Some would say there is something not quite normal about waiting around in Folkestone harbour at about 12.30am on a Wednesday morning in the cold and rain waiting for the tide to come in, so we can board our boat Masterpiece to travel the short distance Samphire Hoe beach to start our channel attempt...But Who ever said swimming the English channel was normal
We Thought ( and hoped ) as we left Folkestone harbour we were heading into calm seas .! How wrong we were as soon as we left the safety of the harbour walls the sea came alive.., lets just say for the next 10 hours or so the sea would just be a little bit choppy and leave it at that.....
1st In for Ricks was Basher...
we Think Paul was a wee bit nervous about jumping into the sea in dark at 1.15am, and then having to swim into Samphire Hoe Beach alone walk out of the sea , before then waiting for the signal from the Boat to start swim.!
2nd in was The Gimp...Doug 2.20am
Doug put in a great swim in the tough conditions.. it was almost impossible
to get any rhythm in the rough sea. but Doug managed 2 miles..Top effort..
3RD in was Super Chest ..Darran..3.20am
Darran like Doug did a great swim in tough conditions.
Daz was just a little unsure before he went in.but did a great swim
4th in was The Badger.....Gary 4.20am
The Badger swimming as dawn breaks over Dover..its about 5.am
Finally the sun started to raise about 5am...it was beautiful sight to see.
Gary looking good and strong.
Gaz had a very tough hour as the dark turned to Dawn
5th in was The Don...Richard..5.20am
Richard had a bit of company on his leg..The Don really loved the 6ft waves that came his way after The Evergreen Tanker went past..;-))
Richard Looking great...the big man always give 100 %.
Paul trying to get some sleep or he is feeling seasick and needs to lie down
6th In The Captain...Rob .6.20am
Rob swimming great....6 hours in i`m not sure any of us have ever swam harder
in our swimming lives than we did in those 1st 6 hours
Daz put together a short Video of the swim 6 hours in with Richard, Rob,Paul ,Doug and Gary swimming.
Don`t you just love him...20 minutes after he had finished his Hour swim, big Richard was on the Bacon Butties , Not sure Gray and Nicky approved as they were feeling just a little Rough at the Time
Nicky does not look amused at Richard cooking Bacon
So You thought the channel was easy..!!Gaz taking a well earned rest
before doing his next hour later in the morning
In the next few hours the swim get even harder...swimming against the tides just was not fun for any of us...but ever said channel swimming was fun....Think is was Paul.??
Paul on the 7th hour leg 7.20am ... Paul had a good swim apart from 1st choking on the waves from yet another Tanker and then being sick from inhaling the diesel fumes from the Boat for an hour....What a wimp..
Paul,s fore mentioned Tanker..!!
Doug`s away on the 8th hour..8.20am
Doug was off like a shot... he swam his heart out this hour..
2 to 2 1/2 miles against tide was a great swim, he could hardly drag
himself out after ..he was that exhausted
Super getting ready for his 2nd hour of swimming at 9.20am ,Darran won 1st prize in who could wear the smallest pair of trunks on the day competition ..!!;-)
Darran put in maybe the swim of the day...he worked his mini trunks off.
not sure how far Daz did in his Hour, but for sure it was the fastest swim of any of us. Super was gave everything and like Doug could hardly get out after the hour
Gary getting ready for his 2nd Hour at 10.20am.. for this hour gaz would have
some company in form of ricks super reserve Nicky
Nicky picked a tough hour to swim, she was aloud to swim,but could not swim in front of Gary, as he was the official swimmer for that hour .Sloppy swam great , we are sure at some point in the future Nicky will do a solo swim of the channel
Gaz Away on what would be a bloody tough Hours swim for the Badger..
Gary had to swim full on against the tide and currents ..,but Gary stuck at it , and brought us within 4 miles of the french coast..top swim big man
The Don.
Richard getting ready for his 2nd hour, at 11.20am, we are were only 4 miles
from France could The Don be the one to take us into the beach....????
Richard swam his heart out for this hour, and i mean he gave everything.
Fred ( our pilot) said this was the toughest conditions of the swim.
but the big man never gave up and got us with in touching distance of France.!!
The Captain.. 'Cometh the hour, cometh the Chunky Monkey'. Rob knew it was down to him to get us into France, not matter how long it took, the Masterpiece could not get get any closer to shore so it was down to the Captain to do the last mile or so into the beach..Come On....
WE MADE IT.....
