Ocean Assault

An Interview with Caroline Chisholm of Earthwatch

09 Sep 2010 – Conversation

Although not technically an ocean, crossing the English Channel presents a series of daunting physical and mental hurdles. More than twenty miles of battling the cold, tides, tankers – the English Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes – and not forgetting the much discussed sewage. It is dubbed ‘the Everest of open water swimming’ and is widely regarded as one of the most extreme physical challenges in the world. As Caroline waits for the weather to settle, the tide to be right and a ‘channel slot’ to become available she shares with us her motivation and some of obstacles she has encountered along the way.

Frances Buckingham: Why swim the English Channel?

Caroline Chisholm: When I was five years old, I told my parents I was going to swim to France. It was ambitious to say the least, given I couldn’t actually swim. I always knew that one day I’d call my own bluff. Working for Earthwatch, I’m acutely aware of the environmental impact of climate change and pollution on the world’s oceans. The channel alone is home to a billion pieces of floating plastic. So literally swimming through a threatened sea, seemed like a good way of helping to raise awareness of the problem and funds for research. If perhaps a little extreme!

FB: Were you a keen swimmer before embarking on this challenge?

CC: I’ve always enjoyed being in the sea, but I was definitely more of a splasher than a swimmer. Before taking on the challenge I’d never swum more than 25 lengths of the pool. In the past six months, I’ve completed the equivalent of around 15,000 lengths (or 11 channel swims) in training, much of it in freezing cold water.

FB: What was the reaction from friends and colleagues when you announced your intention to swim the Channel?

CC: ‘Are you crazy?’ was the most common reaction! After that, all anyone asks about is the goose fat, and they seem genuinely disappointed that smothering yourself like a roast potato, doesn’t figure at all in modern Channel swimming.

FB: What has been the most memorable moment so far in the course of you swim training?

CC: My first visit to train in Dover Harbour is etched in my memory. It was May Day, but the sea was just 9°C, the same temperature it is in December. All my limbs went numb and I had to be pulled out the water. We were in the sea for less than half an hour, but it took two hours to stop shivering.

FB: What do you expect to be the biggest challenge when you undertake the actual swim?

CC: More than the tides, tankers and jellyfish, the cold is probably the biggest challenge of the swim. Staving off hypothermia for anything up to 20 hours, with only a swimming costume for protection is the reason the Channel is described as the Everest of long distance swimming.

FB: Can anyone swim the Channel? What does it involve?

CC: Yes, if you’re aged 16 and above, and don’t mind smelling of chlorine all the time and forgoing your social life for a year. Training begins in the pool over the winter months, and from May onwards, regular sea swims are recommended to build resistance to the cold. All swimmers must be accompanied by a registered boat pilot and crew, an official observer and complete a six hour swim in open water less than 16°C prior to the attempt. During the swim, you are strictly forbidden from touching the boat, and are fed sports drinks and small snacks at regular interviews via a bottle on a piece of string. The swim itself takes on average around 15 hours, although a new record was set this year for the longest crossing at over 28 hours!

FB: You are swimming to raise awareness of the effects of climate change and pollution on the world’s oceans – how effective has your campaign been to date in raising awareness of these issues?

CC: Well, I haven’t stopped climate change in its tracks, but through some of the outreach I’ve done, including my blog for Treehugger, I hope I’ve encouraged people to do what they can. It’s often the smallest changes that can make the biggest impact. And that being greener doesn’t have to be about denial. It can be better for your health, conscience and bank balance too.

FB: You have tried to undertake the challenge with a minimum impact on the environment, can you tell us a bit more about your actions.

CC: I’ve tried as far as possible to green my journey. Being vegetarian already, I introduced a vegan day a week. I swapped the bus to work for pedal power. And on my long trips to Dover (I’m based in Oxford), I left my car at home and took the coach – a round trip of ten hours.

FB: Can any parallels be drawn between your challenge and the journey we all need to make to prevent further climate change?

CC: In the same way a successful channel swim is based on months (in some cases years) of training, combating climate change and pollution is not about grand gestures, but what you can do day in day out to make a difference. And however much you’re already doing, it’s always possible to do more.

FB: You originally planned to swim in August but this has been delayed – why the delay and how have you coped with it?

CC: Tide and time may wait for no man, but you will certainly wait for them! A Channel swim requires the best possible conditions, and with the coldest August for 17 years, that didn’t leave many opportunities to swim. Hopefully September will bring kinder weather. They say the waiting is the hardest part. I really wish it was.

FB: What do you hope for after you have completed the swim?

CC: A long rest. And perhaps another challenge. Just perhaps.

FB: Thanks, and good luck!

SustainAbility will be following Caroline’s progress, stay tuned for news of her crossing.