07 Jul 2014FIRST IRISH DEAF CHANNEL SWIMMERS IN HISTORY
A relay team from Ireland made up of deaf ladies swims the Channel
7th July was an Amazing day, probably one of the best days of our lives. Conquering the “Mount Everest” of the swimming world is something unbelievable for a team who some years ago would never even have dreamed of doing it. In addition, 18 months before our successful swim of the English Channel, we had never swam in the sea.
How was it possible? How did we conquer all the difficulties? What made this dream a reality???
After 18 months of hard training in the pool and the sea and in all weathers and conditions and doing events every month for our charity, the world’s first “Irish deaf Channel Swimmers relay” team was ready to take on the challenge of the English Channel.
We arrived in Kingsdown Chalet in Kent on Sunday 29th June a few days early to chill before our swim on 3rd July. About 50 Irish supporters friends & families came, the next few days after us, to lend their support. It was great having them with us. We went on a trip to the white cliffs of Dover, Canterbury town, and the best part was swimming in sea with us. The next few days we got told that our swim was postponed till after the weekend and we were not expecting it, as weather was fabulous. Some of supporters and families even my 2 best friends, my own Mother, my sister and nephew had to go home. This made things worse for all of us. 3 swimmer’s families went home but some stayed, the White’s Clan, Nora lovely boyfriend Ray, my Husband and my 2 kids and my 3 best friends.
We were all in the pub having our Sunday dinner drowning our sorrows because most of the supporters had gone home and later on that day we got a txt from Eddie the pilot asking us if we could swap with another team and we replied to him that we wanted to swim first as it was our slot.
Eddie said the weather was still going to be a bit choppy and we weren’t clear as to why he told us that. We were texting back and forward to Eddie to let us to start our swim it was bad enough that our family and friend’s had gone home, we weren’t up for more bad news. Eddie explained that he was worried about communication if the water was rough.. well that was it!!!! We txt him that there was load of ways of communicating with him and we were very good at lip reading and never had any problems what’s so ever in the sea back home. Waiting on txt reply back from Eddie …………… He replied swim start in morn on 7th July and to meet him at the Marine. Well, we all broke down crying, after the gang went home then this txt we got. Everyone who witnessed the tension we went through understood why we all jumped up and cried and hugged each other and even the Barman cried with us and he wished us the best of luck.
Morning of the swim 5am
On the deck met the crews and “EDDIE”
Passport checked
Boat loaded up
Forms filled by observer
Off we sailed the start of our Amazing journey!!
Eddie explained more why he text us and we understood why he text us as it was his first time having 7 deaf women doing the channel swim and he said he was sorry.
On the 7thJuly 2014 at 06.02am, the “IRISH DEAF CHANNEL SWIMMERS “ sailed to Shakespear beach for Dee to start the swim .We seen our supporters running to meet us on the other side of the beach and to wave us good bye.
Team Deirdre entered the water on a spring tide from Shakespeare beach (Dover); to start their 35 km swim (19 nautical) to France. Each swimmer, Deirdre Dunne, Patricia Heffernan, Nora Duggan, Bridie Power, Michelle Mc Laughlin, Lisa Finn & Bernadette White will swim one hour each in the same rotation until one of the swimmers is able to clear the water on a beach onto French land. Water temp was 16.c Air 16.8 and sea was pretty rough. Sun was still shining and quite warm for 6am.
The first stage for each of us was really exciting as we all wanted to get in and get on with it after all our hard training. We all did our first legs well and did not feel cold which was great. The hours of cold open water training was paying off! It was Eddie first time ever to have deaf team on his Anastasia boat and he and Sharon Rogers the observer were telling us that we were doing well, despite the communication barrier.
When each swimmer finish their leg the group would help change and prep their food and then the swimmer would tell us how they got on in water.
We saw lots of ferries all around the channel. The smell of Eddie’s crew making fry was heavenly. The first 7 hours the sea was choppy and the waves were high. We couldn’t get our rhythm but at the same time we still managed to swim well. Some of us had a bit of seasickness and kind Eddie gave us a jar of ginger sweets.