Cap Gris-Nez beach in France. Rob swam great to get into the beach, So finally after swimming through the night, over coming the strong tides, currents, swells, the tankers, The jelly fish .!!!..we made on to France soil 11hours 10 minutes after leaving Samphire Hoe Beach in England
Video of all The Team Arriving on French Soil
11 hours and 10 minutes after leaving Dover
On the beach , giving ourselves a well earned pat on the back..its been a long 9 months of hard work to reach this moment...!! we were a little be disappointed not get any where near the record time, but as our boat pilot Fred said ..!! That's Channel swimming for you, you can never know what conditions the sea will throw at you..!! when anyone attemps the Channel , just be happy to finsh, because many have tried and Most have failed....!!! We had finished ,and We had done it for Mark......
Ricks Channel Team 2011
Any one fancy a Mug or 2 of Champagne.!!
Once the swim was over, we headed back to Folkestone ..after a few glasses of champagne it wasn`t long before the whole team were a sleep...it had been a hell of trip..and everyone had give 100% ...
Doug,Gary,Richard and Rob....were all exhausted
The Famous White Horse Pub in Dover
its more commonly known as The Channel Pub..everyone who swims the channel comes here to record their swim on the walls of the pub..its an amazing place to be, its amazing to be able to put our names along that of Mark and the other Great Swimmers who have done it over the yrs
Marks swim recorded.....it was a very special moment when we found it ..
not one of us said a word...just looked at the words for ages,
i,m guessing we all had our own moment to think about Big Rick..x
A very Proud moment for us all when we wrote this...
somehow it made all the hard work of the last 9 months worth it and so much more..!!
The End..!
WE Salute you Mark...
you will Never be forgotten x
Mark Rickhuss
CHANNEL SOLO SWIM 29/7/99
E-F 9HRS 18 Minutes
Big Ricks Swim Team...
CHANNEL SWIM 20/7/11
E - F 11HRS 10 MINUTES...
Ricks team have swam the channel in memory of their Friend Mark Richuss and in aid of Cancer Research UK and The British Heart Foundation . We hope you have enjoyed our journey over the last 9 months.. If you still wish to Support us in anyway, THEN YOU STILL CAN , just by clicking link below it will take you to our Virgin Just Giving Page where you can Donate ,
Every penny you give will go to help save Lives..!!
Yo!..We had a think about a classic tune to finish of the Blog. and after a few rubbish suggestions from the Captain Chunky , (who is Al Jolson..?), We thought this song would finish things of perfectly, and as we were just having our first beer at the time it seemed to it the good choice for the night ahead..!! its the top song by The Black Eyed Peas.. I Gotta Feeling...
For 9 months we have been doing nothing but focus on swimming The English Channel .focusing on the 19th and 20 th July 2011....as that is when the attemp will take place,Well that date is now only 6 days away..... .!!!! This is a short walk down memory lane as to what adventures we have been through as a team to get ready to Swim..enjoy...
(27/11/12).. its 6.30 Saturday Morning, its showing -5 in the Car, and its Snowing...!! But Nothing will stop The Channel Training.!!
Okay,...are you sitting comfortably, Then let our story begin....!! It's 6.45 on a Saturday morning, it's dark, it's wet, it's damp and it's freezing !!! and that's just in the changing rooms.!!!, we have talked and talked about swimming the 'Channel' as a team for what seems likes years, but today is the day we start the 9 months of training for the big swim on the 19th-20th July 2011 ..!!!! December 2011 click to see all Big Ricks December blog archives Pauls short video on the 4/12/10...its a bit snowy The 1st team training session took place at Walsall's Gala Swimming Baths..5 of the team braved the cold water and began the start of the long road to fitness and hopefully glory in 9 months time .!and after today's swim, the road is more like a motorway ..but we will get there one way or another.!!..( blog 20/11/10 )
Captain Cash already for 9 months of hard work
4/12/10
Its been a funny old week .The training part of week has been great, everyone in Big Ricks Team (apart from Gary with his bad back and old Flabby Chest Darran with his illness ) , really are starting to get there general swimming fitness back to level where we can really push on with the much harder and longer swim sessions in the new year without any worries, which is great news, as the 100% Swimmers in the Team thought the Water Polo Boys Richard and Rob might take until the End of January to get back up to speed.!! but that's so not the case.., sorry for doubting you guys.... ,
Ricks Got great support of an old mate from Walsall SC days
Nick Gillingham ( dec 2010 )
Saturdays (11/12/10 ) swim really was promising , We had a go at our very First hour long none stop swim, Dougy and Paul managed to do over 4000m, ( well they are both still swimming pretty much full time still , well ok 2 times a week.!! ) Richard did a great swim around 3600m and Captain Cashy was doing great until he slopped of after about 50 minutes,because as we later learnt his good lady wife was going Christmas shopping and he was told Don`t Be Late Home Or Else.!! .! ( blog 14/12/10)
Big Ricks Xmas Party
January 2011click link to see All Big Ricks January blogs archives We have managed to do 4 ( 1 and 1/2 hour ) sessions this week, the extra session has been secured with the help of Perry Beaches Sutton Swim Squad who have very kindly given us time (and a lane) on Sunday afternoons' to train, so a 'Big Ricks Team' Thank You must go to Helen, Mandy, Gary and Keith and everyone involved at Perry Beaches for there amazing support.
