 |
| The Beautiful English channel How calm and peaceful does the old girl look...! Its Only 5 Days Until Big Ricks get to swim against her once more who will come out on top..?? Dover here we come..... |
"We need your support"
Working Together We Know This Swim Can Make
A Difference To Peoples Lives...!!
A Difference To Peoples Lives...!!
 |
| In The Words Big Ricks Captain Cash...!! Its Only A Double A Channel , and I like it, like it yes i Doooooo |
 |
| Big Ricks Double Channel Swim Team 2012.. The Usual Suspects Line Up..(L to R) Richard "THE DON" Brownjohn, Rob " The Captain " Cash, Paul "Basher"Bates , Gary " Big Edge "Edgington ,Stuart "The Gimp" Dugmore and Finally Darran " Super Camp" Dyke |
Paul "Basher "Bates
What can you about say "Basher" Bates? Well Paul is the self appointed founder and coach of ‘The Big Rick’s’ outfit!!! He is a sports nut ( he`s annoyingly good at most if not ALL.!!! ), his love for all things sports related is very apparent for everyone who knows him (including his poor wife!), his particular love affair with swimming really is infectious To anyone who comes into contact with him, and I do mean anyone!!! All 5 of us know (and it goes without saying), that with Paul’s constant coaching, nagging, texting, calling and emailing, there is no way he will let us be anything less than 100% fit and ready to swim the 2 way Channel in June 2012!! And we mean NO WAY – God help us all!! Paul is 43, married to the gorgeous Justine and has 2 wonderful children. Paul works in the family engineering business based in the West Midlands.
|
 |
Stu “The Gimp “Dugmore
The Gimp’….or as Stuart is more affectionately known to us all; Dougy!! Doug is the self appointed drinking and party organiser for ‘Big Ricks’...did I say party...!!. Oops I meant important team meeting organiser! As you all know it’s a very important job for any team, particularly this ONE....!!!, Doug is arguable the fastest swimmer in the team, he has been a ‘ Staffordshire, Midland and British ’ swimming champion many times over in the past and now he has taken up the challenges of open water swimming with same success. , He is the youngest in the team at only 38...and has a beautiful older partner in Lisa...!! And 2 wonderful sons. Doug works in the family carpentry business of bespoke kitchen and bathrooms in the West Midlands.
|
 |
Darran “Super Chest “Dyke
"Super Chest"; Is ‘the main man’ in Big Rick’s team, He`s our very own ‘Super Star.!!’; the former Great Britain and England freestyle swimming God of the 80`s...!! He is that ‘Super’, his massive calf's are made of iron, his 36 inch chest is made of solid steel and he has heart of pure Gold.!!!!, Daz is the thinker in the team (well having one always helps !...) he has a scientific and crazy way of thinking about things .! Most of it is total madness; but if keeps us all amused. Darran is to modest to tell you himself , but he was the best sprint freestyle swimmer in Great Britain the 80`s and still is, he is the currently the Midlands and British Master 100m champion,! Darren is 46, he has a beautiful partner Karen, and 2 great boys and works as a freelance architect all over the West Midlands and UK.
|
 |
Gary “The Edge" Edgington
Words fail me when it comes to describing The Edge..! Mean, Moody and Magnificent maybe... (Well that's what it says on Gary's Business card)! The Edge, is the handsome one in the ‘Big Rick’s team., he was once in The final of Mr UK in the mid 1990`s, but as he would not reveal his manly chest on Channel 4’s ‘Big Breakfast’ , sadly he came last in the final behind Mr Blobby..(Only joking thinks it was 4th really.). Gary is a top swimmer, swimming at National level in the 80`s and 90s, Since returning to swimming (after a decade of) open water , he has been getting better year on year and if his back stays strong Gaz has the potential to the best swimmer of all of us..! The Edge is also the cold water king of Ricks, having swam all yr..and yes that means through the winter months in water as cold as 4 degrees ..!! Gary is 42, married to the delightful Annette and has 2 beautiful daughters. Gary works at Rider Levett Bucknall Ltd in Birmingham.
|
 |
Rob "Chunky Boy" Cash...
What Can you say about cashy, Well he is legend in his own mind...! A Giant of a man., almost 6 foot around the middle at last measure .and he is our Captain.!! Rob is 45; He's married to the Beautiful Paula and has 2 great sons, He Works for A.F Blakemore & Sons in the West Midlands. Chunky is a great sportsman. loves his Swimming and his Water polo.. , but Rob in particularly is a very good At Water Polo, (Along with Richard) He has been part of successful Walsall`s Midland and National League winning Teams for over 25,..Yes that long..!!
