EC Qualifying Swim Experience

'Behind every success, there are multitude of failures, false starts, unplanned circumstances, unexpected situations and unsuccessful attempts'

Doc would be proud of the form, Elbows Up!

I 'retired' from my swim at 4 hours and 45 minutes yesterday short of the 6 hour minimum objective for this trial effort. Good news is I fought the good fight in pretty cold conditions and mentally had more than enough in the tank to keep going. Today I believe a combination of factors treated me to a lesson. On the bright side, I have plenty of time to "punch my ticket" as Doug likes to say. next time I will be relaxed and even more confident.

When I began this journey it was with the intent to share publicly just that, my personal journey, to cross the English Channel. My intent to share openly (despite the council of some very accomplished coaches and fellow swimmers) the successes, failures, challenges and lessons learned along the way both physically and mentally is not without its caution. A point well taken, however I am not deterred in revealing these sides of this wonderful sport in the hopes that through my experience a few might take a dip, take a chance and explore there own dreams wherever they lead.

As mentioned before, my effort ended at 4 hours and 45 minutes. The combined water temp and air temp early that morning started at around 56f-ish water and 45f-ish air.  Ultimately this proved too big a hill to overcome combined with what I believe was an equally important nutrition/feeding challenge of not being able to consume enough calories and electrolytes per hour necessary to fuel the huge energy requirement of my body to both stay warm and swim. I'll explain a bit the overall physiological impacts and others feel free to add in replies.

The up side is my conditioning was not in question nor my mental state. Not sure which came first but not being able to pee early perhaps due to feeling full or simply the cold shutting down my muscle usage in "that area" what ever the reason, just wasn't happening easily. Anyway feeling dreadfully full made me not want to consume additional feeds easily after the first hour or so. This is probably the underlying reason for cramping in my legs and then the onset of shivering much later that followed and I will describe as the day progressed. My high carbo feed source is made up from (maxim 100 mg/hour (4 scoops) rate) with protein (25 mg/hour rate) and Gatorade pro electrolytes powder (two scoops equal to one 8 12 oz. standard bottle by volume). I take in 8-10 ounces of this mixture every 30 minutes. I had previously used this mix ratio successfully in my Boston Light House Race where I ran the 8 plus miles in 3 hours, partially tide assisted. Thus, I do not believe the nutrition itself was a problem. I believe the inability to feed fully created a calorie deficit and it's a slippery slope going forward to make this up whiling expending these huge amounts of energy. One addition to my feeding scheduling new was drinking warm tea in tandem during my feed stops. In retrospect this probably took up valuable stomach space displacing very important calories and the desire to drink other foods. This is an important lesson, in the future warming my carbohydrate mix kills two birds with one stone, getting food plus warmth. I really do not believe the cramping was related to anything other than depletion of food sources and electrolytes in my body. My god I have swum almost 600 miles this year alone preparing for what lies ahead?



It was not easy stopping. But in the end I knew it was the smart and safe thing to do. Swimming back out and having things get worse was not something for myself nor my wonderful crew of volunteers to wrestle with in deep water. Hauling my big ass into a canoe, as Red correctly pointed out earlier in the day during or safety talk was not a task for the faint of heart!

I typically swim around 2-2.5 miles per hour so give or take 10 miles for 4:45 time is probably fair. But the experience swimming for such a long period of time in that cold of water is priceless and I consider a huge success. In retrospect, I feel the combined water/air temperature experience has made me a much stronger athlete. Learning to listen to my safety crew, would perhaps have made a difference starting later? The experience with feedings while seemingly a small thing turned out to be huge thing. Stopping completely for feedings does not work for me. It was a necessary failure to learn now as this marathon swimming is more than just the English Channel for me…yes I am hooked

