.

Back then it was, like, 400 quid. Now it's two and a half grand.

I've always said, if you give me quarter of a million pounds,

I will become the King of the Channel. Not a problem.

I will swim the Channel 50 times over the next five years, ten years.

I'll do it eight or nine times a year, not a problem.

My name is Evelyn Frantzeskou,

and this is my husband, David,

and we live in Capel-le-Ferne, Folkestone.

And we've been here for nearly 17 years.

We look after the Channel swimmers.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

And we just help them.

-And they look after us.

-And they look after us.

We're Mum and Dad to them.

When there's a whole crowd of them here,

it's just wonderful, cos everyone's chat, chat, chat,

and it's just lovely.

Just going to go and swim the Channel.

We all knew Captain Webb was the first man to swim the Channel,

but everybody sort of forgets about the Channel.

-ARCHIVE FOOTAGE:

-Next day was Britain's turn,

with Dover anxiously scanning the horizon

for a sight of 18-year-old Philip Mickman, Yorkshire schoolboy.

His easy, tireless stroke keeps him going to the last second

of his 23 hours, 18 minutes crossing.

I can remember back in the '50s

when the Butlins and the Daily Mail race,

but then you heard nothing.

Never got publicised.

Because no-one did anything for Channel swimming,

I decided that we'd put a little plaque up for our swimmers

if they did it.

Gave them a bit of motivation.

They'd look - "I want to be on the wall, I want to be on the wall."

That's their dream, though.

But when they don't make it, it's a bit like a funeral.

-Yeah.

-It's worse. It is, really.

Because they're grieving. They've lost their dream.

It's always different.

You never know what's going to happen.

Cloud's moving in, look. Mist coming over the top.

Come on, Martin, you might get lost in that fog.

I wish people would sort of begin to understand

that this beach is mine, and if they're not swimming with us,

go and swim off of that beach or that beach,

and stop coming here and confusing us.

Come on, this is the final one.

-Really?

-Yep.

-All right.

-This is it, this is it.

-I'll just do it this one time.

We've got Martin, who's got to do a two-hour qualifying swim for a relay.

-That's the problem I get.

-Ah, yeah.

Come on, now, you're going to slide through the water.

He's tried and tried and tried, and a lot of it is in his mind.

He's not really as cold as he thinks he is,

and he's finding it impossible to stay in.

Go!

Right, go, go, go.

Wheeey!

Good enough swimmer,

but he just can't get it into his head that...

he can do it. It's just...

So we're sending in an army to surround him

to stop him getting out. HE LAUGHS

-SHE SINGS:

-When it's time to have a bite, unzip a banana...

I hate wearing these things.

Suits you, though.

Yeah. Matches my eyes.

Last one. Last big one.

We had a jug of Pimm's last night. Not a good idea.

Yeah, well, it ain't Pimm's o'clock now, is it?

Come on, get going!

-Don't go right to the end. Only this side of the groyne.

-OK.

We can't see you.

'It just gets to you, you know. It's just...

'We say, "Oh, we're going to pack it in, pack it in,"

'and then we think, "And what are we going to do?"'

See you in an hour. Don't be late this time.

Late?!

I know I play bowls a lot,

but you know, this is just something entirely different,

and it's just once you're on that beach,

no matter what the weather is, it's just...

It just gets to you.

People say, "Why do you do it?"

Cos I enjoy it.

I live down by...

Right down by the docks along Snargate Street.

All down there was my playground, you know, round the harbour.

But they always had a rowing boat alongside the swimmer.

My father used to be one of the rowers.

I think that was harder than swimming, I would say.

They used to grease themselves up with that goose fat

from head to foot, and they had a job to walk.

It was heavy, and it done them no good at all.

FOGHORN BLARES

WHISTLE

Oi!

WHISTLE

Bloody hell!

In. In. Time to get in!

It's getting too dangerous, you know.

The foghorns are going out there.

FOGHORN BLARES

FOGHORN BLARES

WHISTLE

HE GRUNTS

WHISTLE

WHISTLE

Oi!

