Loading...I am not going to swim the English Channel in 2021.
For those of you who have not heard me blathering on about this lifelong aspiration I will give you the background. In 2018 I made arrangements to formally begin training to swim from England to France across the English Channel solo in September of 2021.
I paid $1,431 on the deposit for the pilot of the Louisa Jane. Most pilots book three to five years in advance. Before the pools shut down in March, achieving my goal was going to be a long shot. The water is 59F degrees and filled with jellyfish. The tides prevent one third of the swimmers from making land. And I am a slow swimmer.
After the pools shut down I lost my conditioning and my mojo. Covid collateral damage. After serious soul-searching and conversations with my coach, I am relinquishing my pilot reservation. It’s not realistic for me to be ready for a challenge of this magnitude in nine months.
My dream is still firmly fixed in my heart and feels no less strong than it did before. And I am encouraged when I remember that Gertrude Ederle, the inspiration for my desire, was pulled from the water on her first attempt and had to start again from the beginning too. So I will start from the beginning again too. When the pools are open at full availability and the travel restrictions are less formidable I will sit down and make another new plan.
The gifts this experience has given me are far more valuable to me than the lost deposit, dare I say “incalculable”. I learned how to swim in 41 degree water. I made friends with other cold water swimmers. I learned to trust my life to Kathy Allen, my lake kayaker who brought her lambs to St James Easter service. I got to swim ten miles in the Tennessee River Gorge with Mary Abrams as my kayaker. I got to write a grant with a team from St James (We did not receive the grant but the process was helpful!). I learned to increase and respect my athletic condition. And so much more!
Thank you to everyone who gave me encouragement and supported my “GoFundMe” page which paid for things like pool membership when that was an easy place to swim. Thanks for listening to me talk about a hope that might sound as mysterious to understand as the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.
And stay tuned for the next chapter in the story of Elizabeth swims the English Channel.
For more information about the English Channel swimmer’s history:
