Name:  Angela Lurssen (aka ‘the Lurssenator’)

Age: 36

Pilot: Stuart Gleeson

Boat: Sea Leopard

Date and time: 24th Sept 2011 (7:15am to 12:16 = 17 hours 1 minute)

Weight a year before: 65 kgs

Weight on day of swim: 74kgs (should I really be telling the world this?!)

Weight next day: 72 kgs. I’m still an English Channel fatty and it’s bloody difficult to lose

Pukes on boat: 20 minutes of puking by me at the end of the swim due to evil Maxim and James's farts. No puking in the sea due to plenty of ‘Sea Legs’ sea sickness pills. FYI, James is a mate I met in Dover during swimming training last year. We then started a lift share scheme and the rest is history.

First learnt to swim: 
My Cape Town life was half amphibian, and we were often in the water, either the pool or the nearby beach. Perhaps my earliest memory was when I was five months old with my parents starting me off with a swimming tube and then I moved onto my red water wings in our pool. I spent hours in the water every day and it always felt like my second home where I playfully conjured up weird and wonderful worlds. If that was my playground, then it’s no surprise that my nickname was ‘Water baby’. I progressed to swimming competitively at primary school, winning freestyle and backstroke races. My high school didn’t have a pool so I left swimming for 20 years until my first Olympic distance triathlon at the tender age of 30. The swimming start of the race was my best part of the event, and importantly it was where I resurrected my love for water in general and open water swimming in particular. 

The swim: 
I dreamed up the idea of doing a relay a year in advance and never did I consider a solo until one April morning at the Serpentine Swimming Club in London’s Hyde Park. Following a chat with Nick Adams (now with seven EC crossings notched onto his trunks) and Boris Mavra (two successes tacked onto his previous fine career in rowing). I was hooked into my unknown.

I had started training in Dover harbour with my relay team, 'Just Swim it' in April. Relay swimmers wear yellow hats and solo swimmers wear red and whilst watching all the solos I wanted to be one of them and do something big.

By immersing myself and training with the ‘wannabe’ channel swimmers, talking to Freda ‘The General’ Streeter about her daughter Alison's 43 crossings and being influenced by swimming gods like Kevin Murphy and Nick Adams it all felt possible. It would only happen with plenty of hard work and a strong mind. After Nick and Boris said I could do it I was 100% dedicated to making it happen. I have to ‘fess up here and say that Boris subsequently admitted that deep down he was sceptical about my chances but wanted to remain positive due to my enthusiasm.

My priority leading up to the swim was more about our relay team than the solo, so by the time the relay was completed (21st July) there was no time before my big wake up call for me to get my head in the right place for a solo. During my first day back in the water after the successful relay swim I got out of the water in tears after just three hours as the reality of it all hit me hard. Freda sensibly told me that I was too old to cry, but I remember just lying knackered and scared under the warm Dover sun crying myself to sleep. Thankfully I was lifted by the Dover team and was soon on the straight and narrow.

I had a very dramatic run up to my swim thanks to experiencing five cancellations of my go slot. To give it some context, it takes plenty of physical and mental strength to prepare for the swim. It is very stressful ensuring everything is in place and well planned. We all know that Channel swimming is not cheap. The swim is all about good planning and preparation.
 
When I finally got the call that I would be swimming on Saturday 24 September 2011, I felt prepared and ready. Originally I had planned to have a big crew with plenty of entertainment including fancy dress, but on the day this was reduced to two crew members and a lot less high drama and fireworks. Thanks to good advice, I had an early night and continuously reminded myself of the need to remain calm and well rested. It was agreed that I would meet Stuart and my crew at the Marina at approximately 05:45 in the morning so that we could be ready to go at 7am. Stuart was a bit lenient with me on the timings as he was fatigued from escorting two swims two days previously.

The sounds of my alarm hammering 05:00 and me saying ‘O F**k!’. I’m a bit of a social network addict, so my wake up shot was not caffeine but a digital short decaff definitely no wings posting on Facebook. I updated my status seriously stating ‘This isn’t any old Saturday, today I am going to swim solo across the English Channel’. Reflecting on this, there was never a moment of doubting or questioning what I was about to do.

