Crazy Craig Swims The English Channel: Surviving Self Isolation!
Craig & his dad flying over the Atlantic in their personal protective equipment
This is part II of my English Channel adventures! You can read part I here! This post is all about my trip over the pond to England and my 14 day isolation period before the swim. Luckily it wasn’t all bad because my dad made the trip with me! With that let us jump back in from where we left off. It was July 12th and my dad and I were on our way to England.
Flying was interesting. Both my dad and I had our 3 masks on and a face shield. We asked to be seated in an area that had no one within 3 or 4 rows of us in any direction. This was an easy request to fill because there were at most 20 people on the massive airbus meant for 300+ people. Once we arrived, we went through customs which was stressful, but we had done all of the tracing forms ahead of time. We also had negative COVID tests from 48 hours prior so we wouldn’t’ have any issues entering the UK.
Once through customs, we were on our way to Canterbury to start the 14 day isolation. I decided on Canterbury, because I could rent an entire house very cheap. It had a back yard that I could work out in and I could easily get groceries delivered so we could follow the 14 day isolation. Canterbury is only about 30 minutes from Dover as well. The first 10 days were spent at this AirBNB, then we spent the rest of the trip in Dover at the flat owned by some other channel swimmers.
Once settled into the house in Canterbury, I was starting to get excited that this swim was so close but we still had to get through 14 days of self-isolation before I could hit the water. I immediately established a routine that I felt would keep me fit and ready to go. We had nowhere to go and there was still not enough time in the day to get it all done. The routine made the days fly by.
For the next 10 days I would wake up and then do an hour of Inferno Hot Pilates class. Then after the Pilates class I would do a yoga class from Yoga With Adriene. Once the morning workouts were done, I would then go to the tub and fill it up and would lay in the water up to my neck for around 1 to 2 hours. The water was around 57F and would warm up to 60F by the end. After this, I would have lunch and sign into work.
When everyone took a lunch break at work, I would do 30-60 minutes of jump roping followed by another 45 to 90 minutes in the cold bath. Then I would sign back on to work until 9pm. After I signed off, I would video chat with my wife and then go to bed around 11pm. Then I would wake up and start again.
The cold water is scarier to me than any of the other challenges the English Channel throws at you. These daily cold baths helped me to take control of that fear and it paid off. Before I knew it, we were there for 10 days and we were moving to the new flat in Dover. I followed this same routine for a few more days in Dover until I could start swimming again.
This routine really helped keep me together both physically and mentally. I never had time to get in my own head and start breaking down mentally. I also had a few calls with Dan to go over last minute prep for the swim and what I should be doing for swims once I can swim. I also had a few video chats with Joe and Rob which always lifted my spirits and got me stoked for the swim. They were almost more excited for the swim than I was.
I decided to take the week of my swim window off from work. There were some things going on and I really didn’t want work stuck in my head. I had come this far and I wanted to stay focused so I could set myself up for success. Once we got to Dover and the quarantine was over, I was able to start swimming again.
Our flat was in the perfect location. We were a 5 minute walk to Dover Castle, 10 minutes to Swimmer’s Beach, 5 minutes to the grocery stores and 15 minutes from the Viking Princess II which made things pretty easy for us.
Our new routine from then end of quarantine until my swim day was to wake up and have some breakfast. We would then walk down to Swimmer’s Beach and meet up with some other swimmers and get in 1 to 2 hours of swimming. After that we would head to M&S Food, which is my new favorite store, to get some food for lunch and dinner and then we would go back and relax until it was time to go to bed.
When I could finally start swimming again, I wasn’t nervous about how I would swim but I was nervous that I would find the water cold. My cold baths worked! The water felt very comfortable and I started to get a little more confidence. Everyday up until my swim day, we would wake up then head down to Swimmer’s Beach for shake out swim. Although I was feeling good with the cold, I was swimming each day with some very accomplished channel swimmers and they all smoked me. I didn’t need lunch after these swims because I was full scarfing down their bubbles when they would leave me in the dust.
Once our quarantine in Dover ended, my dad and I met up with Reg and Ray from the Viking Princess II and figured out the plan. I had made it past all the crazy obstacles of 2020 but the English Channel has other obstacles that are stressful enough during a normal year with the main one being the weather.
After looking at the weather, we all decided that the 29th and 30th were looking like the best days with a possibility of the 28th. I was told to give Reg a call on Tuesday at 7:30pm to figure out if we are a go on Wednesday or not. Luckily I had position 1 so as long as the weather was good I would get to swim! On Tuesday my dad and I carried all of my swim supplies which included 8 gallons of water from the flat to the boat to store it. This made life so much easier come the day of the swim. Once this was done we decided to check out Dover Castle to take our minds off the weather and the swim.
We had a great time seeing some of the sites and getting out of the flat. Then 7:30pm on Tuesday I called Reg and he confirmed my interpretation of the weather. Wednesday was now out of contention and we will shoot for Thursday. I still would have to call him on Wednesday at 7:30pm. I was starting to get nervous because the forecast for Thursday looked good but then the rest of the window looked bad. If the weather changed, I might not get to swim at all.
To go through all of the training, the self-isolations and the stress of traveling during the pandemic to not get to swim because of weather is a tough pill to swallow but a risk I always knew was possible. I kept my hopes high that Thursday was the day and I started getting into long swim mode. I did my normal meals that I do for long swims and we got all my gear ready to go. I made sure to be done with dinner by about 6pm so I would have nothing in my stomach come the swim start and then I went through my stretching routine. I got in one last phone call with Rob and Joe before I gave Reg a call at 7:30pm on the Wednesday night.
I called Reg and he confirmed that Thursday was the day and to be at the boat by 6 am! I couldn’t believe it. All the months of uncertainty and the weeks being in England waiting and hoping it would happen and we are here! Now I had one last debilitating thought. What if I don’t finish? How could I go through all of these obstacles and then not finish?
To beat all odds and prove everyone wrong that said the swim would never happen and then not be capable of finishing. This was not a good thought to have in your head the night before the biggest swim of your life! I had to get this thought out of my head but my insecurities about my swimming are pretty strong. I told myself over and over the hard part is over. You did the training, you took the risk, you made it here, you are getting perfect weather and it is a day swim! Everything had fallen into place and there was no way I wasn’t finishing. In my head there were only two acceptable ways of finishing…either make it to France or get pulled because I went unconscious.
This takes my story up to the night before the swim. It has been a crazy journey already and we made it to the start of the swim. I think the lead up to the swim was more stressful and anxiety ridden than the swim itself. The next part of this 3 part series is the actual English Channel swim! I hope you are excited to see how my story plays out and what I experienced out on the channel!