Let’s introduce you to Sharon!
Sharon is from Sydney, but has been in living in Melbourne now with her partner and dog for a number of years.
Here is her epic story about achieving dreams, and the realisation that even as you are doing it – you’re brain is telling you to stop. Read on and enjoy…
Why do you Open Water Swim?
It is something I wanted to do for so long but never had the courage to get in the open water for fear of the unknown, what could be lurking in the water ready to attack me. If I couldn’t see the bottom, I wasn’t getting in.
I bumped into a long time friend I had not seen for 10 years and she told me she was doing OWS and doing 10km swims. I mentioned to her that I wanted to do OWS for a long time but was too scared. She encouraged me to tag along with her and some her friends at Mentone in Melbourne’s Bayside. I did, it was October and freezing. She also introduced me to Mentone Pink Caps swim group where I started my OWS swims, 1km, then 2km, then 3km then progressing onto bigger distances.
Has swimming always been your chosen sport?
No. I did a lot of pool swimming and swim meets growing up, water polo at school and Triathlons for 5 years in my early 20’s. I stopped swimming for a very long time. I did Crossfit for 7 years before deciding to get back into swimming. It wasn’t until Summer of 2018/19 that I took up OWS.
What landmark marathon swims have you done?
Pros and cons of the sport?
Pros – the comradery with other swimmers, health benefits especially when swimming in winter, life long friendships, always meeting new people and giving back to the swimming community to help others along their first journey, getting to swim with sea life such as dolphins, seals, nice sharks, sea horses, beautiful sting rays, schools of fish. It’s kind of mesmerising being amongst the habitants of the OW. Makes you want to learn so much about them and their behaviour.
The support from others when preparing for long distance swims – the mental support, the coaching, the boat crew, the kayakers, the skippers, training buddies.
Cons – getting in the water in the middle of winter when it’s cccoooollld but it does turn out to be a buzz afterwards. It’s the getting in part that hurts…LOL!! Jellyfish, Bluebottles geez, they can pack a punch. Swimming into rubbish. I once swam into a syringe. Lucky the cap protecting the needle was still on. Big bad sharks, not that I have come across one yet but I’ll be running on water when I do.
Sea sickness. Yes, it does happen.
Preparing for long distance swims can be a lonely sport. Not everyone needs to join you in your training swims. You need to be comfortable swimming on your own for long periods of time. It can be very boring.
What is the English Channel swim?
It’s a swim between England and France. The first successful attempt was 25 August 1875 by Captain Matthew Webb.
Dover UK to France where?
The typical landing spot in France is Cap Gris-Nez. But the tides can have you landing anywhere south of Calais to south of the Cap.
How many KM’s as the crow flies?
34km (21 miles)
How do the conditions vary?
Greatly. There are 2 different tides. Neap tide and a Spring tide.
A Neap tide is where water the volume of water moving through the channel is slower, calmer, very little swell which makes for a smoother crossing.
A Spring tide is where the volume of water moving through the channel is fast, choppy, surfy, with big swells which makes for a rougher crossing.
How cold is the water?
My crossing in mid-Sept was 19 degrees. The UK did have a summer heat wave which warmed up the water considerably. Depending when you swim in the season, early and late in the crossing season will see cooler temperatures around 15-16 degrees. Middle of the season can be anywhere between 17-19 degrees, although, 2022 season did see 20 degrees.
I do believe global warming has had a huge impact. If we were to go back and check the temperatures historically, it would have been colder.
Is sea life a factor?
Not really. I did not see any jellyfish but others have had lots but you can swim through those. I spotted dolphins which was later confirmed by another swimmer who managed to get a ‘aerial show’ from them.
I’m sure there are sharks out there, but the channel is very busy with boats and ships, just try not to think about them.
Why is the boat you go on so crucial – can’t just take out a dingy?
No, you cannot take a dingy. A support boat is crucial for a number of reasons:
What’s with the pebble? a souvenir?
Ha ha, yes, it’s a souvenir. I didn’t get a pebble from my landing as I landed on rocks. I certainly couldn’t put a rock in my bathers. I got my pebbles from Dover instead. That was the best I could do. You write the details of your swim on the pebble.
The accommodation I stayed in, Churchill Guest House, scattered around the accommodation are pebbles of successful swimmers. Name, date, time, country. It’s great to see when you go there. Gave me inspiration to make sure I wanted to complete mine successfully and add my pebble to their collection.
And you get to sign a wall in a pub?
Yes, the original pub to sign the wall is The White Horse. You can no longer sign the wall there. There is another pub, Les Fleurs. Only successful solo swimmers can sign the wall of which I was one of them.
What is the separation zone?
Think of the English Channel as a highway. The separation zone is the medium strip of the highway. Tankers, ships are not allowed to enter the separation zone. They travel north and south. There is the North West lane and a South West lane. They have their own lanes. Up one side, down the other. The only vessels that enter the separation zone are ferries crossing from England to Europe, chartered swimmers and you’ll find refugee boats in there.
How many hours did the swim take?
My swim took me 15hrs and 17mins.
What time did you expect it to take?
I had it in my mind, somewhere around 14 – 16 hours. 16 hours was being conservative. But I knew if I started in the dark and ended in the dark, I would have been swimming for longer than 16 hours and I would not have been happy.