Our lovely Ronan, our media, took a lot photos and short videos for our Facebook page for our great supporters back home and updated hourly our swim videos and posted it on Facebook with the live-tracker for the deaf community to followed us and it was an amazing day for them too as we didn’t want to leave them out.
We watch a soloist swim beside us named Matt that stayed in the same place we stayed in Kingsdown Chalet and we admired how strong he was doing at his solo swim.
Second lap in rotating got better; the sea was calmer and getting warmer and we were enjoying every minute. The adrenaline was pumping harder and faster as we knew we were getting very close to French Beach. We saw some seals and Jellyfish but nothing scared us as we have plenty of them back home. Some of us took a power nap, which helps us.
Eddie explained to us that last the swimmer (Bernadette) time was up and we only had 5 mins left and it was Dee turn to swim again but with another swimmer to supporter her to the shore that was Nora. They were the last to get in and finish the swim. It was only a 5 mins swim but felt longer than that. We were all cheering for them even though they were deaf lol we couldn’t help it!
The Irish Deaf Channel Swimmers successfully completed their one-way relay on July 7, 2014, in a time of 14 hours, 10 minutes and 44 seconds on the Cap Griez. It was very emotional day for us, we were all happy, tired and bit sad..well I was (Lisa)!! I didn’t want it end that quick after crazy 18 months. Ah well it something I’ll never forget!!
Eddie told me again that he was sorry for doubting our ability and he would not judge any one that has a disability and he should give other people a chance!! . I’m glad he got a chance to meet us. It took 3 hours to get back to Dover and it felt very long and we thought we would never get back to the harbor. Seeing our lovely supporters jumping up with the Irish flag and Banners, my family and best friends waiting on the dock we got lots of hugs from them it was a very emotional night … They were telling us that back home in Ireland, everyone one was watching us, from start till end on Facebook that Ronan filmed us on Boat then we opened up a bottle of champagne.
18 months of fundraising and training was pretty hard. We were aiming for €10,000.We proudly raise €30,214.44 for our charity (IDWG) Irish Deaf Women Group.
We had a massive party in the Deaf Village Ireland on 6th September and 550 deaf from all over Ireland attended .We have been invited to meet The President of Ireland at a party in 2015. We also recently won ILDSA “SHEENA PATERSON SPIRIT OF OPEN WATER SWIMMING AWARD 2014”
If there is anyone thinking about swimming the Channel our advice is to do it, prepare your self 2 years advance.
We could not swim without hard work and with dedication anything is possible!!!
We would like to thank Ronan and Jason for all their hard work keeping our Facebook page busy that day and made it successful. We would also like to thank our friends and families who came over with us, we would have been lost without them. Also we like to thank all the deaf community all over Ireland for being there for us it meant a lot to us…. Finally we would like to thank Eddie and the crew for taking us on board and hope they enjoyed our company x
Lisa x
- 27 Feb 2025
2025 Notice of CS&PF AGM & Motions
Notice of CS&PF AGMFor the year ended 31st December 2024To be held atThe Channel Suite, Leas Cliff HallThe Leas, FolkestoneCT20 2DZ1pm on the 15th March 2025 Officer and committee positions due for election in 2025 President: Mike Ball (nominated by the CS&PF committee)Vice-President: Michael Oram (nominated by the CS&PF committee) The ChairmanThe SecretaryTwo Committee member positionsNotices of Motion Motions:Motion 1) Proposed by Tony Kenyon; seconded by Eddie SpellingThe committee discussed the need to raise the swim administration fees to cover increasing costs. It was agreed to increase the administration fees by £30. A revised CS&PF rule is required to be ratified at the AGM.The following rule revision is proposed to reflect the increased administration fee.Revised RuleCS&PF fees:2026 Administration fees payable with all swim applications. Administration fees cover the costs of running the CS&PF Office and general CS&PF expenses. Applications submitted to the CS&PF Office before the deadline of 30 April will be charged a discounted administration fee of:Solo - £200Relay £240Applications received by the CS&PF Office after 30 April will be deemed to have exceeded the time allowed for postage and will be charged a full fee of:Solo £225Relay £265Motion 2) Proposed by Kevin Murphy; seconded by Tony KenyonThis AGM requests the committee