Thursday, July 30, 2009

Finished!

Wednesday July 29th 2009 I swam the English Channel in 13hrs and 11min.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

SWIMMING THE CHANNEL TOMORROW

I just got my call, i will be swimming tomorrow morning at 4am my time.
Use this link to follow my swim and NOT the other one.
www.ais-doverstraits.co.uk and then click on follow Antasia and it will give you updates every 20min for my progress.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Update from England

Sorry for the delay in putting some news up.
Wednesday the 15th I met with Eddie Spelling to give him my final payment and discuss plans for the swim. He said that he will take me when the weather is good and swim able. We discussed possible start times and how my feeding's and swim will go. After my meeting I went to Boot's to order my channel grease for the swim, which is a mixture of Vaseline and Lanolin which I will use to cover my body during the swim. In the afternoon I went swimming in the Harbor in very windy and rough condition's which was good practice in case the weather changes during my swim.
Thursday the 16th I went for a swim in the Harbor, the weather was a perfect day for swimming with very little wind and the sun shinning. I also met another swimmer training for the channel from Japan, so we both got in the water together and her coach watched us swim, they were both very nice. That night a huge storm picked up with very strong winds and a massive thunder and lightening storm all night.
Friday the 17th I took the Ferry over to France and spent the day walking around. It was my first real look across the channel. During the boat ride their was 3-5ft swells and very strong winds with poor visibility. It showed me how having good weather can really make or break your swim.
Saturday the 18th I swam with the big of channel swimmer and was told by the Channel General (Freda Streeter) that I only had to do a 4hr swim, I had thought I would have to do 6hr swim but because my swim is fastly approaching I am on taper and not supposed to over do it. It was windy with some cloud coverage and a pretty good day for swimming. That night we had a night swim with the group. We met at 9:30 pm and entered the Harbor with glow sticks attached to our suit and google straps. Because their is a good chance of doing part or all of your swim in the dark it is very important do get some night swim practices in. Luckily we had some light from the near by building and ferry port so it wasn't as dark as I thought it would be.
Sunday the 19th I swam with the group of channel swimmers again. I only swim for 2hrs and 30min because my shoulders where bothering me and I wanted to be safe and not get injured before the swim. A little ice and stretching will help keep me feeling good.

I talked to Freda after my swim about how long she thinks I should be swimming in the Harbor each day and she suggested 1hr 30min to 2hrs so my body gets some rest and still stays used to the water temperature. Their has been a big series of storm's since Thursday night so their is no channel swimming going on right now because it wouldn't be safe.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

England

(Dover Harbor This Morning)

I arrived in England Monday July 12th. I had a short swim in the late afternoon in a near by pool just to loosen up.

Tuesday July 13th I had my first swim in the famous Dover Harbour. When I first showed up it was a surreal feeling and i couldn't believe I was their, after all my training it finally felt like it was time for my swim and all my hard training to come together. I showed up at the spot where channel swimmers normal meet on the weekend. I only expected to see a few people around but
their was around 20 swimmers their all getting their training in. It was a great scene because it really gives you a feeling of how divers channel swimming really is. Their where men and women of all different ages, sizes, and ethnicity's. I could here people talking in all different languages. When I was getting I saw other swimmers who have done multiple crossing's and where training other swimmer who were getting ready for their own swims in the next few weeks. When I was in the water I could see the big ferry's and cruse boats coming in and out of the harbor making waves when they went by. Dover harbor is close to 4 times the size of Aquatic Park where i train in San Francisco. Everyone on the beach was smiling, laughing and enjoying the sun and perfect training day.

Wednesday the 14th I am meeting my pilot to give him the final payment for my swim and try to plan my swim. I will put another post up tomorrow with details on the plan for my swim.

Their was an artical in the San Mateo Times about my Channel swim. The link to read the artical is http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_12817196?source=email&nclick_check=1