|
 |
Rich "The Don” Brownjohn
The Don..!!!..Big Bad Rich is the Muscle in " Big Ricks Outfit" , Okay, he May be built more like Arnold Schwarzenegger than say Michael Phelps...but forget his size, because when" The Meat" is back to 100% swimming fitness, then watch out, as god he will swim fast...! Richard is 48 years young; he has a beautiful partner in Philippa, and great son. Over the years Rich has been a top class Water Polo Player, and still is..!, He has been part of a successful Walsall`s Midland and National League winning Teams for over 30 yrs. Richard like Rob, Works for A.F Blakemore & Sons in the West Midlands,
|
 |
| Marcus "Earl Gay " Alsop Marcus has done a remarkable job since coming in as late reserve in April , (as cover just in case Richard was unable to swim ..), He Was never a fan of skin swimming in open water, but as the months have passed , The Earl has been getting better and better , and without doubt the big man will be with us for future swims..Top effort Marcus from all the Team |
 |
| Rob at our 1st early morning Saturday training session at the Gala baths in Walsall A massive thanks to all the staff who have looked after us so well over the winter months |
And Well that's just about it for Ricks, after 9 months of Pool Training, 4 months on open water training , in the Words of Ricks Captain, its time for the talking to stop and its time for us to finally Rock N Roll...in less then 6 days Big Ricks will be in Dover awaiting the call from our CSA (Channel Swimming Association ) Channelling Pilot god Mr Fred Mardle...to inform us that our long awaited attempt at Double swim of the English Channel is a Go.........!!!!
 |
| Ricks winter training went to plan...well it would in beautiful warm pools , .!! however our the open water training has been very tough, and i do mean very...With the English weather being at its most worst for yrs and yrs the water and sea temps around the UK are well down on what is the normal for this time yr and we do mean way down.......;-(( lets just say swimming this past few months in open water has been on the Fresh side of freezing ..;-)) ( picture above was in Bournemouth in May, when the sea temp was under 10 degrees, almost 4 hrs training was done ) |
 |
| well if you think this looks fresh,, you`d right...big ricks star The Gimp ( aka Doug) enters a grim looking swan pool for Sunday morning training in April..... the water temp that day was 7 to 8 degrees at best..but still we did an hours training |
 |
| A team picture before another shocking weather day... this was the worst day of all this yr..even the life guards would not let us do laps of the Swan pool, as it was unsafe for them.!! and so we had to stay close to the quay .... 8 degrees , another hour swam |
 |
| Yet more sea training for the team in June... with each time we get in , the more and more we have got used to the cold ..!! |
 |
| Massive thank you To Mark`s and Big Ricks Friend ,
Nick Gillingham MBE, Double Olympic Medallist,
World, European and Commonwealth Champion
And World Record holder... |
 |
| Massive Thanks to current World 10k champion Keri-Anne Payne for her continuing help and support ..All of team and everyone in Great Britain wishes Keri Anne the best of luck for London 2012.. |
 |
| Big Rick.. The amazing Mark Rickhuss... |
Having lost our great Friend Mark `Big Rick` to Heart Disease and with having 2 ladies very close and personal to the team currently fighting breast cancer...we won`t for second forget or question the reasons why we are doing it..
Tens of thousands of people lose their lives to Heart disease and Cancer each and every year....it’s does not have to be this way..The work the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK do in the UK is amazing even more amazing is that they manage do all this incredible and life saving work purely by charitable donations , not one penny is funded from the UK Government .Ricks have seen at 1st hand what can be done , if only these 2 charities had the funds to do it...., any support,( no matter how little ) you can give to these 2 unbelievable charities through the Big Ricks Virgin Just Giving Page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/bigricks
 |
| Big Ricks Channel Outfit..!! |
Any donations , not matter how small will go a long way towards giving better futures to thousands so many special people in the UK! Thank you all for all your kind words and of support and encouragement over the last 9 months I hope you have enjoy our blogs and adventure so far....now it’s time for the biggest adventure of all ...I hope you stick around an enjoy the show in the coming days and weeks ....it will be fun for sure...
Thank you and see you on the way to France shortly...Big Ricks Swim Team XX
(If you would like to track Big Ricks Epic channel swim then simple click this link, to http://www.shipais.com/currentmap.php?refresh=2&count=33&map=folkstone , it shows all the ships and boats leaving Dover and Folkestone every minute of every day.,.Big Ricks Boat is Called Masterpiece..simple move your mouse over the green or red boats and fingers crossed you will find us...between all the ferry s and super tankers..)
Big Ricks Swim Team are attempting a Swim For Life in June of 2012
we are doing a 2 way swim of the English Channel in aid
of
The British Heart Foundation
and
Cancer Research UK
The Fight To Beat Breast Cancer
if you wish to help and support with our
"" Swim For Life ""
( to donate simply click the link above )
Together We Can Make A Difference To People Lives.
HELP US TO BEAT
Heart Disease And Breast Cancer
Thank you.for you amazing support
.Big Ricks Swim Team x
 |
In the words of The Fab Four....anyone fancy a day tripper...to France and back to England ....?? who would be crazy enough to do that......Ricks would...( simply click on the arrow on the picture above to hear Britain's finest at their best) and while you listen i,d best find my passport....we are off to France you know...;-))) Rx
|