To my safety crew and volunteers. I cannot thank you enough. You give me hope, encouragement, counsel and kept me safe doing something that probably most folks consider nuts anyhow. But this is what I do, these are the people I like who do this. Am I addicted to open water swimming, you bet, there is nothing like bobbing in the middle of a lake watching the sun rise with not another living sole around (except for who is swimming with you or crewing near by). Bill and Red, thank you very much for supporting me, what a wonderful surprise. The rest of the McConnell clan thank you for kayaking and feed stops, next time I will eat a bit more. Eric and Lex as fellow triathletes and swimmers I hope you enjoyed this experience and your kayaking workout, I'll swim with you two anytime. Lindo, thanks again for the wonderful access to Lake Zurich and your hospitality. Being awarded an official hat certainly was a nice touch. Marcia the coaching is what got me to this point and its been a great experience, I have learned so much and appreciate your time and effort. Lots more to come. Laura, Marita and everyone else thanks for the warm wishes. Doug what you said to me on the pier privately meant the world and Jennifer thanks for supporting my crazy dreams.

I am already thinking of where I can go a get another one in, anybody care to join?

Oh, one more thing. I read recently that my former teammate from Goshen Craig Kercher got in some good distance swims in the recent indoor 5 and 10k swim, congrats. Lake Travis would be a fun one to do together?

Qualifying Swim this Sunday

Well after a wonderful time in California to celebrate my parents 50th wedding Anniv. with family and friends back to swimming. Got a couple of nice San Francisco bay swims in so I am ready.

My training partner and teammate Doug McConnell was able to get his swim in at 6 hours and 15 minutes so he has paid his dues.

Sunday at 8am we start and I know it will be a great experience. I have a whole bunch of folks joining me as a support and safety crew. let you know how it goes a bit later.

Qualifying Swim on Hold

"All good things come to those that wait"

After a week of good cold swims (low 60f's and air temp's in the 40f's) we were hoping for a green light for the big qualifying swim but mother nature had another idea. Saturday (Today) and Sunday winds are 20 knots plus which makes the wind chill a huge factor on top of swimming in 60f water. 

We are holding and unfortunately for me the next window will be in two weeks as family and business occupy the following weekend. 

I will share with whom reads this blog that a bit of anxiety has persisted in my thoughts. Stepping into this unknown mental and physical territory has raised some small doubts about what happens when and if I hit the wall, like marathon runners? I have never swum this far before time wise but am confident that the distance is well within reach. But given the variables its just one of those steps that must be taken.

500 Training Miles in the Bucket, A word on safety, Qualifying Update

Logged the 508th training mile today.

Open Water Safety.  After trekking 45 minutes down to Lake Michigan hoping to get a swim in at Tower Beach we arrived Marcia and her husband were there (Mark) and we or actually I should say, I, decided it was too rough. The wind was 20 knots from the North, Northeast and the whitecaps were on every wave 3-4 feet. Usually waves aren't a big deal and we can swim just out past the breakers but today the breakers were well out several hundred yards and although the water was 61f this was not a good combination without a safety boat. We turned around and drove back to Lake Zurich and got in a 2.4 mile training lap in 64f water which was a fast one at 54 minutes so a good day. Sun was out and that always helps.

Qualifying Swim Update: We continue to plan out or 6 plus hour swim and have most of the safety crews, boats lined up. We will be confirming the date based on water temperature as as of this morning its was 64f so just waiting.

Qualifying for the English Channel - So how does one go about this?

"If you set your goals ridiculously high and fail, you will failed above everyone else's success"...

Catching Up on the Past Few Weeks:


Its been a couple weeks since I posted anything and until this past week the mileage has been about half of the normal but I am back in full swing now logging 25k yards per week and will soon be scaling up to 30 plus. Boston was a great swim but taking a bit of break was well deserved.

