Thursday, June 29, 2017
PILOT WHALES SPOUTING RAINBOWS BY MIKE SCOTT
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
A Tribute to Johnny Gallant
The morning of my English Channel swim I had my son Tom write the names "Robbie and Johnny" on my upper arms. As many of you know, I started open water swimming after my brother Robbie died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 34. Robbie loved all types of sports especially swimming. He won the Peaks to Portland (2.4 mile ocean swim) twice. My son encouraged me to swim the Peaks to Portland as a tribute to Robbie. Little did I know that I would fall in love with the sport of open water swimming.
I've had many people ask me about my brother Johnny. I want to pay tribute to him, too. Johnny died at a very young age of 17. He was accidentally electrocuted during a physics lab class at Westbrook High School many years ago. His passing was a tremendous loss to our family. He was such a wonderful and caring brother. He was an all-around proud American boy. He was a newspaper carrier, altar boy, and a friend to all. He had a great sense of humor. Johnny loved sports, too. His favorite sport was track and field. In high school he excelled in track and won numerous track events in his very short life.
During my English Channel swim, I thought of Johnny and Robbie. As I slowly walked up the beach to the finish line in France, I thought of them. Because Robbie was the swimmer of the two, I said, "this is for you Robbie". Johnny would have been so proud of my accomplishment, too. And, he probably would have jokingly said "why didn't you run up the beach to the finish line."
Johnny this swim was for you, too. Love to both!
I've had many people ask me about my brother Johnny. I want to pay tribute to him, too. Johnny died at a very young age of 17. He was accidentally electrocuted during a physics lab class at Westbrook High School many years ago. His passing was a tremendous loss to our family. He was such a wonderful and caring brother. He was an all-around proud American boy. He was a newspaper carrier, altar boy, and a friend to all. He had a great sense of humor. Johnny loved sports, too. His favorite sport was track and field. In high school he excelled in track and won numerous track events in his very short life.
During my English Channel swim, I thought of Johnny and Robbie. As I slowly walked up the beach to the finish line in France, I thought of them. Because Robbie was the swimmer of the two, I said, "this is for you Robbie". Johnny would have been so proud of my accomplishment, too. And, he probably would have jokingly said "why didn't you run up the beach to the finish line."
Johnny this swim was for you, too. Love to both!
Sunday, June 18, 2017
2017 English Channel Swim update
Last year when I attempted to swim the 21 mile English Channel, I developed severe motion sickness and I made the decision to stop my swim. I was greatly disappointed but not defeated. I asked my boat pilot Reg Brickell if he had any cancellations for 2016........I wanted to try another solo crossing of the English Channel. He was fully booked because of his reputation as an honest and trustworthy boat pilot and he could not accommodate my request. The Brickell brothers want all swimmers to succeed with their goal of swimming to France no matter how long it takes. So last fall I booked my Molokai channel swim in Hawaii. After giving my deposit for my May swim of Molokai channel, I received an email from Reg stating that he had a cancellation for June. Knowing that I have a very fast recovery time after a marathon swim, I decided to swim the English Channel just four weeks after my Molokai swim.
I had a concern about the acclimation to cold water since I was acclimating to warmth for a few month prior to Molokai. I was monitoring daily water temperatures from the Sandettie Buoy in the English Channel that was updated every hour online. The readings consistently read 57 to 61 degrees. I was very pleased with that recorded water temp. On arrival to Dover, I found the water temp at high tide averaging about 54. Huge difference! I had a concern about my upcoming swim. My son Tom was my only crew. He did an amazing job! He stood on the boat for 18 hours monitoring my swim. I never saw him take a break.
Yesterday when I started my swim from Samphire Hoe, England, I noticed immediately that the water temp was a cool 54 degrees. About a mile into my swim, I felt chilled and had a concern about the water temp. Sometimes the water temp would reach 57. I kept telling myself that the closer I get to France the water temperature would rise. Wrong!!!!!! Occasionally I would feel warm pockets of warmer water around 60 degrees. But than an oil tanker would go by and would propel much colder water to the surface. Yikes!
By the second hour, I started to have doubts about my swim. I started to have frequent episodes of vomiting.......none of the prescribed medications worked. I was feeling like this was "Deja Vu" from my failed attempt in 2016. My boat pilot voiced his rightful concern about my vomiting.
By the 6th hour, the pockets of warmer water were infrequent. I kept telling myself that water temp would improve because the sun was rising and I would feel the gentle warmth of the sun. It did improve slightly but I was still cold.
By the 12th hour, I could see France. My doubts went away. I started thinking of swimmers who inspired me to never give up......Jackie Cobell who set a world record for the longest time of 28 hours to swim the channel. I thought of swimming legend Sal Minty-Gravett and her epic world record of a two way crossing of the English Channel. I didn't want to quit even though I was very uncomfortable from the cold water.
By the 14th hour, I knew I was experiencing mild dehydration because I could only tolerate sips of fluids. As I continued my swim, I noticed a very large dorsal fin piercing the water about 6 feet behind me. I said to myself, "Is that a shark?" I knew that sometimes marathon swimmers may experience hallucinations during a long swim. "I said to myself, "Pat, you are hallucinating!" So I continued swimming. After my swim, my son Tom said, "Did you see that large dorsal fin behind you? I thought it was a shark but it was a large ocean sunfish confirmed by the CSA Official." Shortly after the dorsal fin encounter, I was greeted by a medium size jellyfish. The sting was horrible. I had to stop my swim momentarily to remove the tentacle from my face. My upper lip had a long tentacle sticking to it. Ouch! Tom saw me rapidly trying to remove the jellyfish tentacles off my face. I jokingly said, "that's my welcome to France". We both laughed.
The last mile of my swim took nearly three hours to complete due to strong currents. I was being swept along the coastline for a beautiful scenic swim. I was finally able to reach the shore line and walk up the beach near the white cliffs at Cap Blanc. It was a fantastic feeling to complete my goal of setting a world record for oldest woman to successfully swim the English Channel at the age of 66 years and 135 days old.
The previous record holder is my Facebook friend Sue Oldham from Australia. She set the oldest woman record for the English Channel in 2010 at age 64 years and 258 days. Out of respect for Sue, I contacted her the day before my swim to let her know of my intention. She was amazing! She wished me success and a great swim. During my swim, she contacted my daughter to relay a message to my son on board. My son yelled to me during my 15th hour and said, Sue Oldman from Australia contacted Sarah and wants you to pull hard to get through those currents. I greatly appreciate her dedication to the sport of marathon swimming. She is planning to swim the English Channel at the end of this summer. I wish her much success in breaking my record. After all, records are meant to be broken.
I want to thank my son Tom for his amazing work as crew. He paid attention to every detail to help me become successful in reaching France. A special thank you to my daughter Sarah who posted updates on Facebook.....she was amazing! I want to thank my husband Jim who has always encouraged me to reach for my dreams. Also, I want to thank my extended family and friends for their encouraging words. Thank you to my former co-workers.....they are an awesome hard working group who sent me heartfelt words of support. I want to thank my boat pilots Reg and Ray Brickell for their expertise. And lastly, I want to thank all my Facebook friends who sent words of congratulations.
My last marathon swim to complete the Oceans Seven will be Cook Strait in New Zealand in 2019. Due to popularity of this swim, there is a long waiting list. But in the meantime, I will continue marathon swimming in other locations. Thanks again.
I had a concern about the acclimation to cold water since I was acclimating to warmth for a few month prior to Molokai. I was monitoring daily water temperatures from the Sandettie Buoy in the English Channel that was updated every hour online. The readings consistently read 57 to 61 degrees. I was very pleased with that recorded water temp. On arrival to Dover, I found the water temp at high tide averaging about 54. Huge difference! I had a concern about my upcoming swim. My son Tom was my only crew. He did an amazing job! He stood on the boat for 18 hours monitoring my swim. I never saw him take a break.
Yesterday when I started my swim from Samphire Hoe, England, I noticed immediately that the water temp was a cool 54 degrees. About a mile into my swim, I felt chilled and had a concern about the water temp. Sometimes the water temp would reach 57. I kept telling myself that the closer I get to France the water temperature would rise. Wrong!!!!!! Occasionally I would feel warm pockets of warmer water around 60 degrees. But than an oil tanker would go by and would propel much colder water to the surface. Yikes!
By the second hour, I started to have doubts about my swim. I started to have frequent episodes of vomiting.......none of the prescribed medications worked. I was feeling like this was "Deja Vu" from my failed attempt in 2016. My boat pilot voiced his rightful concern about my vomiting.
By the 6th hour, the pockets of warmer water were infrequent. I kept telling myself that water temp would improve because the sun was rising and I would feel the gentle warmth of the sun. It did improve slightly but I was still cold.
By the 12th hour, I could see France. My doubts went away. I started thinking of swimmers who inspired me to never give up......Jackie Cobell who set a world record for the longest time of 28 hours to swim the channel. I thought of swimming legend Sal Minty-Gravett and her epic world record of a two way crossing of the English Channel. I didn't want to quit even though I was very uncomfortable from the cold water.
By the 14th hour, I knew I was experiencing mild dehydration because I could only tolerate sips of fluids. As I continued my swim, I noticed a very large dorsal fin piercing the water about 6 feet behind me. I said to myself, "Is that a shark?" I knew that sometimes marathon swimmers may experience hallucinations during a long swim. "I said to myself, "Pat, you are hallucinating!" So I continued swimming. After my swim, my son Tom said, "Did you see that large dorsal fin behind you? I thought it was a shark but it was a large ocean sunfish confirmed by the CSA Official." Shortly after the dorsal fin encounter, I was greeted by a medium size jellyfish. The sting was horrible. I had to stop my swim momentarily to remove the tentacle from my face. My upper lip had a long tentacle sticking to it. Ouch! Tom saw me rapidly trying to remove the jellyfish tentacles off my face. I jokingly said, "that's my welcome to France". We both laughed.