My swim plan was a very in-depth one which I’d borrowed and tweaked from James Turnbull, (thanks James). Even though the plan had been massively modified by me and Nick who was horrified at the first cut. We had peanut butter sandwiches, all sorts of supplements and caffeine pills on the menu – the works. Everything was so finely tuned to the point where a small army could’ve operated from it. However, I messed up. I forgot the bloody tin opener and gloves for applying the channel grease. Thank goodness the Dover Best Western had a spare pair and my crew opened the peaches with a screw driver.

It's important to lead with your strongest point. Mine was “don’t let me get out the water unless I’m dead”. I took this psychological maxim very seriously and I had such a strong goal in my mind that day... nothing was going to get in my way. After all, as well as being an energy drink, the dictionary says that a maxim is also a firm belief.

After glugging down a flask of porridge which is a channel swimmer’s staple I was ready. On arrival at the marina I was calm and focussed. It took plenty of discipline and support to get to this point. Knowing that everyone wanted me to get across was a big booster and at this departure I felt like everything was in alignment.

When I got to the Sea Leopard (my third time of getting on board – I’d done a relay with the Just Swim it team in July and Camilla and I had hid on the boat to see off the Sea Frogs a week or so before). I’d also completed an ironman relay a week before and this certainly helped on the motivation front to make me mentally strong for the day. I was surprised to see that there was no observer just Stuart and a skipper on board. I had paid for one when I booked my swim but my goal was to swim to France. And as a novice solo swimmer, I accepted Stuart’s call that he would be observing with his mate.

More immediately, I needed to get into my swimming zone so I pushed positive thoughts to the front of my head, firmly fixed my CS&PF swimming hat on and blasted Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ through my iPod. I cleared my head of distractions and let the music get into my soul. I thought of my late Dad and knew I would make him proud today. I received a last minute call from my cousin from a different coastline as he’s based in Los Angeles. I managed to ring my Mum too which was a lovely boost. I took a few last sips of water and jumped in. The sun shone, the sky was blue and the Gods were watching over me. I was in safe hands. Captain Keith Hunt and James Turnbull were my crew and busying themselves with all things relating to crewing. The English Channel world was my oyster that day and nothing apart from French soil was going to get in my way.

A few boats taking off at the same time, so it was very exciting to know I’d be racing the others. As usual, the Lurssenator competitive gene got the better of me. Each hour was exciting and something to strive for. I had never swam more than seven hours in one hit, so I couldn’t wait to get to the hours after this point to see how it would feel in my personal race.  Time passed by quickly. The 45 minute feeds were excellent and I felt energised and strong. I also enjoyed having James and Keith pace me as it made me work harder due to wanting to race them.

My little worry was that I’d experience boredom during the swim and it was a big issue for me in training as I could never train on my own. Like a noisy 1970s hovercraft, the painful memory of my three hour solo preparation stint in Dover harbour which ended in tears due to the escape gremlins taking over hung over me. Thankfully, there was no time for boredom. I occupied my mind with what the crew were up to, thinking about my next feed, enjoying the feel of the water between my hands and wondering about all the twitter messages. I felt incredibly lucky and privileged to be in a position of doing something big and exciting. The Just Swim it team and I had raised over £15k for five excellent charities so I was happy to be giving something back.

The hours passed quickly. I was soon at ten hours I still had the sun on my back and I was feeling strong. At 12 I had overtaken a boat that had set off earlier than me that day. Happy days! 

I did encounter some jellies but enjoyed their company and admired their beauty. Their swimming motion was calming and benign. I did have to work on my mind to not think of the scene from ‘Deep Blue’ with the super clever sharks. I also thought a bit about killer whales and their rather large mouths.