Met with my coach, Marcia Cleveland and co-heart training buddy Doug McConnell this week to layout the next years training plan. Looks like once we complete the 6 plus hour cold water qualifying swim in the next few weeks (60f or below water temp is required?) we'll be back to normal training until April when we will do the Tampa Bay marathon swim (24 miles, ocean but warm water - purpose to check distance and ocean affects on body, mind and foods to eat, etc. without the cold so training can be adjusted). Will plan to be back in cold Lake Michigan early April as much as possible and then do another 8-10 hour swim late spring/early summer. August 2011 is the Channel so everything will build to this. I can't believe I have already put over a year into this! I remember when I started I could barely finish 2000 yards without being tired, go figure. I couldn't handle cold water, waking up at 5 am, eating really funky foods, etc. I have everyone to thank for tolerating me and this dream, the crazy schedule, time away, standing in the cold watching me swim or just sending wonderful email notes. Thank you very much.


English Channel Qualifying Swim:


Echoing my thoughts on how I got to this point, I now look forward to the next several weeks with a bit of trepidation knowing that lurking out there is the biggest test yet of my mental preparations but also physical. 6 hours minimum in water 60f or colder. I have previously written about other cold training swims and races but wrapping my head around swimming for 6 plus hours AND 60f is really tough. Today I was in Lake Michigan for an hour in 54f - 56f water, grey skies and air temps. hovering around 65f. It was bone chilling, burned like I can't even describe getting in but was able to calm down and focus on swimming as the time went on. Will do this again Sunday and as much as possible in the next days leading up to the fateful phone call from the coach...tomorrow is the day...

The basic plan is to start at 4am (yes, your reading correctly 4am, pitch black darkness and cold). Swimming the EC starts 24/7 so swimming in pitch black cold wavy water is part of the gig. Well I am about to be baptised in a big, big way.

At these water temperatures, hypothermia is a very real safety concern. We take great care to monitor each other. Also strangely enough what you eat as your fuel is critical. Your body is effectively consuming food to produce energy for two things, the swimming strokes themselves and the to generate heat! So this will be a very important part of our qualifying swim planning.

We are also having to plan for kayaks and safety people to be with us the entire time. They will have the authority to stop the entire swim if they fell we are in danger. They typically test you during a feeding stop by asking simple questions. Not being able to speak clearly and answer the specific question asked is a hallmark early sign of hypothermia. We can increase food intake quickly or stroke rates to compensate this but its a slippery slope once it begins. all of this is the purpose of doing this now, to test where I am, what needs more work. there is plenty of time to make mid course corrections.

From a mental standpoint, the deprivation of staring into blue green water for what seems to be an eternity is something I am not sure how to imagine? How do train for this? I think the best I can do is to layout a plan of swimming "x" times back and forth from the peer to the beach or something that can give me a mental goal that can be attached to the physical demands on my body. I suspect the emotional aspect of this "test" will become very evident and at some point I will simply have to buckle down and say to myself this it, its now or never, if you give up now what will you do next summer in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!

So as plans progress I will keep everyone abreast of plans. I hope to have some video and pictures of this and if I can find someone with great IT skills will maybe even try to to a live GPS plot so those of you interested can watch live or I guess while your drinking coffee.

The Daily News of Open Water Swimming: Old School vs. New School Of Open Water Swimming

The Daily News of Open Water Swimming: Old School vs. New School Of Open Water Swimming: "Most recently, there have been several wetsuit-clad marathon swims of note from the Bering Strait to northern California. In the Old Sc..."

Boston Light Swim Redux - "The Granddaddy of American Marathon Swims"

Here is a recap for those preparing for Boston. ask for Charlie as your Captain. see you in 2012!


This past Saturday my team - dubbed "Get busy living or get busy dying" (wife Jennifer, daughter Rachel, Captain Charlie Cahill and myself) successfully completed the 8 mile cold ocean marathon race in Boston Harbor - from the Light House back to shore through the beautiful National Park Island Group. 

The Boston Light Swim has been a tradition since 1907, the oldest open-water marathon swim in the United States of America. Participants begin the race in the water at Boston Light on Little Brewster and continue past George's Island and Rainsford Island, under the Long Island Bridge, around Thompson's Island, finishing 8 miles later at the L Street Bathhouse in South Boston. Here is the link - http://www.bostonlightswim.org/history.html . 


