4 ms·

Channel Swimming Association

32 points by routeroff 4y ago

AtlasBarfed 4y ago
Channel crossing is usually critically aided by timing tides that help suck you out when leaving England, and suck you in as you approach France. https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/swim-advice/channel-tides https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/swim-advice/chann...
- patrakov 4y ago
  Is the EN -> FR direction in your post just an example, or is there indeed a significant difference in difficulty?
  - TwistedWave 4y ago
    From the association’s website, you can learn : France/England swims are no longer permitted. When the French authorities permitted these they usually started from Cap Gris Nez.
jwitchel 4y ago
Most open water distance swimming takes the tides into account. Here's an article that gets into it a bit with some data to boot... https://evanmorrison.com/swim/posts/manhattan-swim-tides/ https://evanmorrison.com/swim/posts/manhattan-swim-tides/
rusteh1 4y ago
My sister-in-law swam the channel a few weeks ago, under the supervision of a pilot from the linked association. A direct point to point swim is around 33km. Due to the tides and the timing of her swim it was a 58km crossing. Incredible!
jupp0r 4y ago
I learned about long distance swimming by reading Lynne Cox' autobiography "Swimming to Antarctica" (2004), which I can recommend if you are interested learning about the sport. She broke the womens and mens speed record for swimming the channel at age 15 and 16 and continued to pile on remarkable records all over the world. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7365713M/Swimming_to_Antarctica https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7365713M/Swimming_to_Antarct...
theoa 4y ago
I tried to swim the Channel but failed after 9 1/2 hours and 19 miles in 53 F degrees water. I did, however, win the award for the best disabled swim of the year 1980. https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/awards?award=39&year=1980 https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/awards?award=39&y... It's tricky when you only have one hand and you can't kick with your legs. So it goes.

32 points by routeroff 4y ago

Channel crossing is usually critically aided by timing tides that help suck you out when leaving England, and suck you in as you approach France. https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/swim-advice/channel-tides https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/swim-advice/chann...

patrakov 4y ago
Is the EN -> FR direction in your post just an example, or is there indeed a significant difference in difficulty?
- TwistedWave 4y ago
  From the association’s website, you can learn : France/England swims are no longer permitted. When the French authorities permitted these they usually started from Cap Gris Nez.

jwitchel 4y ago

Most open water distance swimming takes the tides into account. Here's an article that gets into it a bit with some data to boot... https://evanmorrison.com/swim/posts/manhattan-swim-tides/ https://evanmorrison.com/swim/posts/manhattan-swim-tides/

rusteh1 4y ago

My sister-in-law swam the channel a few weeks ago, under the supervision of a pilot from the linked association. A direct point to point swim is around 33km. Due to the tides and the timing of her swim it was a 58km crossing. Incredible!

jupp0r 4y ago

I learned about long distance swimming by reading Lynne Cox' autobiography "Swimming to Antarctica" (2004), which I can recommend if you are interested learning about the sport. She broke the womens and mens speed record for swimming the channel at age 15 and 16 and continued to pile on remarkable records all over the world. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7365713M/Swimming_to_Antarctica https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7365713M/Swimming_to_Antarct...

theoa 4y ago

I tried to swim the Channel but failed after 9 1/2 hours and 19 miles in 53 F degrees water. I did, however, win the award for the best disabled swim of the year 1980. https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/awards?award=39&year=1980 https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/awards?award=39&y... It's tricky when you only have one hand and you can't kick with your legs. So it goes.