Bournemouth beach is beautiful - even in the rain.  When I arrived here on Monday 29th April in order to set up for Client training the next day, it seemed wise to take advantage of being at the seaside, and to arrange to do a sea swim.

The documentary crew decided it was also a good opportunity to capture on film, and this was probably made even more dramatic (possibly even ridiculous) by the fact that it was thundering when they interviewed me on the sand in nothing more that my swimmers and hat - much to the bemusement of some visiting foreign students.

The sea was quite bracing when I entered.  But there is a different type of coldness somehow associated with fresh water and sea water, and once I had acclimatised, I enjoyed the experience tremendously. As with the lake, the absence of the requirement to continually turn round is a blessing, and with such an expansive sea front there was even less need to about turn here than in NJ.  I set out from Bournemouth pier and swam along towards Boscombe pier some 1.4 miles away (and barely visible in the rain).

Despite the rain, there was barely a breath of wind, so waves were at a minimum.  I needed to head out far enough to be beyond the breaking point, and that was still a fair way, as Bournemouth beach is very flat and slopes gently.  But once suitably far out, the swim was a truly 'free' one.

Shortly prior to Boscombe pier I finally turned around and headed back. Unfortunately, I'd timed things wrong, as I needed to be at work by 17:00.  So an hour before this I had to climb out of the sea and jog back to Bournemouth pier.  This turned out to be a huge relief to the film crew - I'd been gone for an hour and a half, and they were becoming seriously worried.  To see me safe, albeit somewhat cold, was very good news to them.

All in all a very good swim, and above all I was pleased with being able to stay in the water for so long.  Even Dr. Julie Bradshaw was impressed when I told her... and for someone who is the world record holder for swimming the Channel butterfly to be impressed, that's no small deal.

Last night I had the privilege to be allowed to swim in a gorgeous lake in New Jersey.  Neil, a friend and work colleague, had arranged for me to meet Nichole, a friend-of-a-friend whose family live right on the shore of the lake.  The sand beach in the photo actually forms part of the family garden.


The area was beautiful and peaceful, save for one English idiot (me) who disturbed the tranquility by splashing in the water for an hour.  But the water was lovely, and with the lake being around half a mile long (the photo shows the width), it meant there was no endless turning round, as with a pool.


It wasn't possible to check the temperature of the water, but judging by the fact that I could only last an hour before the shivering set in, I think it was anywhere between 10-12 degrees.  It did make a lovely change to a pool swim, I must confess.


Tonight I am being taken back (again by Neil).  I'm hoping to endure an hour and 15 minutes of the cold but tranquil water.

On Monday I met with Wayne, the manager of David Lloyd in Worcester.  Arrangements are now underway for an 'Acorns day', and for a 24-hour sponsored swim to raise awareness of my English Channel attempt - and of course to raise funds for Acorns.  Further details of these will follow.

During the meeting I had the opportunity of telling Wayne how essential my complimentary David Lloyd membership is to my training regime, and of explaining the hours I am currently putting in.  Impressed with what he heard, Wayne asked if I had access to the Vantage spa.  When he heard that I did not, he promptly insisted that the facilities would do me good after such long workouts, and he kindly arranged for an upgrade to my membership.

Today I had the blissful opportunity of relaxing in the spa after an 8km (5m) swim.  So far this week I have notched up 25km, and am aiming for 50km by the end of Sunday.  Being able to relax in a quiet, private sauna, and reclining Jacuzzi for 15 minutes, having aching back and shoulder muscles soothed by the bubbles, was pure bliss.  

I'm already looking forward to my next swim tomorrow... or at least looking forward to getting to the Vantage spa afterwards.   

I'm having a day off.  I feel as guilty as hell, and my swim log will show that I did not reach my target this week....  but I'm also enjoying a relaxing morning with the family, getting a big cooked breakfast ready, and not rushing!  It's light outside, and I've not yet left the house. That's the first time that's happened in months.

Sometimes, I think we just need a rest.

(But there's a big garden out there calling to be done...)

Last night Esta and I had the privilege of being invited along to the annual dinner of the Worcester Group of Chartered Accountants.  Ross Prince, Chairman of the group, had invited us along for the evening, asking if I would deliver a talk on Acorns and my Channel swim attempt.  Esta and I had the honour of sharing the top table with Ross and his charming wife Ruth, and with Dr. Phil Hammond, who was a fellow guest speaker for the evening.

The food was delicious, and the company was warm and welcoming - especially considering we had met no-one other than Rebecca Widdowson from HallmarkHulme, and Mike Henley the photographer prior to the evening!

My speech (I think) went down well.  It's always a challenge to pitch the correct mixture of sorrow and mirth, and to avoid boring people to death with the challenges of the Channel.  I like to think I found the correct line.

Generous contributions were made towards my swim attempt, and all in all we collected a fantastic £1315 - all of which goes directly to Acorns (and has already been added to my JustGiving page).

Furthermore, I'm quietly hopeful that Rebecca may have helped me secure the final sponsorship amount I need in order to ratify the whole challenge.  More details to follow on this!

On behalf of Esta, myself and Acorns, I'd like to say a very warm and heartfelt thank you to Ross and the entire group of Chartered Accountants for a splendid evening, and such generous donations.

Today I swam for six hours in the pool at David Lloyds, notching up 16km (10 miles) in the process.  Whilst I have previously swum for that length of time during my build up to the Channel, the distance is a new record for me.

But 16km was not the real victory for me.

The difference with this swim was that it was all about the mental battle.

Until now, I have given myself the relative 'luxury' of counting the lengths.  Even though counting off 640 laps (the distance I covered today) may sound mind numbing, it is also a way of mentally recording your progress as you go, lap by lap, minute by minute.

But I know I will not have this luxury during the Channel swim.  I'll be relying upon my support crew to signal to me by whistle every hour, letting me know that it's time to take a break.  In between breaks I will be left to my own devices and thoughts, with no way of measuring the passing time.

So I recently purchased a watch which counts off the pool laps as I swim, allowing me to begin to acclimatise myself to the boredom.  

And I can assure you that boredom can be mental purgatory.

I took my first brief refreshment break today at 1hr 13, having covered 3.6km.  The next was at 2hr 20.  After that, the intervals began to come down, with my mind convinced that surely another hour MUST have gone by.

Long before the 3hr mark, despite being able to regularly swim for 4hrs, I was mentally ready to quit.  Every niggle, every rub, every ache, was magnified by the boredom.  I had to carefully analyse my actual physical condition as I went, and realising I was not tired and did not NEED to stop, I had to gather my mental resolve and keep pushing.  

I don't think I've ever been so bored in my life.

It's always very easy to repeat any mantra when you're not in pain or discomfort: 'Winners never quit - quitters never win'; 'Just keep swimming'; 'It's only pain' etc - but it's simply not possible to do this for six or more hours continuously when such advice really is needed.  And it's easy to tell yourself that six hours is a relatively short period of time (much shorter than the 16 predicted hours for my actual Channel swim) - but until you know you are approaching the end of that six hours, trust me when I say that eternity can easily be condensed into such a timeframe.

But mental victory was finally achieved today.  I climbed out of the pool far from as tired as I expected to be, but very jubilant that I had resisted the almost continuous and overpowering urge to go and do something, ANYTHING, less boring that even one more lap of the pool.