This race is considered an important step for those seeking to cross the English Channel and get a benchmark, its cold (we started in 55 - 59f water depending on where you jumped), its the ocean (aren't there monsters!), its wavy, tides push you around and very, very long.


Here is the press release: Fast Swimmers and Favorable Conditions Equal Speedy 103rd Boston Light Swim

AUGUST 15, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SOUTH BOSTON, MA—In near-perfect conditions yesterday, 25 solo swimmers and 4 relay teams entered the 59-degree water off Little Brewster Island and began swimming the 8-miles to South Boston as part of the annual Boston Light Swim. The swim begins in the shadow of America’s first lighthouse and wends its way across the inner harbor past Georges, Rainsford, Long, Spectacle, and Thompson Islands to finish on the beach at L-Street in Southie. The event is the longest running open water swim in the country and has been dubbed “The Granddaddy of American Open Water Swims.” The technically difficult cold-water endurance feat is a proving ground for many swimmers with designs on someday swimming the English Channel. This year, two English Channel veterans, Dori Miller, 39, of Bondi Beach Australia, and Lance Ogren, 39, of New York, NY, finished second and third among the solo swimmers. Ogren was the solo men’s winner with a time of 2:42: 57, while Miller was the second solo swimmer and second female swimmer, finishing a mere 30 seconds behind Elizabeth Mancuso, 24, of Brookline, MA, who won the swim in a time of 2:42:15. A third Channel aspirant, Dave Barra, 45, of High Falls, NY, finished the swim in 3:00:31. He is headed to Dover, England next week for his solo English Channel crossing. Robert Fernald, 43, of North Hampton NH, and David Lee, 35, of Newburyport, MA, finished second and third on the men’s side while Sheryl Bierden, 37, of Westwood, MA, rounded out the women’s top three. All four relays finished the course. The first-place relay comprised of Seb Neumayer, 27, a two-time winner of the solo race, Santiago Lima, 34, and John Kelleher 26, finished second overall, just four seconds behind Mancuso, with a time of 2:42:19. All three swimmers are from Cambridge, MA. “Having so many swimmers coming in all at once to a near-photo finish was remarkable and an unusual conclusion to this year’s race,” said Greg O’Connor, Boston Light Swim Race Director. “In long swims like this, the swimmers usually spread out a lot more, but we had a really exciting finish with three solo swimmers all in the hunt for the win.” O’Connor says the spring tide which tends to produce faster currents and higher tides may have contributed to the overall speed of this year’s event. A high caliber of entrants was also noted. “We had some really amazing swimmers out there,” he says.

Solo Swimmer Results with age and time: 1. Elizabeth Mancuso, 24, 2:42:15 2. Dori Miller, 39, 2:42:45 3. Lance Ogren, 39, 2:42:57 4. Robert Fernald, 43, 2:52:35 5. Davis Lee, 35, 2:58:23 6. Humphrey Bohan, 35, 2:58:43 7. Dave Barra, 45, 3:00:31 8. Don Macdonald, 48, 3:01:08 9. Douglas McConnell, 52, 3:08:49 10. Sheryl Bierden, 37, 3:15:57 11. Eileen Burke, 47, 3:24:23 12. Kyle Murray, 51, 3:30:22 13. Kim Garbarino, 52, 3:39:26 14. Mike Hodel, 33, 3:39:58 15. Courtney Paulk, 40, 3:44:38 16. Ralph Macintyre, 59, 3:47:56 17. Alan Morrison, 48, 3:48:40 18. Rachel Golub, 33, 3:50:00 19. Dave Evangelista, 47, 4:14:45 20. John Daprato, 57, 4:23:44 DNF: Suzanne Sataline, Kenn Lowy, Dave Osmond, William Dailey, Darlene Awalt Relays: 1. Seb Neumayer, Santiago Lima, John Kelleher, 2:42:19 2. Doug McKell, James Walker, Bobby Dawe, 3:36:26 3. Mike Ribeiro, Rebecca Osborn, 3:45:57 4. Amy Wu, Silverio Bracaglia, 4:03:31

Here are some other pictures and commentary - 

Imagine going to a place you have never visited, meeting someone you are putting your life (and that of your family) in the hands of you have only talked to on the phone, motoring out for 45 minutes at full throttle in a tiny 21 foot Boston Whaler (in the ocean) and watching the City get really small... knowing you will soon be swimming back? Here is what 8 miles looks like from a swimmers perspective! 