WHISTLE

Another one!

Yeah, it's starting to lift now.

THUNDER

Oh, to be in England now that summer's here!

How about that?

I'm slightly reluctant to go down to Dover.

Everyone's going on about going down to Dover

and meet up with the big community there.

But as far as local community goes,

I've very much stuck to doing it solo.

Like with the feeding -

it's so individual what a body can take,

what you like to eat, what's going to be good for you.

All these things you're only going to find out through experience,

not by asking someone else.

Harry would have been eight in October this year.

He actually died in my arms at ten months old.

I'm not a natural swimmer at all.

I hadn't swum any further than 2km.

I think I'D done that once or twice prior to this event.

I'm hoping the fact that I've trained for so long

and that I'm doing this in memory of Harry

will take me that little bit further.

Well, you know what they say about Channel swimming, don't you?

No.

From the outside looking in, it's hard to understand,

and from the inside looking out, it's hard to explain.

LAUGHTER

-Put your hearing aid in.

-Aye, aye.

-Is he going?

-Yeah, he's going to turn up.

-Oh, good for him.

I'm going to have a look.

So... And I've got Georgie on standby

if we don't go,

cos I don't think there's a big enough gap

to move him back till tomorrow.

Mm. I recorded the BBC weather but it didn't tell you anything, really.

-No, they...

-Warm front on Wednesday.

-PHONE RINGS

Oh, no. Bloody hell, thought I'd finished with him.

I reckon we're going.

I reckon we're going. I'll go down and move the boat over and...

He's not going to stop until he dies.

He doesn't need any motivating at all.

The last thing he needs is somebody to motivate him.

As Angie says, I'm an Aries.

I know I'm just perfect.

HE CHUCKLES

PHONE RINGS

-Hello?

-Hi, Mike, it's Georgie.

Hi, Georgie. Yeah.

I'm just ringing to see...

HE LAUGHS

I don't know what's going to happen, girl, so...

I haven't got a clue at the moment.

It looks as if the weather's going to close in,

so it doesn't look like... But the forecast is changing.

We have two questions we ask. One is, "Are you healthy?"

And the other one is, "Are you on any medication?"

Because a lot of people say, "Yes, I'm healthy.

"I'm on 16 pills a day for high blood pressure,

"for diabetes and everything else, but it's all controlled."

THROUGH PHONE: ..sort out what sort of conditions you can swim in,

cos I don't think you're used to that much

in the way of roughness, are you?

I can remember I was in school. It was...

We had a lesson, and it was RS or something,

and they were asking us what we wanted to do over the next year

and I just went, "Oh, I'm going to train to swim the Channel."

I just said it.

It wasn't anything I'd thought through.

I had no idea what it entailed.

I've been swimming for a very long time.

Ten years with the same club.

And I'm never going to get to the Olympics or anything,

so I really want something to show for the time I've spent training.

I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was nine.

I don't think it's something that defines me or anything.

I don't think it's something I have to go out of my way to explain to people.

It's cold!

This is the biggest thing I'm ever going to do.

I'm not going to do anything bigger.

-You're...

-Georgina.

-Georgina.

-Yeah.

OK, I'm Freda. That's Irene, that's Barrie, this is Emma.

Lovely to meet you, darling.

-This is Georgina. What number?

-11.

-Well, that's easy to write.

-LAUGHTER

Look. OK, I know they say it's going to be warm.

We've got to prevent injuries, most important.

Most important. Take it easy.

An hour in there now with no walking, no chatting,

but looking out for one another. Where's Georgina?

-Where's Georgie?

-There.

Right, you're going to be swimming with somebody, yeah?

Don't follow me down!

Go on, go on.

When are we going to get your flip-flops, then?

-WOMAN:

-I think she feels she needs to do things because she is diabetic

and she wants to show that she can do what anybody else can do.

It took time to get used to.

I had to inject her to start off

with because she was only nine so she couldn't do it herself.

It was a shock but you have to deal with it.