By 13 hours my throat was starting to close up from the salt water. All I could taste was salt. Each time I swallowed my palatine uvula (aka the punch bag at the back of your throat) popped in and out and that was a bit scary. I got a bit nervous that it would close completely but remembered Mich and Nick telling me it was difficult to swallow on the swim, so I rationalised that it was normal. I tried to suck a Strepsil, but it popped out after my second breath. Useless. I still wonder if any fish below me managed to take a bite out of it.

By 14 hours my shoulders were stiff and sore but I embraced the expected pain. This was my moment and no pain was going to stop me.

I loved swimming whilst the sun was setting - it was so calm and serene and swimming at night was incredible. I felt at one with nature and loved the clear starlit sky. It was majestic. I know this must sound like a cliché, but my Dad was watching over me and keeping me safe. I felt calm and happy. I haven’t felt happier in my life. I wanted the feeling to last forever, but I also wanted to get to France. Songs that I sang in my head were more of Eminem, Man Eater, Sunny, Eye of the Tiger and You’re the Best (Rocky). I did have a little personal joke with myself as I visualised telling the crew I wanted to do a two way. I also wanted to know how it would feel doing a tumble turn once on French soil.

My pilot was very cagey about how much longer I had to swim and the distance I had left. Keith and James told me I needed to do a power hour, this was when I knew I was in the swimmers graveyard and its’ associated implications. Believe me, it was a hard hour both mentally and physically. I missed my 45 min Maxim feed and was told to try and push as hard as possible.

At this stage everything hurt and it was very difficult to swim harder. Reaching this point made me think of Wayne who had just completed his swim in 23.5 hours. Respect. I knew that if he could stick it out for that period of time, so could I. It gave me the strength I needed to push on. I also thought about Roger Allsop who I’d met/swam with a few times during training. Roger now holds the world record for the oldest guy to do a channel swim and he inspired me. 

I also thought of Kevin, Freda and Mich’s advice: “just keep one arm in front of the other and you’ll get there”. Wise words. And also Nick Adams’ telling me earlier that morning that he really wanted to welcome me to the club. By this time France was looking so close. I knew I didn’t have long to go. I did miss the Cap, but the tides didn’t feel too strong so I wasn’t too worried. James jumped in with me for my final leg to France. This bit was hard work. My shoulders felt like lead. But there was no time to think about the pain. It was now or never.

We got to the point where we looked pretty close to France but Stuart’s boat light wasn’t very strong in order to see properly. James and I began to tread water for what felt like ages and Keith had to jump on the front of the boat and shine the light. I’m not even sure how much time passed at this point and I was getting cold for the very first time that day. James and I pressed on. Feeling sand between my toes was more than amazing. I let out a belting scream, not of the promised land, all I could manage was ‘Sand!’. We pressed on to reach the sharp and painful rocks which we scaled....but nothing compared to the watery Everest I had just conquered.

It was ages before we heard the boat’s hooter, so having achieved our goal, we swam to the boat. I missed the support dinghy and swam for another 20 minutes to get onto the boat. Just before getting on board I shouted that I fancied a double crossing and asked if they did too, but like I misheard the hooter, they misheard my request which was probably just as well. Climbing the ladder to get back on board was hard work as my legs were very stiff and uncoordinated. I had a quick quibble over my final swim time.... and then dived into the cabin to have a lie down. The cold finally hit me and it was shake, rattle and roll for around 30 minutes. I tried to sleep but James kept on farting and then I had a massive 20 minute Maxim puke at the end of it. Lovely, but not for James.

Whist puking I mused about Julian Bennet’s very funny posting on Facebook saying that the French must love us.... with all the Saffas, Ozzies, Brits etc. swimming across their waters and then throwing up all over their beaches. This image still makes me chuckle not chuck.

Different to your expectations?

The whole experience was so much richer and exciting than I ever imagined it to be. The shared love, support and kindness from the whole team at the CS&PF still touches me as nothing was ever an issue or bother... I could ask for advice at any time of the day or night. I can only hope to be able to return that level of kindness one day.