to:i) Institute honorariums for the offices of CS&PF Secretary and CS&PF Treasurer;ii) Consider at what level these honorariums should be set.Motion 3) Proposed by Tony Kenyon, seconded by Kevin MurphyReplace the existing Clause “8 Management paragraph B” of the published CS&PF rules. The current wording was found to be unclear by the committee.Proposed wording:B. President and Vice PresidentThe positions of ‘President’ and ‘Vice President’ shall be nominated by the elected members of the CS&PF Committee. Only the committee nomination for the roles shall be put before the next AGM for ratification.Either or both positions can remain vacant if the committee does not make a nomination, or if a nomination is not ratified by the membership at the next AGM.The Vice President is expected to work in conjunction with the President. When the President completes their term, the Vice President is familiar with the role to step up. A former President is not permitted to be nominated for a future role as Vice President. If ratified at the AGM the appointment of these positions is for three years from the date of ratification. If they are not ratified, the committee will reconsider their nominations at the next committee meeting.The ‘President’ and the ‘Vice President’ shall be considered full members of the CS&PF Committee. They will receive notice and be invited to each committee meeting and be counted in the quorum with full voting rights.The maximum term for both of these positions is two consecutive appointments. Once this maximum term has been reached the incumbent must step aside from that role for at least three years, preferably six (equivalent to two consecutive terms). Eligibility to be considered for subsequent nomination for either role after the maximum term has been reached is at the discretion of the elected members of the CS&PF Committee.At the discretion of the elected members of the CS&PF Committee a retiring President may be given the honorary title of ‘President Emeritus’. This title is used to denote perpetual status of individuals who made significant contributions to the CS&PF.Motion 4) Proposed by Cliff Golding, seconded by Mike BallProposed amendments in red Assessment swims - (solos)All swimmers taking part in a solo swim must complete a self assessment swim of at least 6 hours in open water at a temperature of no more than 61F/16C. Such a swim should be carried out either as a training swim or as an organised event which the committee considers (in its discretion) to be a suitable alternative. In either case, the assessment swim should take place no more than 18 calendar months prior to the 1st June in the year of the application. Winter Swim Assessments. If a swim is registered to take place between 1 November and 30 April, the qualifying temperature for an assessment swim will be 12c or less, or as defined by the pilot.Assessment swims - (relays)All swimmers taking part in a relay swim must complete a self assessment swim of at least 1.5 hours then leave the water for a minimum of 1 hour and a maximum of 1.5 hours at a temperature of no more than 61°F / 16°C. They must then return to the water and swim for 1 more hour in open water also at a temperature of no more than 61°F / 16°C. These two swims should be carried out either as a training swim or as an organised event which the committee considers (in its discretion) to be a suitable alternative. In either case, the assessment swims should take place no more than 18 calendar months prior to the 1st June in the Year of application. If a relay swimmer carries out a training swim, or takes part in an event lasting 4 hours or more at a temperature of no more than 61°F / 61°C, the Committee will consider that a suitable assessment swim for a Channel relay swim.Winter Swim Assessments. If a swim is registered to take place between 1 November and 30 April, the qualifying temperature for an assessment swim will be 12c or less, or as defined by the pilot.Every application for a solo or relay swimmer must complete a Swim Assessment Form available for download from the CS&PF web site and submit this together with supporting proof/ratification of the self-assessment swim or (if an organised event wherein satisfactory participation is a matter of public online record) the website address at which such proof is evident. Voting will be by paper ballot for any contested positions or motions. Read more
Sandettie Lightship Observations
8pm, 23rd February 2025
Water: 46.4 °F (8 °C)
Air: 52.5 °F (11.4 °C)
Wind Speed: 29.9 kn (55.4 km/h)
Wind Direction: SSW (200°)
The CS&PF President, Mike Ball and all the committee are deeply saddened by the passing of Ady Brown.… https://t.co/E17pLxZwgw
2 years ago