You couldn't let Georgie see that it was a shock.

I am going to be petrified.

Can you put your hat back on, please?

I'm like a cracked record here.

-How long will it take you to get there? The swim.

-12 hours.

I want to do it in 12 hours.

Maybe not... I'm not saying I will do it in 12 hours,

but that's my aim, more than, like....

I think you're, like, inspirational.

-To all the young kids...

-Do you?!

LAUGHTER

I do.

Hiya. Swimming the English Channel. Collecting money for Acorns. Swim to France.

Thank you.

-Been training for a year. Believe it or not, that is me.

-Really?

-Yep.

Only when I show people the tattoo, they believe it's me.

I've had to grow my hair, grow a beard.

Sacrifice about a year's worth of training.

Hiya. Collecting money for Acorns.

Swimming the English Channel. In memory of my son.

I think my chocolate's melting.

I haven't swum in the sea for more than two and a half hours at one stretch.

This is going to be my longest sea swim.

I'm hoping for around six hours.

I'm purely focused on this.

I'm looking forward to coming out the other end, whatever the result is.

I can then begin to remember who my family are and they can remember who I am.

For the first six to eight months, this was very much a solo event.

Now relying on Ali to a greater degree

and needing help with the feeding.

It's becoming very much a team event.

I'm pleased to be involved and just pushing him and just...

trying to encourage him to carry on and keep going.

It's quite... He should be admired for doing it.

He's given me full permission to abuse him as much as possible

to get back in the water and just carry on.

But I think this is make or break day.

I think once he gets this under his belt,

I reckon he can do the Channel.

It doesn't look so bad from here.

-Eh?

-It doesn't look so bad from here.

That's not swimming any more. All I'm doing is flailing about,

splashing, trying to stop myself swallowing half the ocean

and trying to get some forward traction.

Do you want that or a drink?

It's rougher out there than it looks from here.

-Are you happy with what you're done?

-I am happy what I've done, yeah.

It's just no longer a quality swim.

-All I'm doing is battling.

-Yeah, but is the Channel going to be any different?

I don't know. I've done 3 hours, 20.

I've swum in a lot worse.

I wasn't scared, I wasn't afraid.

It was just getting...

It plays on your mind where you don't feel you're

getting anywhere. You're fighting, you're battling.

I may well have that in the Channel but that wasn't why I came down here.

I wasn't in the right mind-set to deal with that today.

You're not going to stop my swimmers swimming, are you? They're going to swim for two hours.

Would I ever, ever stop anyone swimming?

Yes, every bloody time you get in there, you stop the idiots.

-Pet?

-No, I'm fine.

Kev? Kev?

Ask him what he's playing at, please.

I take exception to that.

-That is just taking the Mick out of us.

-It is.

That is taking the Mick out of us.

Mike! Mike!

Swim, will you? For Christ's sake.

I don't like to overtrain.

Especially at this point of the season, you could really hurt yourself.

I'm going to kill that bastard when he gets out this time.

There will be no Channel swim at all.

On a scale of one to ten, how angry is she?

When Mike gets out, nobody is talking to him.

We're going to send him to Coventry, OK?

All of us.

Look at it this way, you know, we offer him training.

We sit here for nothing and you get

a talented swimmer who that just takes the piss out of it.

We are sitting here and he is taking the Mick, isn't he?

-HE SNORES

-I'll tell you what...

I'm fast getting to the stage where

I think this is going to be my last season. I can't cope with this. All

I can tell you is that

the forecast for tomorrow is 4-5 increasing 6.

That goes through to 1800,

that's 1800 tonight to 1800 tomorrow night.

Get yourself ready to go just in case.

7:30.

PHONE RINGS

Everybody is in panic mode at the moment.

Hello, what can I do for thee, sir?

They are forecasting the sea to be moderate,

which, to a swimmer, means it's going to be lumpy.

It won't be flat, it won't be ironed and there will be a sea to contend with out there.

It looks like it's going to be one of those seasons.

When they go swimming, they may not come back for two or three days.