Swimming is a great leveller and brings people together in a way that I’d never experienced before. A shared love for swimming, their can-do attitude, an appreciation for nature as well as a massive drive and ambition that brings us all together. I have made lifelong friends through this experience and it’s more than I could have ever bargained for.

Having the fellow solo swimmers and the Just Swim it team to train with and as a key source of motivation made all the difference. 

Most memorable part(s): the camaraderie experienced was by far the best part. I also loved going to Dover each weekend to train and see everyone. It was hard work, but being at the sea each weekend was a dream come true. I remember recording Marcy McD’s words when she stood on Dover beach and told me that my life will change forever after doing a channel swim and I’d be able to do anything. I did wonder how true that would feel afterwards. Since the swim I can say she was spot on. It really does change your life forever and makes you a stronger and more positive person.

Who helped you? As you will see from my video, my thank you list is extensive.

* Nick Adams: mentor & swimming god. If it wasn’t for him and Boris I’d would never had had the courage to attempt the swim. They gave me the green light. Nick advised me every step of the way and helped me work out a training plan, improve my stroke style, consider the right conditions to swim in, helped during the five aborted attempts to work out if the conditions were good and taught me the trick of making a seven hour training session go by very quickly by hiding chocolates into your swimming trunks. If he was in Dover I’d have to work very hard as there would be a text or email on Monday telling me I had to work and not just float. :) 

* My crew: Keith and James – such awesome crew members. Thanks again for all the pacing, feeding, entertainment and care. I couldn’t have done it without you guys.

* The Just swim it team (Barnaby, Camilla, Cassie, Jonathan, Adam, Keith and Andrea): they provided me with the motivation and made the whole thing fun. How awesome was our charity fundraiser party! Travelling to Dover each weekend was also made easy by them. Barnaby also created a super duper blog for us to all contribute to – lucky us! View it at: www.justswim.it

* My pilot Stuart Gleeson: he was a saint and put up with my harassment on choosing the right day.

* Other solo swimmers to train with: Wayne Butler & Pete Windridge-France (we spent many a swimming hour side by side to help with the boredom), James Turnbull & Simon Holliday (for the constant laughs and dirty talk on the way to Dover), Hannah (swimming bud and for introducing me to Simon), Caroline Muggridge, Stuart Branch, Ellery, Jules (for the laughs and joke hour – he had us in stitches most of the time).

* Pim Kalisvaart: a fellow channel swimmer at the Third Space who provided me with inspiration and answered a million of my questions.

* Collin Hill: another swimming god. I bombarded him with a million questions and he patiently answered them all. I think he needed a week to recover. Boy, I certainly was relentless.

* The beach crew: Freda, Barry, Irene, Mich and King of the English Channel Kevin. I couldn’t have done it without you guys. I loved Barry’s positive attitude and he’d always be so upbeat, come rain or shine.

* Martin Palethorpe: my motivational coach who taught me about escape gremlins and how to tell them to f*ck off.

* Mark Thomas: my physiotherapist. A life saver!

* Rubin: my masseuse – another life saver on a Sunday night!

* Family: their support and encouragement. Mum for all the swimming cossies (I wore her red number on the day), sister Janine for all the messages of support and my US family (Neil, Jean, Gavin, Adrian) for their message of encouragement. 
* Friends: for their messages of encouragement, love and support.

* Dad: for proving the inspiration.

Where did you train: my main training took place at Dover harbour each weekend from the start of the season. I have fond memories of seeing the ‘Dover’ sign just before we reached the harbour. It would always fill us with nervous tension but seeing France across the channel made it all worthwhile.  We’d get up to doing a 6 and 7 hour swim on each weekend day. Experiencing mild hypothermia whilst test driving your new sleeping bag and trying not to spill a cup of tea all over yourself was a regular occurrence. The best bit was when you were done and then you’d be able to pass out at the back of someone’s car and sleep all the way back to London.

I often hear swimmers say the scenery is so dull and boring with only a toilet block and the Premier Inn to look at... but I’d love seeing shapes within the clouds during a long swim and let my imagination run away with me. It would always be the countdown to feeding time (you’d take the seven hour swim and subtract down straight away to 6:55 so it would never feel that daunting) – especially when there were new treats for us! 

