Tom Durhsen's 2014 Channel Crossing

What a great honour and a memorable day this was going to be.  Tom had asked me in 2013 whether or not I could accompany him on some of his channel training and assist on the boat.
At the time, I reluctantly declined.  My job was 8-5pm. I was also trying to keep my Herbalife business going as well as continuing to write sessions and accompany the odd swimmers on training sessions, so my spare time was already limited.  I would have loved too but there are only so many hours in the day, and this full time job was taking its toll.  Not to mention, I already didn't have enough time in the week for quality time with the family.

Funny how things turn out.  On 16th August 2014, just weeks before Tom's solo crossing, I was involved in an accident and broke my leg.  And just prior to that, I had handed my notice in for the very reasons explained above.  If I don't break away from employment and get out there and do what I love doing now, I never will.   So I was now in a position to be support crew but unfortunately I am now in a bloomin plaster cast!

Tom's pilot agreed that I could be on the boat with my disability.  All that water and a rocking boat, conjured up all sorts of images of me going overboard and sinking to the bottom with this lead weight on my leg!

I was thrilled to be going and couldn't wait to be part of his epic journey.  I had followed his progress through training and I knew he had been working bloody hard.  I watched as his swimmers tan became deeper and deeper with all that open water training he'd done and as his body shape changed in those final weeks leading up to D'Day.

Word was sent around that he was off at 3.30am and we needed to report to the office by 3am.  Not wanting to risk any traffic jams or hiccups along the way, myself Tony Marshall and Matthew Skidmore headed off to Dover shortly after midnight and we arrived at 2am.  Caroline and Tom arrived minutes later and after a brief pep talk, we decided to retreat to our cars until 3am for 40winks.

At 2.55am we were up and about and headed down to the office, then the boat to load up the cargo. I'm not sure if anyone clocked the pilot's expression on his face when he saw me hobbling down the slippery jetty on my crutches, but I certainly did.  I never said anything and until writing this blog, remained silent, but I remember thinking at the time, Oh dear, he ain't happy.  It was just a feeling I had and the look he gave me. There was something about this man I already didn't like.

Anyway, off we shot round to the beach and it wasn't long after a quick hot chocolate that Tom was being greased up and ready to swim into shore.   I can't for the life of me think why anyone would want to do this.  It was freezing and pitch black, real spooky.  He set off with his glow stick protruding from his bottom into the night.  Even more spooky!  Then there was some more commotions from the pilot as he started yelling to turn the boat, turn the boat, get the torch on him. Again, I paused for a moment at this chaps attitude, but only having known him for 30mins or so, I dismissed it as a Health & Safety moment and forgot about it.

I hadn't seen Tom swim for quite a few weeks now due to my accident and when he pulled up alongside the boat, I instantly saw how his stroke had changed.  It was so relaxed and efficient and you could see he had really been putting the effort in.  Powerful, strong and long, he was looking confident and determined.

As the sun rose, the boat crew were relieved to get a bit of warmth on our backs.  Tom was feeding every hour, then every half hour and remained constant with his stroke pattern.  He was looking good.

Caroline had put in 110% with all the organisation as she had everything under control from the champers down to a mere safety pin.  We had it all and soon settled into a pattern of asking the pilot and co-helper every half hour, "hows he doing" so we knew what words to relay to Tom on his next feed.


After about 9hrs in, on one such chat to the pilot, he advised me that Tom needs to really dig his heals in as we are caught in a strong current and not making progress.  Well, as any channel swimmers will know, you have a 6 hour turnaround with the tides.  In simplicity terms, 2.5hours of tide coming in, approximately an hour of churning about whilst it gets ready for the 2.5hours to go out again.  It is so important that the pilot gets your starting time right as a missed tide can make all the difference in whether you make it across or not. I'll come back to this bit later.

So, we did what all crew should do, and encourage Tom to keep going.  We told him he was doing brilliant, but we had hit a difficult spot and he needs to dig his heals in and give it all his got for the next hour or so.

Half an hour went by and the same conversation happened again.  "hows he doing".  "Well, he really does need to pick it up.  He is not making much progress against this tide".  So again, we relay to Tom in our encouraging way that he was doing fabulous, was in French waters but its a killer tide so come on, really dig in mate until the next feed where we will be better able to judge things after an hour has passed.

