Open Water Return For Ricks..

 great effort this morning by everyone 

not the best conditions for an open water swim..
but swimming as the snow fell made it a touch more fun wouldn't
you say
a lovely 45 minute dip, in skin ...2.8k ish ...

water Temp 10 , air temp 1

16/4/16

the Boys are starting to feel the effects of the cold water
shivers are starting to appear 

The boys have well and truly got the 

shakes and shivers  

click arrow in picture to see..;-)))

2 of the channel team had braved the open water the week early...

as you can see the water was a lot colder that we had expected..

we loved loved Caroline`s open water  tip...

"The Hardest Part Is to Get Your Nuts In " 

say no more...

to watch our painful entry click arrow in the picture 

Big Ricks are Swimming the English Channel
to France and back.!
in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
if you wish to help and support the Ricks team and Macmillan
please click the link below..thank you https://www.justgiving.com/teams/bigricks    

Tom Gregory -The youngest person ever to swim the English Channel

At the age of 11, Tom Gregory became the youngest person ever to swim the English Channel, driven on by an extraordinary coach. It's a little-heralded feat of endurance that won't be bettered.

when you have a spare 15 minutes, get a coffee and have a listen to this ..

Thomas Gregory was on BBC Radio 4`s Saturday Live . 

telling his story for the 1st time about how he and his inspirational coach John Bullet conquered the English channel in 1988 .. ..its a really great listen, Tom comes across a such a lovely man. 28 yrs on its still such an amazing achievement

(to hear Tom simple click the arrow in the picture above )

On The 6th of September 1988 , Thomas Gregory aged just 11yrs 11 months became the youngest person to ever swim the English channel

 ( a record that will never be beat )

Hot Tomato Soup 

for Tom 

Tom getting encouragement from
the inspirational   John Bullet  

( Tom is talking to Aasmah Mir and the Rev. 

Richard Coles on BBC Radio 4s Saturday Live 16/4/16 )

for more info about Tom`s swim check out this link
from the BBC about this amazing achievement
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35341642

The Winters Work Is Done ..

Big Ricks Double Channel Team 2016
Ross, Mrs T, Stu , Prince Charles , Basher and King Small 

1st channel Training session
November 2015, as you can see 2 members were sadly missing
but with us in some shape or form  

team Tops Arrive
big thanks from us all
 to Aggora for there Very  kind  help &support 

Well done to Channel team expat member Rob who completed his 2 hour cold water Channel test swim yesterday in a cold endless pool in Bangkok!

Snow Time
it was 6 months to channel day 

If all official
we are swimming to France & back
27Th July to 31st July 2016

No Channel swim is complete
until  the Team Hoodies arrive 

Four of the Ricks Channel team joined up with our Perry Beeches Team Mates 

to have a go at Staffordshire County Championships  , just to see how winters training had gone the team won 32 gold medals ,

 52 medals in total..   

we are now really looking forward to get back into open water in few weeks , winters training has gone great, the team are flying in the pool ... but as we all know pool swimming and open water swimming are totally different...but what ever happens over the next few months its going to be FUN .!!

these are just  some of many swim sets with have done with Ricks and with our Masters team mates at Perry Beeches SSS swimming club. hope you may find them useful..., to help you  look through them we need a Ricks Blog Tune....it can only be one ..the unofficially channel anthem by Frank Turner - If Ever I Stray..enjoy the song and enjoy the swim sets . some of them are Fun..;-) 

 click on arrow to play as you read

Big Ricks are Swimming the English Channel
to France and back.!
in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
if you wish to help and support the Ricks team and Macmillan
please click the link below..thank you https://www.justgiving.com/teams/bigricks