I also did squad training at my gym (Third Space) each Monday and Thursday with sprint work, drills and technique. If there was time, I’d swim at the Serps during the week before work and I’d do triathlon swim training on a Tuesday evening at the Serps (Swim for Tri) for a few hours. I started having an hour massage on a Sunday to recover from Dover (a must) as well as physiotherapy for tendonitis and a good old stretch. I really wanted to do more yoga, but there wasn’t always time and I’d always choose to swim instead.

A year before the event I also started doing long distance open water races (Dorney lake 3km swim, Windsor 3km swim, Dorney lake 10km swim). The 10km swim was pure hell as lake water just isn’t the same as the sea - less buoyancy and boring. I also wasn’t very prepared and didn’t pack a hot drink or food. I certainly accelerated my learning curve and I was forced to deal with the pain of such a long swim. I took 4 hours and 15 minutes! A total slow coach! We also did a bloody freezing swim in Brighton beach with the Just Swim it team in October, swimming lake Windermere, a few days of training alongside the boat in the channel which was very useful to test things out and a big two week holiday in Cape town in March which entailed swimming in the cold Atlantic each day.

Eat and drink: A lot! A typical day would entail porridge, sushi, sarmies, protein shakes, pasta, lots of fresh fish and green veggies, chocolate milkshakes, cake, and more protein shakes. Supplements included cod liver oil and Vitamin B as I don’t eat meat. I admit to chocolates late at night. I couldn’t stomach Maxim when I wasn’t swimming. 
It was actually quite hard work to keep the weight on and I had to give up cycling to work to help with this as well as not overdo the exercise. On the day of the swim I fed every 45 mins (black tea and maxim) with the occasional banana and peaches – these were yummy! Nothing sweet for me. It just made me feel sick. 

What were your mottos?

1. Kick some channel butt!
2. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Swimming the channel starts with a single stroke (quote nicked from Keith that he used at the start of my video – see link below) 
3. In the words of Eminem’s Lose yourself: 
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment 
You own it, you better never let it go 
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow 
Cause opportunity comes once in a lifetime.

Any advice for others?

1. Whatever you do, join the CS&PF team. They will supply you with everything you could ever need and more. 
2. Put the hours in and listen to Freda and the beach team. They know what they are doing. If you put the training hours in it’ll be train hard, fight easy on the day.  
3. Work on your mind & those escape gremlins. The swim is 70% mental on the day. 
4. Embrace the swimming community and make friends wherever you can. Those connections will help you get across. Having a mentor really helps too. 
5. Eat, sleep and dream channel swimming. Consume everything there is to know about it and don’t leave any question unanswered. Talk to the people that have done it, read and watch every book you can on the subject. Immerse yourself completely. 
6. Use waterproof sun block and lots of it – factor 70 if you can get your swimming paws on it. I burnt quite a bit during the grey Dover training days. I’ve also just had 4 sun spots burnt off my cheeks.... so take this as a warning.

What will you do next?

2012:

End March: Robben Island crossing (solo)
July: London 2012 opening ceremony dance performer (yes, you can do anything!)
August: London to Paris bike ride (taking the ferry is going to irritate me here)
Sept:  Ironman (solo)
Oct: double Robben Island crossing (solo)

2013:

July: Enduroman (relay)
August: North Channel crossing (relay)

2014: double channel crossing (I am flirting with this idea... just flirting)

Conclusion:

Having started out as a Cape Town Water Baby, I can look to the circle of my life so far. I adapted to cold waters perhaps thanks to my parents' Nordic ancestry and love of water on my journey towards swimming the English Channel. En-route to France, I also swopped the red water wings for my Serpentine trunks with my 'Lurssenator' nickname. Thankfully it wasn't the Terminator but the Lurssenator, and thinking of Governor Arnie, regardless of whether it's the sea or triathlon I'll be back.