Next half hour, at the signal to stop, Tom shouts up, "How am I doing now" and before any of the crew could answer, the pilot's voice came bellowing over the boat saying "Well you could do a lot better" !!  The tone and abruptness (in my opinion) was unnecessary.  Throughout the last 9 hours, I cannot relay how many times he had used the 'F' word just in general chit chat.  This man had a very aggressive mannerism.  I'm not easily offended so brushed it off, but like a lot of people, just thought, it was really unnecessary.   However, I had already been slowly getting annoyed at his mannerisms and I really didn't like the way he said this to Tom.  So once Tom was back on his merry way, I said.  "Would you mind not speaking to Tom in such a negative way".  To which he replied in his increasingly aggressive way, "Oh you want me to lie to him them do you"?    "No, I dont want you to lie to him at all, I am just asking you to be a little bit more diplomatic.  Tom needs encouragement and suppport at this stage and not such pesimism".  And again, to my amazement, the pilot then said "Oh I will shut up then".   Where did all that come from? I was gob-smacked.  I let it all pass as our priority was Tom but when the next feed time came around, I soon realised (sorry for this bit), what an arrogant, self opinionated, obnoxious man this pilot was.

As I was on crutches and the boat was rocking, it was so difficult for me to walk on what was now, an incredibly slippery floor.  So I said to the co-pilot, who was sitting next to me, my usual question "feed time about to come up, what's the situation, any progress?"  And this is where, for the life of me, I cannot absorb this response at all - "I have been told not to speak to you and I am not allowed to give you any information !!!!!!!  Jesus frikkin christ, what is this guy on.  Our swimmer has paid over £2,000 grand for this challenge and this sort of confrontation we don't need.

I was angry.  With the help of Matthew who held me up whilst I slid all over the bloomin floor, I hobbled into the cabin and how I managed to be polite I will never know, but as Tom was our priority here, I asked,  "Just about to do a feed, can you fill me in please on the situation.  To which this selfish man turned round and said to me, "I tried to tell you last time but you didn't want to listen".  Oh please, give me strength.    Not wanting to cause an argument, I calmly repeated, "No, I did listen, I just asked if you could not be so negative".    To which he said, "well if you had been here on time, this might not have happened" ??????   So what was all this about then.  Apparently, there seems to have been some confusion whereby we thought we had to be on the boat by 3.30am, but apparently, we should have been raising our hand on the beach at 3.30am ready to start the swim.  So, now I'm even more pissed off due to the mis-understanding and lack of correct communication, and the thought that the tides were against him from the off.

We argued for a few minutes and then I had to say, look we have a swimmer out there in the water and this is the last thing we need right now.  I apologise if you think I have spoken out of turn, but can we please put our differences aside and concentrate on our swimmer.

Thankfully, this was the turning point, as pilot proceeded to explain the situation and point out on the maps etc what was happening with this tide.  The awful news was that for the last  few miles, Tom had only actually moved forwards a couple of yards.  That was hard to take in.  So, with me and pilot on 'friendly' speaking terms again, Matthew and I called Caroline in who had remained by Tom's side to ask her what she wanted us to do.  She was the closest person to Tom and knew how it needed to be handled better than anyone else.  It was decided that the pilot (in his newly founded friendly approach) and Caroline would tell Tom the bad news on the next feed.

I cannot begin to explain how I felt at this moment.  I really thought he would make it across.  He looked so great from the start and his professionalism and confidence and attitude was top class throughout the swim.  I was devastated for him.  As pilot and Caroline told Tom that he would have to swim hard for another 10 hours or so, I felt the tears overcoming me.  So so sad.  They advised Tom to swim for just another 10minutes or so, to digest the news.  He could after all, still make it, if he had it in him to swim for another 10hours, but he had given so much for the last 10hrs that he was truly spent.

At the moment Tom climbed out, as a true gentlemen, he shook everyones hand and thanked us all for being on board and for the help we provided.  I gave him a hug and could not speak words as I was so choked up with sadness for him.

In my opinion, Tom would have stood a better chance if we had set off 1/2 hour earlier.  It may not have made any difference to the overal outcome, but I am cross that we are all left with this knowledge.  I'm not happy with the pilots attitude and constant swearing throughout the whole crossing but what's done is done.

I feel honoured and priviledged to have been party to his attempt and I know he has it in him to become a Channel Swimmer.  Very well done Tom, You were Fabulous.

So, roll on 2015.  Tony Marshall is attempting to cross the English Channel too.  And no doubt, Tom will be re-attempting it so I am sooooooooooooo excited for them both and can't wait to Bring it On.