They do a swim, go back to Dover, sleep on the boat, take the next one.

It's not a case of coming home every night,

so I had to be here to feed the cats and answer the phone.

Bye. Have fun.

Yep, don't lock the middle door.

I might be back!

Tatty-bye.

I like the loneliness of the sea.

I like the night watch.

I like being there at two o'clock and three o'clock in the morning

in the dark with the moon and the stars

and nothing around me except the wind and the air.

Just one of those trawlers.

People can justify what they do very, very easily, mentally.

They can give themselves the answers, mentally, that says they're capable.

But all they are doing is lying to themselves.

Anything I should know?

-No?

-Only I think she's diabetic, I think.

I know she's diabetic, yeah...

How many six-hour swims have you done?

-Two.

-So two sixes and a five.

That's it?

'The number of swimmers that will not swim more than six hours

'two or three times in their training,

'if they do it more than once, is amazing.

This is a 12, 14-hour swim.

I realise that.

You've only done six hours, you don't know where your limits are.

So I've got to sort out her limits as I go.

I don't muck about with it at all.

If I think if there's any danger, that's it, finished.

You seem a bit apprehensive.

I'm a little bit, but...

-It's nerves.

-I'll be all right.

Well, it's an achievement.

I'm sure you'll do it. You look determined enough.

I don't think it's ever a good idea to have a mother or father on a boat with a child.

Having said that, I was always on a boat with Alison.

Port Control, Gallivant.

'Gallivant to Control.'

Between north and south, sir. Like to get nor-western, please.

INDISTINCT REPLY

You could actually tell whether their parents should be on the boat with them or not.

Just give them all the advice you can, stay away.

Right, bring her down.

Off you go, girl.

-Come on, girl.

-Jump in now?

-Yeah.

You'll be fine. Great.

We're here.

Pilots have full control over the swim.

The pilot can stop the swim at any time.

They can die.

They can suffer serious injury.

ALARM BLARES

Sometimes ego can drive you to the ridiculous.

OK, this is it. 13 months of hard work.

Time to start to really focus.

No time now to start reflecting on what could have been done differently

at any point during any of it.

None of that will do you any favours now.

You've got to put those doubts away and leave them on the beach.

-Got an egg!

-Wow!

Physically you can do it. The only thing that will let you down is your mental state if you try

to rush it. Just take it slowly.

One stroke at the time.

No more swimming after this.

Just get your head down and do it.

This is the big one.

Remember, this is for Harry.

Quite surprised cos she still looks as if she's enjoying it.

You're going to have a few problems when she comes out, though,

cos she's going to be a changed person.

Well, that will be interesting.

It affects them all.

-Keep going!

-All right, Georgie!

The beach, come on.

The beach, get in there.

-Come on! Here it is!

-Come on, Georgie!

ALARM BLARES

A memorable swim is a trust that says,

"If you think I can do it, it's well out of my league

"but I will carry on because you think I can do it."

Georgie, your official time was 12:22.

-Thank you.

-Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Good evening, sir. Reporting in.

We've completed our swim and we're now returning to Dover.

Everything is OK. Thank you for looking after us, sir.

'Roger, sir. Thank you very much.

'I wish you a nice crossing back to Dover. Out.'

I went to the White Horse the other day.

I saw my name on the wall and the dates when I'd swum the Channel.

The plan was never to do more than one Channel swim, but I did.

I carried on because I love it.

This is my thing. This is what I do.

We can take you any time, that's not a problem.

-Are you going to get wet again?

-No, I'm going to go and eat some chicken.

I thought you were going to do another six hours.

No, you're all right. I might be swimming later on.

You're getting away lightly.

Keep her posted. That'll do me.

'Initially approached both elder sons Sean and Connor.'

It doesn't mean they fit me.

'Connor agreed he would help me out.'

Well, this is the real test of character, isn't it?

I know I've done other things before where I haven't given up,

like the cycle ride, which was a big challenge.

I think it'll be...