How do you go about booking a channel swim?
You need to go onto the Channel Swimming Association or Channel Swimming & Pilot Federation and read up on the listed pilots. You can only cross the channel with one of these registered pilots. You need to email them and/or speak with other swimmers who have used those pilots and ask for their recommendations.
How hard is it to get a slot?
Traditionally, the pilots open their diaries once a year in March with the swim in 2 years time. Once you’ve spoken and chosen your pilot, you’ll need to keep your ear to the ground when their diaries are opening and be ready to click the send button on your email. You’ll want to know what swimmer number and swim window you want and have that included in your email, along with alternative dates. If you are lucky to get it off quick enough, you may get what you want. But you gotta be on the ball.
Then it’s a 2 year wait.
Depending on recommendations from other swimmers and their history with the pilot, you may be able to book a slot before their diaries open. Or if other swimmers are booked and had to pull out for some reason, you may be able to take their slot and swim much earlier then the 2 year wait.
Is it expensive?
Let’s say, yes. I paid £3,300 just for the pilot/boat. Then you have the association registration fee, the observers fee, flights, accommodation, etiquette is to pay for your crew’s accommodation, need to factor in all the training with a coach, pool entries, strength and conditioning if you are doing a program, nutritionist plan, masseuse/chiro.
Then if you want the souvenirs that go with your swim – you can get an Admiralty Chart done of your swim, a Vellum Certificate.
All these things add up – is it worth it? Absolutely.
Did you need to take someone official with you?
Yes, there needs to be an observer from the association you have registered your swim with. They will do a full report on your day out in the water. You can request to see the report afterwards.
I have mine and it’s entertaining to read what went on as you are non-the-wiser.
How many support crew do you need?
I have 2 previous channel swimmers and my sister on the boat.
Some people have no-one and you can book local support crew to join your boat. That’s the least of the issues.
Anything out of the ordinary unfolds? Any drama’s outside the massive task at hand?
Not to get injured before your swim – you really need to look after yourself mentally and physically.
You need to be prepared to wait until the weather is suitable to swim. Whilst I was ready to go and all I wanted to do was get it over and done with, you need to have patience which is hard. We were heading out 2 days earlier then my planned swim window and it turned out there was an issue with the bilge pump that needed to be replaced and we would have missed the tide so we opted for the next high tide. Others have had to wait 5 – 10 days into their swim window before they could get a swim in.
Did you swim for a charity?
Yes I did. It was the Australian Lions Hearing Dogs. They prepare and train dogs for those that are profoundly deaf or hard of hearing. They are based in Adelaide. Their 1970’s premises need upgrading along with gifting recipients, free of charge, the trained dogs. To train 1 dog, costs around $37,000. They need all the support they can muster as they do not receive anything from the government.
So far I have raised $6,000 with a little more to come from Grill’d Local Matter money jar in Southland. https://alhd.raisely.com/sharon-young
What sort of training do you need to do?
I trained for other longer swims as mentioned previously. About 6 months out, I would increase volume up to 35km a week on avg. Hit the pool the high intensity work outs with a squad.
Did you have a coach?
Yes I do, ‘Butch’ – Robert Butcher. He hauled in 10 medals at the 2019 Australian Masters Games, has competed in several Masters World Championships and a regular competitor at the bi-annual World Life Saving Championships representing Australia where he has held several world records and has been crowned Victorian Master Lifesaving sportsman of the year.
Butch is inducted into the Australian Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame having guided hundreds of age, open and masters swimmers in the pool, open water, triathlons, adventure racers and surf life saving.
Butch has coached 20 swimmers for the English Channel along with other long distance swims.
Was it everything you thought it would be?
Yes, plus more. The roller coaster of emotions is enormous. I took on the English Channel as just another swim. I was only swimming from here to there and that’s it, nothing more, nothing special.
In the lead up to the swim, you are constantly thinking about what you have got to do from day-to-day. Train. Rest. Recovery. Have I done enough? I need to do more. Sleep some more. Don’t over train. You are constantly undermining yourself. But you need to trust the process and try not to ‘buy’ into that self negative talk.
I wasn’t nervous when I was standing on the beach at Samphire Hoe in Dover. It wasn’t until I was somewhere in the channel, that it hit me. I spiralled down into what felt like a 6hr mental battle. Holy crap, what am I doing? This is massive. There is no way I can do this. I so wanted to get back in the boat but my support crew were not going to let me. I was reassured I could do this.
What’s next?
I need to re-do Port 2 Pub as the final swim of the Australian Triple Crown. It’s a 25km swim from mainland Perth the Rottnest Island. It’s not the Rotto swim, that’s 20km. I attempted the swim back in 2021 and was not successful. It’s not the easiest of swims as you are against the clock the whole way. There are cut-offs along the way. If you don’t pass the cut-off by a particular time, you have to get back in your boat.
This swim will take place on 18th March 2023. I need to get this done!!
What is the Swimming Hall of Fame?
There are a couple Hall of Fames. International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) and Australia Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (AMSHOF).
They are both for legends within their respective Hall of Fame. Whether that be swimmers, coaches or administrators – they are officially recognised for what they have achieved.