Stephen Burke

Swimmers report:

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1. Following on from my 2023 swim from Penarth to Weston Super Mare, I felt that I had unfinished business with the Bristol channel, another crossing was needed,this time without the aid of a wetsuit. Soon the 25th March I booked my slot with Ceri form Bristol Channel Swimming for the 14th of August. The swimming wasn’t going to be a problem for me as I had a good winter of steady training sessions in the pool,my main obstacle was going to be my tolerance to the cold, being 5 foot 11 and 12 ½ stone, there’s not a lot of insulation on the old bones, and just I don’t like the cold, never have,in addition I suffer with a condition called Raynaunds syndrome, which affects the circulation in your hands and feet turning them white and numb.I decided to buy a cold water pod to begin my transformation into an open water swimmer, my first attempt ended in 30 seconds with a water temperature of 14 degrees, shivering uncontrollably. I persevered with the pod at 6am every morning before work and was soon up to 5, 10, 20, 30 minutes, learning to relax in the water and controlling my breathing I strangely started to enjoy my pod sessions, it really set me up for the day ahead feeling totally fresh and awake.About this time the local lake opened at Glynneath for the summer, so I started to do some swim sessions there. The lake is approximately a 1400m swim around the edge so I started with a single lap with my suit on just to get a feel for it,the water temp was 14 degrees.After getting accustomed the lake,I gradually increased my distances lap by lap, then at the end of each swim I would do a couple of hundred metres without the suit to get used to the water temperature. After getting up to 3 laps with the suit I ditched it to try a lap without it, I never put it back on after that, the biggest hurdle to get over now was more psychological, how long could I tolerate the cold before I got hypothermia. I gradually increased my laps the water temperature was around 16 degrees on a good day and after two laps my hands and feet were going numb and looked dead!I kept at it and eventually got to 5 laps (7km) very cold and seemingly at the limit of what I could tolerate. My next goal was to complete 7 laps (10km), in roughly 3 hrs 15, if I could complete this I knew I had mastered the cold.During this swim, as usual my hands and feet turned numb around the two lap mark and I settled into my stroke barely tolerating the cold,waiting for the point that by body wouldn’t function I felt I was close to it,then after 5 laps something strange happened, my hands and feet started to comeback to life, it felt very odd but boosted my confidence to crack on for the 10km, this was a big milestone for me and I went on to complete quite a few 10km swims in the weeks leading up to the BC swim, culminating in a 37km week, three weeks prior before my taper began.The week before the swim I monitored the weather forecast to find the remnants of Hurricane Debbie influencing the weather bringing an unsettled period as it moved across the Atlantic, I was pleased and relieved to receive an email off Ceri telling me that there was a window of opportunity for my swim, and we were good to go.The alarm was set for 02:45am, picking my first crew member Mark Andrews at 03:30 then on to meet Ed Morgan at 4:00, then my official observer Ros Edmunds at 4:20, then on to Penarth Marina in time for the 05:30 lock opening,then the short trip over to Penarth Slipway for a 06:00 Start. It was still dark as we exited the locks of the marina the navigation lights were flashing away,I could see enough of the channel to know I was in for a rough ride. I made a mental note that I wasn’t going to quit until the skipper pulled me out and focused on the task ahead.We arrived at Penarth Slip just at first light and after applying some Vaseline to my armpits and lips,with goggles and hat on I jumped into the murky waters of the Bristol Channel. I was pleasantly surprised at the temperature of the water, a balmy 19 C, my cold-water training had paid off it felt more than comfortable. A quick swim to the slipway and I was ready to go,I set off at 05:54

2. accompanied by some nice applause from some diehards from the Penarth Dawn Stalkers having their daily dip.(Nutters!)The water was a bit lumpy to start, my plan was just to keep going what ever, I wasn’t stopping until the skipper pulled me out.I settled in to a steady rhythm,I was to feed every 40 minutes with 250ml of high five energy drink and a banana or gel when required,as we got further out the swell got progressively bigger coming at me from my left side,occasionally breaking over my head,luckily I’mat home breathing bilaterally and for the most part of the swim I was breathing to my right, on the odd occasion I did change sides I got a mouthful of water,I’m quite comfortable swimming in rough conditions, once I got the timing of the swell I was able to adjust my stroke, relax and roll with the waves.I sensed sea state changing after an hour or so, I put this down to the tide changing direction. I have also learned the difference between swell and chop, about halfway across the waves changed and seemed to be coming from all directions, with no particular rhythm,very short and steep waves putting me right off my rhythm and taking in copious amounts of water, eventually the chop settled back down into a swell, and with some relief I carried on with my steady pace.I became aware that the sea was changing again, this time the wind seemed to turn and come more from behind enabling me to lengthen my stroke and relax a bit,this lasted between feeds so I would estimate half hour or so. Eventually the headland at Sand Point came into view on my right side and the waves started to ease, by this time an old niggle in my right biceps tendon up at my shoulder started to play up, getting progressively worse to a sharp intense stabbing pain, I put this down to constantly breathing to the right, I switched sides and this alleviated and settled back into my rhythm,it wasn’t long before the left side started to niggle too, I didn’t have far to go so I swam on alternating sides when the pain got too much on one side, it got to the point where it was just too painful to breath to the right,so I started to shorten my stroke to get some relief. Eventually the welcome sight of Clevedon pier came into view and I soon spotted the slipway, on the approach to the slip I had to avoid being run over by a flotilla of small sailing boats, I was soon lining myself up with the slipway and with an additional burst of adrenalin and ignoring the pain in my shoulders I pressed on with a huge grin on my face, touching down on the slip,I staggered up the slipway to some very nice applause from some onlookers who walking along the slipway, Job Done.One added bonus I didn’t have to swim very far back out to the boat as it was able to come up alongside the slip, so all I had to do was to hop over the side, easier said that done with legs like jelly and I had to be unceremoniously dragged over the tubes into the boat for a quick change into some warm clothes and nice hot coffee and chocky biscuits and the ride back to Penarth marina.

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