The pilot on the boat will say, "No, I don't think you can carry on."

Or it'll be the weather. I don't think it will be you who makes a

decision to stop.

As far as other people are concerned, it's, "Did you do it or not?"

-Which is one of the huge things.

-I don't think everyone will feel like that, though.

-Not everyone. I will.

-Yes, I know you will.

-I will.

-You've got a full-time job and you're a dad.

-And this.

-And a husband!

And a husband, yeah!

-Where have you been for the last 14 months?

-Swimming.

-Yes!

'Low 200 miles south of Iceland

'960 drifting slowly east and filling.'

Morning, gorgeous.

New seats, lovely.

-See you in France.

-Good luck, cuz!

Good luck!

Some people massively overtrain.

Swimming the Channel is something you should enjoy doing.

Good luck!

-HORN TOOTS

-Go!

You should do it because you like it and you enjoy it,

not because you should have to work really hard at it.

I know without a shadow of a doubt, I will never be asked to be an ambassador for the sport.

If anybody asks me, "Shall I swim the Channel?"

I would say, "Don't even think about it."

If you had a love for swimming, chances are it will beat it out of you.

If you have a love for cold water,

then probably something you need to go and see a doctor about.

I'm pretty scared right now.

Scared of the unknown. I don't even know what I'm scared of,

but pretty scared.

Dover Coastguard, Connemara. Good morning, sir.

Just to inform you we have commenced our swim from Samphire, Hove.

Charlie, Sierra, Alpha, 072.

Nine persons on board, over.

'Received.'

-Oh, my God!

-What?

-One of them purple-blue jellyfish.

They're dangerous, them fuckers.

Put your goggles on and let's go.

-What about if I start having chest pains. Then can I get out?

-No!

-It was worth a try.

-You can try as much as you like. You ain't getting out. Bloody swim!

What about if I start doing that?

Fucking swim, you idiot.

-I've got the hump now.

-Good. Get going.

-No sympathy.

Stroke rate went down a little bit again.

He got up to about 52 and then he's down to 47 again.

Do you reckon he's going to stay at this all the time or is that it?

-Is that sort of his speed?

-One gear.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

INAUDIBLE

It's just gone high tide now.

So we're going to get a bit of slack water for an hour and then it's

going to start trotting the other way.

It's going to drag us back down where we've come, more or less.

-Won't it?

-That's what we don't want.

We were unfortunate to have the last three years.

We had Paraic Casey and Susan Taylor staying with us.

They both died within all but a week of a year between them.

That sort of thing...

That was awful.

-Awful.

-That's the worst.

Awful thing.

The poor pilot. It was awful.

A lovely girl and he was a lovely man.

He was waiting and waiting and then he got the call.

He was over the moon.

Off he went, as happy as a light...

and never came back.

It's awful.

Fuck!

..straight into that fu...!

HOOTER BLASTS

Goggles on, let's go! Come on!

-Lost my fucking goggles again!

-No, you ain't! You can swim. Come on.

Fucking hell.

HOOTER BLASTS

Fucking size of that fucker!

EUUURGH!

You all right?

He's not looking too happy at the moment. He keeps stopping.

He's at the six-hour stage.

-Nearly.

-That's what I mean, he's nearly at the six-hour stage.

Which is the qualifying swim, but most people hit a wall there.

I need to know where we are. Tell me where we are.

-Just past the separation zone.

-Eh?

-Just past the separation zone.

-Say it again.

-Just past the separation zone.

What the fuck does that mean?

Halfway.

How long until shallow water?

Ask Kevin how long until shallow water?

How long until shallow water?

Oh, eight miles.

-He's not eating.

-No.

-He's not eating anything.

HE VOMITS

VOMITING CONTINUES

Tell me the truth, how far away from the land?

-Close.

-Tell me the truth or I'm getting out.

I told you the bloody truth.

Close ain't a real answer.

OK, about five centimetres.

-Well, that ain't true, is it?

-Right, well, then.

That's why I said tell me the truth.

I just told you the bloody truth.