short Video of teams 1st session of 2011 @ David Lloyds GymThe Team were all very lucky when Santa came knocking on Christmas Eve.. Everyone got Micro Fins, Nick( Mr Average) got a matching pink Pull Buoy and Kick floats off Mrs Pee, he also along with the Badger (Gary) got very nice cute Waterproof MP3 Players.!!! Mm mm (no team comment yet.!!). and talking of cute The Gimp (Doug) has had a nice pair very "very" brief and skimpy trunks off his older partner Lisa...(don`t worry a picture will be forth coming)!!! ( blog 9/1/11 ) This Weeks Sessions.. Monday 10/01/11 & Thursday 13/01/01 Warm Up...
X 2 ( 400 FC 10r, 300 Back as 100`s K,D,S 10r after 300.) (1400m) Pre Main..
12x 1 Fly Kick Underwater (33m pool) with fins.. Rest Heart rate + 50% (400M) Main Set..
3 X 1000 FC...30r.....(3000M) Swim Down..
400 Gentle FC and Back. Wednesday 12/01/11 Warm UP..
300 FC, 200FC,100FC..3 x(4X1 Medleys), 100 easy swim (1000m) Drill Work.
5x 100 backstroke . 1st V catch up, 2nd arm by side Catch up,3rd spin out back,4th twist back with fc 5 stroke back turn on your front 5 fc and so on. 5th ( 4x1`s) sprint kick.
5x100s fc ( broke down into 4x1s of 25 second per len, 4th 1 choice..)15r per 100. (1000m) Main Set
3X 300 FC of 4.15 .. good even paced swim.
followed by easy 100 recover (1000) Sprints.
4 x 50 choice..race pace of Starting blocks...times to be taken and Noted..!!100% effort.(200) Warm Down
200 easy Back.(200) Saturday 15/01/11 warm up
400 fc/back gentle work out (400m) Main Set..
1hour 15 minutes straight swim..( working on an even paced..its a hard swim to do) (5000m) Warm Down.
easy gentle 400m choice (400m) Sunday 16/01/11 Warm up..
200 easy FC followed by 4 x 100 ( broken down into 50 at 50% effort, 50 at 75% effort) (600) Kick
8 x 50 ( alternate 50 at 100% effort, 50 at 75% effort) (400m) Pre main
4x 50`s ( 25 easy 25 100%)
4x 50`s ( 25 100% 25 easy) ( 400m) Main Set..
4x 500 ( 50 at 100%, 200 at even race pace , 50 at 100% hard, 200 at even race pace)
this is a hard swim if done right..looking to hard of race pace...! then recover back then 100% again) (2000m) Swim Down
400 gentle Back and FC....
HARD WEEK..!! over 20,000m done..but we did it ,!
This week started with a bang ( well a team 24,000K swim), as Big Ricks Team Were proud to take part in the World Wide ' Swim For Your Heart Day '....We Have to give a Big thank to Antonio Argûelles. who runs The Martà Foundation in Mexico...who kindly sent us Swim For Your Heart Swimming Hats, which made us all feel like we were really taking part in the event, Antonio had over 1400 swimmers taking part in a swim on the 14th February in Mexico all in the aid of the Heart Foundation...!!.. Check out the website...we made the front page. www.swimforyourheartfeb14.com ( blog 16/2/11)
Well it seems like Big Ricks Team have been challenged ..!!!, Well i love a challenge ,as do most , especially in this Team...!!!
.see attached email from The Swimming Times.Editor...Peter
well i see in this month's edition that a team of six is chasing an "unofficial" record for a six-person team with an average age over 40years..... I am sure we have a statistician who'd know the answer, but at the
risk of causing upset to what is, in any case, a very worthy cause,
I'd throw in the 9hr 40 of the Lido Legends, August 2005 (Seafarer,
Chris Osmond) as one swim that clearly beats the record.
The average age of the team was 45 and would have been much higher if
it were not for the youthful Emma France. With other ladies from the
team being correspondents on this group, a full listing of ages is
available only by private email should documentary proof be requested!
So, can anyone beat that?
If not we'll hang on to the record until further notice then....