I can assure you the mind rages with thoughts...what in the %$*#@% ... are you doing Donald? 


Then out of no where, the Race Director is on the radio 5 minutes to start... tick, tock, tick, tock...1 minute... tick, tock and then bang the gun goes off... In the end, I will share my personal perspective that it must be like knowing you are close to death. You accept what is in front of you. As the 1 minute warning was made I was relaxed and calm. BANG! NOW SWIM LIKE HELL!

Boats lining up for the start. The water is so cold you cannot warm up. This is something you must get used to and push through in the first 5-10 minutes. As you jump into the 55-59f water, your breath is sucked out of you and your skin feels like its on fire. For me (and this will sound a bit crazy, my training in Lake Michigan in 58-63f fresh water prepared me very well. Fresh water tends to "feel" colder due to the salinity differences (think of the opposite of adding salt to boil water?).

Just after the start, a few backstroke pulls. For perspective, the island on the right is only 1 mile and we'll swim just to the left around the corner past another island and on for several miles to the Long Island Bridge.

At this point as mentioned above, its cold, strokes are short and you feel like your jerky.

The incoming "flood" tide pushed use past this island in 20-30 minutes I guess so we were moving fast. Mentally the next thing you see is the island and your thinking, hey this isn't so bad...then reality set in and the second island came slower and so on. I was a little concerned that I was slowing down so at my 30, 60 and 90 minute feed stops I asked what my stroke rate per minute was and to my delight, I was holding steady at 45-47 cycles which is pretty consistent for my stroke. I tend to take long stretching strokes and have learned to keep my head facing straight down (thanks Marcia Cleveland for this advice!) to relieve neck pain.

Here is a picture of another swimmer heading for the bridge I mentioned. This is about 4 1/2 miles into the race. By this point the flood tide has almost stopped. We swam under the second peer just our of the picture on the left. We were in the ship channel for a bit (the coast guard had stopped traffic on our side) and you could feel the current. Here the trick I was told was to stay to the right side. There is another island just past the bridge and this current will eddy behind the island and really slow your progress. I got lucky again with advice from Marcia C. and we swept to the right. About a half mile past the island the flood tide stopped in what they call "slack tide". Now it was just like swimming in a pool, no currents. Now the harder part came to bear. The last three miles seemed to go for a long time. I zeroed in on Dave Barra in front of me and began the long slow track to reel him before the finish. He is a great distance swimming and today I just couldn't quite get there although at the very end I was less than 200 yards away. Later David would tell me his coach told him where I was and that he really had to push to stay out front. By this point, I knew the finish was less than a mile. I buried my head, it hurt, and just stroked away. Finally coming to shore I felt the sand bottom on my hand and I took a few frog jumps to stand up and begin trying to run. When you have been in very cold water your body shunts off blood flow to all but the necessary parts, thus trying to stand up is very hard.

Here I am stumbling up the shore with Jennifer, Rachel and Charlie in the background. frankly the running part is harder than the swimming part.

For those of you wondering, yes, that's a Speedo. Go ahead and laugh! But the rules of the English Channel Association will not allow you to use anything more, so I decided long ago why train or race in anything different? This way I am prepared "as is".








In the end, it was a great swim with great family and friends. Here my training partner and friend Doug McConnell a former Illinois Univ. standout swimmer and my daughter Rachel soaking up the warm sun rays and delight of the moment. I was blessed to have my family (and Doug's as well) and also my sister and her family with us on this trip. It makes a big difference knowing you have people supporting you.

Thanks to everyone and now the real training begins!