The water must be getting warmer because there are more jellyfish.

Just watch out, there's jellyfish.

-What the fuck am I supposed to do about that?

-Watch out, obviously.

HOOTER BLASTS

-Did you stop me to tell me to keep going?

-They asked us to ask if you are all right.

I can't hear what you're saying.

Speak slowly.

He wanted to know if you're OK.

Oh, fucking hell.

It's nearly getting dark.

I don't care. This is one you are going to do, mate.

Whether you want to or not.

-Why?

-Because I said so, that's why.

I need it as much as you.

He's getting confused.

Just keep in front of him.

-He said he can't swim this side.

-Yeah.

Then he'll have to swim behind us.

He swum off in front of us. We can't do anything else.

We're turning the boat for you.

He swam straight off in front of us that way from the side.

-We could run him over.

-I know.

I think he's getting a bit disorientated.

He is, yeah. The tide's got him.

You are not beating the tide. The swell.

We're going backwards and backwards further and further.

We've drifted about one mile and a half in half an hour, away from the land.

You're just not beating the tide and the swell.

Not beating the tide.

Stick it for half an hour until the weather passes over.

-Dad!

-You're going the wrong fucking way.

If we get him straightened up...

Straighten up! This way.

He's just not going anywhere. He's punching the sea now.

We're going to have to get him out of this.

-We're going to have to get him out.

-Yeah.

-Get him out?

-Game over.

-It's too rough.

Dad! It's too rough.

-Dad!

-He's making no ground. He's getting nowhere.

End of.

End it.

INDISTINCT

-Get that ladder down.

-He's making no ground.

-You have to get on the ladder.

-Say again?

It's too dangerous.

You're making no ground. We're drifting out further and further.

You swam away from the boat three times now in the opposite direction.

Going round in a circle.

I'm concerned about your safety.

You've got within two and half miles of the land.

We just can't risk any more.

Do you understand that?

Yep.

Come on! We're there now.

Come on! 400 metres, if that.

Otherwise, we are going to go round and you'll end up in the bay.

-Don't threaten me!

-Come on!

I'm not, I'm telling you the truth.

I might just pull this one off.

Really? Get your arse in there.

-Come on!

-Just pull this one out the bag.

-Come on, off you go.

This is the last push, come on.

You can do this.

HOOTER BLARES

That's the hardest swim I've ever done.

Oh, fucking hell.

I'd better get back to the boat. My head's spinning in fucking circles,

like, really dangerously.

Everybody booked in?

Anyone want greasing up?

There we go. The last of the season.

The last of the season.

Thank you kindly, sir.

No, thanks, mate.

I worked it out last night on the calendar

that we spend 51 days down here in a year.

You work that out...

It's 500 in ten years.

Freda is 30 years.

That's 1,500 days she's spent down here.

That's a lifetime, isn't it?

How much longer we can do it, we don't know.

We're all getting old.

-That's it.

-We've been down here for over 20 years.

We've never fallen out, never had cross words.

Not come close to it, have we?

You are counting the days to start again.

Certainly this now leaves a big hole in your life.

Every Friday I'm packing up my car and coming down here.

Every Sunday afternoon I'm packing it up and driving it home.

What's left?

I came within here to the end of the fence of a container ship,

110,000 tonnes.

I forgot you even got certificates, been so long since I've done one.

There we go.

Yeah, lovely. Cheers, mate. Thanks very much.

Dover Coastguard, Dover Coastguard, Connemara, Connemara.

Get your arse into gear! You're running late.

You've still got a mile and a half to the beach. What's up?!

# So swipe them swiftly when they swoop and swim, Sam, swim

# So I swam with vigour, the race had just begun

# Sharks all eyed my figure, "All jelly," shouted one.

# Some old portly porpoise popped up in the foam

# Shouted, "If you want to catch your last train home

# Swim, Sam, swim!

# Show them you're some swimmer

# Swim just like a swan, Sam!

# You know how the swan swam

# Six sharp sharks are going to snap your limbs... #