5 Members of OUSC; George Stannard, James Manning, Dan Manners, Naomi Vides and Tilly Ansell, and one from OUWPC, Steph Millin, were selected in early Hilary to take part in a swimming race against Cambridge. Unlike in Swimming Varsity, where each member of a relay does a 50m or 100m before handing over to the next swimmer- this swimming race consisted of swimmers racing for an hour each. Oh, and one more thing, instead of a pool, the English Channel.

7 months of preparation later, on the 4^th of July, a bit after midnight, the team stepped on their boat, “Suva”, piloted by Neil Streeter, and began the journey along the coast to Folkstone beach. Up first was George, both the most and the least prepared on the team- he brought almonds, hand warmers and 4 beanies, amongst other things. What he didn’t remember, however, were his hat and his goggles.

Luckily the team had some spare, so when the boat stopped about 100m out from the beach, George was ready to dive into the 15 degree water and swim to the beach. In the pitch black, the klaxon went off at 12:37am, and the biannual 2016 Oxford vs Cambridge Channel Relay begun.

Guided only by the spotlight from the boat, George gained an early lead, with the Cambridge swimmers having firstly some goggle problems and secondly, problems finding his boat, at one point swimming towards ours instead. Other than that, the first leg went smoothly, and an hour later, Naomi dived into the dark and cold water, allowing George to finally grab only to the ladder at the back of the boat and climb out. Naomi, the only swimmer to also do the race 2 years ago, still unfortunately had issues with swimming in a straight line, occasionally swimming in a semicircle angling further and further away from the boat until she was actually headed back to England. The team quickly directly her back, and all was good. Only one further incident, an unknown object hit her, resulting in a loud scream. Luckily it wasn’t an evil pirate ghost dragging her down to the depths, so she kept going, straight(ish) and strong.

Next was James, Steph, Dan, then Tilly, all experiencing the different stages of the sunrise at sea. Coupled with our lack of sleep, and the boat swaying, it was really quite beautiful, emotional, some even described it as primal, being alone, just us, the world and the sun rising over it.

James did great, and didn’t even complain too much after he got out. Dan on the other hand, complained even whilst in the water, exclaiming that it couldn’t possibly be “only 35 minutes!”. Steph also did great, but the combination of feeling sick and nearly hypothermic got us all a bit worried when she curled up in a ball and didn’t move for quite a while after she got out. Fear not though, by the end of the race Steph had made a full recovery, wearing minimal clothes, and making good use of the French sun to work on her tan.

Tilly also put in a strong performance, despite the not so pleasant aroma of the boat toilet making her sick. We were ahead of Cambridge the whole way, and by the time everyone had done their first hour, we were about 0.9 miles ahead. The sun had fully risen by the time George dived in for his second swim.

George had a solid performance, although he seemed to get a bit bored at the end, meaning when his hour was up, Naomi had to swim a good 10m out to go round the back of him, and taking quite a while to get back to the boat.

France was well in sight, and with James up, we were hopeful we’d make it in less than 9 hours, to beat our time from 2 years ago of 9 hours and 2 minutes. It was close, and we couldn’t tell right up until the end, but finally 8 hours and 54 minutes of swimming later, James stood up on a French beach, to promptly collapse straight back onto it.

He managed to swim back to the boat, to lots of cheers and woops. Cambridge eventually finished in 9 hours and 28 minutes, making Oxford the 2016 Champions. We swum through jellyfish, sewage, blood, sweat and tears (okay, maybe only some of those are true), and returned to England tired, hungry, swaying a bit, but with a sense of accomplishment, and maybe a little bit more of that open water swimming bug. An incredible job done, in training, organising and swimming by both the Oxford and Cambridge team!

And for anyone who’s ever thought about open water swimming, it is of course cold, tough and cruel, but also equally wonderful, challenging and certainly a worthwhile pursuit, so maybe give it a go sometime…

Between 2nd – 7th July, 6 Oxford University open water swimmers will race against the Cambridge team as a relay, to cross the English Channel by swimming from Dover to Calais on the French coast.

A great article on the race can be found here

Following a piloted boat to guide the way, we will be swimming in one hour stints, with the rest of the team crossing the channel alongside the current swimmer and supporting them from the deck.  After an hour the next swimmer will enter the water and each hour the team rotates with each team member swimming once or more, until the French coast is reached – typically this takes 7 to 12 hours! Wetsuits are not allowed, so the challenges that face us include the cold, waves, jellyfish, and maintaining the determination to just keep swimming!

As a team we will be training for months beforehand in Queenford Lakes and Port Meadow in Oxford, and also in the sea. This is to build up resistance against the cold, increase our long-distance fitness and encourage each other as a team – strengthening each other’s will-power.

We need your help to train even harder, to pay for the cost and to actually get us to the startline, and hopefully to France! Please visit our fundraiser

Why We Need You

Every two years since 1998, Oxford have competed against Cambridge in this Varsity Channel Relay Swim. This year, in July 2016, this will be happening for the 10th time in history, and we are counting on your support to make this happen and support us in our endeavour. It is an amazing opportunity for each swimmer to stretch themselves to their limits, and to compete against Cambridge.

Through supporting us by any amount, you will be helping us to cover the substantial cost of £3000 for the pilot boat (the guide who decides the best course and the boat on which the rest of the team travels alongside the swimmer), as well as the registration cost for the swim with the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation, our transport to and accommodation in Dover for the week. Why a week? The pilot of our boat will be choosing the most appropriate time during this slot to start our swim, as conditions of sea and weather are so variable, adding another challenge and anticipation to the race.

As a reward for your support, you can follow the boat via a GPS tracker online, and regular twitter updates, in this way joining us on the swim. You are also extremely welcome to meet us at our training sessions in the cold water in Oxford and further afield . As a thank you for especially generous pledges, we have set up a number of personal gifts and rewards that you can choose from – ranging from a postcard with a personal thank you message to the gift of an Oxford University Swim hat.

A big thank you to everyone who has donated so far and to Simmons and Simmons for their generosity in supporting the event!

Thank you so much from the Oxford team!

Naomi, Dan, Tilly, George, Steph, James and Laura