The last mile of my swim took nearly three hours to complete due to strong currents. I was being swept along the coastline for a beautiful scenic swim. I was finally able to reach the shore line and walk up the beach near the white cliffs at Cap Blanc. It was a fantastic feeling to complete my goal of setting a world record for oldest woman to successfully swim the English Channel at the age of 66 years and 135 days old.
The previous record holder is my Facebook friend Sue Oldham from Australia. She set the oldest woman record for the English Channel in 2010 at age 64 years and 258 days. Out of respect for Sue, I contacted her the day before my swim to let her know of my intention. She was amazing! She wished me success and a great swim. During my swim, she contacted my daughter to relay a message to my son on board. My son yelled to me during my 15th hour and said, Sue Oldman from Australia contacted Sarah and wants you to pull hard to get through those currents. I greatly appreciate her dedication to the sport of marathon swimming. She is planning to swim the English Channel at the end of this summer. I wish her much success in breaking my record. After all, records are meant to be broken.
I want to thank my son Tom for his amazing work as crew. He paid attention to every detail to help me become successful in reaching France. A special thank you to my daughter Sarah who posted updates on Facebook.....she was amazing! I want to thank my husband Jim who has always encouraged me to reach for my dreams. Also, I want to thank my extended family and friends for their encouraging words. Thank you to my former co-workers.....they are an awesome hard working group who sent me heartfelt words of support. I want to thank my boat pilots Reg and Ray Brickell for their expertise. And lastly, I want to thank all my Facebook friends who sent words of congratulations.
My last marathon swim to complete the Oceans Seven will be Cook Strait in New Zealand in 2019. Due to popularity of this swim, there is a long waiting list. But in the meantime, I will continue marathon swimming in other locations. Thanks again.
Friday, June 16, 2017
2017 English Channel swim....IT"S A GO!
I will attempt a solo crossing of the English Channel on Saturday morning June 17 at approximately 5 A.M. (England time). England is 5 hours ahead of Eastern time zone. For those back home in Maine, my swim will start around midnight Friday night (Eastern Time Zone). I will be swimming under the rules of the English Channel Swimming Association. A channel official will be on board to monitor my swim. My son Tom is my crew. Many of you are aware that it was my son Tom who encouraged me nearly 20 years ago to try my very first open water swim in memory of my 34 year old brother Robbie who died suddenly of a heart attack. Tom inspired me with his words, "Ma, you can do it, if you try." Twenty years ago I considered myself a spectator mom. I never imagined that I would fall in love with the sport of open water swimming. My swim will be in memory of my brother Robbie and Johnny (who died at the age of 17 in a tragic school accident).
Reg and Ray Brickell will be piloting the Viking Princess. They will have a tracker activated the moment my swim commences. Please click on the link below. Once you have click on the link, click the highlighted words "view track". You will be able to view the path of my swim. Most channel swimmers will swim in an inverted "S" pattern due to strong currents. Also, you may visit the English Channel Association website and click on "Live Tracking" and click on the Viking Princess. Since a tracker is provided, my daughter Sarah will not be posting updates. Regardless of the outcome of my swim, I will update my blog within 24 hours of completion of my swim.
My swim will start from Shakespeare's Beach in England and I will swim 21 miles across the channel to France. On Saturday my age will be 66 years and 135 days old. My friend Sue Oldham of Australia is the current record holder for oldest woman. She was 64 years and 258 days old when she set the record in 2010. She will attempt to swim the channel again later this summer. I wish her much success. I firmly believe that it's important for the younger generation to know that marathon swimming can be a lifelong sport. It's an adventure of a lifetime.
http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/tracking
Reg and Ray Brickell will be piloting the Viking Princess. They will have a tracker activated the moment my swim commences. Please click on the link below. Once you have click on the link, click the highlighted words "view track". You will be able to view the path of my swim. Most channel swimmers will swim in an inverted "S" pattern due to strong currents. Also, you may visit the English Channel Association website and click on "Live Tracking" and click on the Viking Princess. Since a tracker is provided, my daughter Sarah will not be posting updates. Regardless of the outcome of my swim, I will update my blog within 24 hours of completion of my swim.
My swim will start from Shakespeare's Beach in England and I will swim 21 miles across the channel to France. On Saturday my age will be 66 years and 135 days old. My friend Sue Oldham of Australia is the current record holder for oldest woman. She was 64 years and 258 days old when she set the record in 2010. She will attempt to swim the channel again later this summer. I wish her much success. I firmly believe that it's important for the younger generation to know that marathon swimming can be a lifelong sport. It's an adventure of a lifetime.
http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/tracking
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Daily News of Open Water Swimming.....The World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women
I am deeply humbled and honored to be named in this prestigious list.
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2017/06/2017-worlds-50-most-adventurous-open.html
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2017/06/2017-worlds-50-most-adventurous-open.html