On Monday 15th July Don Riddington became the oldest Australian to swim the Channel. This is Don's letter to his pilot Eddie Spelling.

Eddie - a true legend of the Channel

Thanks to Eddie Spelling and Crew Rob and Ben

From the moment we stepped aboard you made us feel like family:

 "Shoes orf before you come below"
 "Backwards done the ladder"
 "Don't go down there - Skipper's quarters"
 "Oi, put that bag on the top bunk; nothink on the bottom"

.... just like home.

From the time the sun rose, I could see the lads [yours and mine] kicking back scoffing food and drinking what I could only presume were cups of hot Maxim, thinking, "Is there a better job in the world than this?"

Glad I raised a laugh onboard when I let out a "Yee Haa" surfing down the back of the tanker's bow wave.

But Maaaaate, when we turned for the Cap and it felt like I was swimming the wrong way up the Olympic Whitewater Rafting course - that's when the real Eddie and crew kicked in. The boat handling skills required to keep the vessel in the same ocean as the swimmer; encouraging the swimmer, [by all means fair and foul - including playing the Aussie National Anthem, when the Poms were whipping us in the cricket], to keep the swimmer thinking that, even though all hell has broken loose, there might still be a chance; and the patience to inch the boat forward [refer boat skills above] and drag the swimmer through the torrent, so he can get close enough to kiss a Frenchman, is nothing short of spectacular.

The swimmer thinks he's special, but for you it could be just a job, 'cos you have plenty more coming through during the season, but by the end of the swim that special feeling of family really has truly cemented.

Eddie, if anyone questions the value of the Pilot fee, please refer them to me.

YOU are the difference between having a swim in the Channel – and swimming to France!

Sir Eddie, I salute you - there is no question that you should receive a knighthood, way before they give one to Andy just for whacking his furry balls around for a couple of hours

I'll love you forever, Eddie

Don Riddington

E-F 14/15 July 2013

Time 19:45, Born 1945