I’m sure they will see it if you put some sort of reply in the piece in Swimming Times
Thanks
Peter
Swimming Times Editor
The Magnificent Seven
Nicky,Richard,Rob,Paul,Gary, Stuart ,Darran
1st Open water swim 3/4/2011 at Swan Pool Birmingham
Paul,Rob,Dan( Channel God)Nicky,Gary,Richard
Breaking the Ice at swan pool...first time cold water.. April 3rd
okay...so Dan gave us all a 10 minutes briefing before we got in the water.. all about safety and how we would freeze like a ice cream if we went to far the first time , you all the normal jokes one uses , just to make us feel that little be more worried than we all ready were.. but seriously Dan gave us great advice, he could see we were worried, but with a few well chosen words he gave us all the confidence that we would be okay !!
Dan would not let us just go off and do laps of the lake, as we thought we would easily do ,, as he knew full well we would not make it half way round the lap at best, ..so we kept in simple...swim close to shore..., between the 2 closest buoys ( about 25m apart ) that way if we had any problems we could get out no problem..!
Captain in pain
So lets do it , we stripped to our trunks on the lakes edge...which gave the local dog walkers and watching sailing club a good laugh.!! and stepped into the less than inviting water.!! first thing that came to mind...was OMG ...this is cold..but as we dived in that feeling soon passed, as the real cold set it...!! its hard to describe in words what it was like, we have done loads of open water swimming for years, but always later in the summer and mostly with wet suits on..so they came as a bit of a shock to the system for all of us..!!
Doug with the only safely whistle
your body feels like its on fire.!! its really strange feeling, you are cold but your legs feel warm., Your face goes numb for the first minute or 2 then it feels great,!! we swam for about 15 to 20 minutes , just up and down between the buoys , all of us were feeling okay...but after 20 minutes or so really started to feel cold, could not feel my feet, hands and strangely my shoulders..! started to find it hard to swim.., so we called it a day , and tried to walk out ,so funny we were all over the place...even more funny was trying to get changed as the shivers came in...we were shaking that bad could not even hold and cup of tea...just kept spilling it.!! the whole experience was strangely enjoyable for us all, well if jumping into a freezing cold lake in early April can every be enjoyable that is. , its a good job really as we have to do it all again next Sunday and for the next 3 months..!!!
Royal Wedding Swim @ The Swan
Friday 29th April
This has to be watched....Its Nickys Royal walk of Shame out of the Swan 29/4/11
All Smiles after the 3 hour Channel test swim is Over.!! Apart from Gary, who i think has fallen asleep standing up.
All Day........!
Sunday the 22nd of May was the day of Big Ricks channel test swim... we planned to do three x, one hour swims with an hour rest in between each, if was planned like this to see if we were all up to the challenge of the swimming an hour then trying to get warm before having to swim another, just like we will have to do come July in the Channel..! Conditions on arrival at Swan pool at 8.30am were far from ideal as you can see in the Video above.., but as Ricks channel coach 'The Mighty Dan Earthquake' told us ..these conditions would be seen as normal in the channel..!! think he was trying to cheer us up , as some of the team were looking a bit nervous...!!
Not Sure what to say about Captain Cash Here...either someone has just told him we are swimming for a third hour..? or This is what 2 hours of swimming in freezing cold water looks like when all you have to eat is egg fried rice.!! we did it....over 3 hours , for 18 laps , getting on for 15k swam and god did it feel further...everyone in the team swam great, if it was never in doubt that we were fit enough to swim the channel but now having swam this test i know we are mentally ready to swim for hours and hours if needed
The Boys in their very fetching Dressing gowns are all smiles after finishing the test.. it was a job well done.
And All Of The Night........!
Big Ricks Night Swim @ The Swan.. ( 10.15 at night ,froze but we can still smile )
Okay...a day after our test swim, ( Monday 22/5/11) and we are back at the Swan at 8.30 at night., getting ready for a practise night swim...!! all of us are still very sore and tired from the previous days 3 hour swim , so maybe it was not the best timing to do this tonight, but with bank holidays etc coming up over the next week or 2, it was now or never , plus it was the only time we would be able to do it safely with Dan .
still another hour to wait
the water was colder...or it felt colder ( Dan said it was all in our minds ) but when we got out everyone had the shivers big time..! this swim was very use full do for all of us, as we know if we are to swim a fast time in July we will have to start very early ..about 4 or 5 am most likely when it will be Dark....!! Big Thanks to Dan and Paul for their help and support tonight , and making it enjoyable and safe..!!
Big Ricks team are swimming the channel in aid of Cancer Research UK and The British Heart Foundation . If you wish to Support us in anyway ,then just click link below and Please give what you can. Every penny you give will go to help save Lives..!!
