I did it! On Friday 22nd July I started at Dungeness and landed 16 hours and 9 minutes later near to Boulogne France. The first four hours the weather was glorious and I made really good progress. At this point the wind blew up to a force 4 from the East, not the 1/2 as forecast. This made it choppy and was made worse by a wind over tide situation as the Flood tide started to run. As a result the tide was held up and was only running at just over 2 knots and not the 3 as predicted. I therefore didn't get close enough to the Cap in order to get in quicker, I hoped for a sub 10 hour swim and trained accordingly. This was the longest and hardest swim I have ever done. My track covers a distance of 48 miles. This swim has also given me the proudest moment of my swimming career. I must thank my parents and family for all of their love and support over the years, Sarah my lovely fiancé (after your relay) it's time to get married, I even swam my heart out for a blue heart! My coach Tom Watch says he can now retire a happy man now that this has been conquered. Special thanks also must go to Clive Grant who did a sterling job as bag carrier, feeder and generally being a top bloke. Thank you David Sinclair, I owe you a beer or two!. And to all my fantastic friends for all of you comments, wishes of luck and humour.

It's unfinished business so I am doing it again and even more determined to get the job done! 

I will be swimming the Channel from Dungeness  between the 20th and 26th of July 2016.

I have re-opened the Just Giving page for Julia's House to raise some more money for this fantastic cause for anybody that hasn't already donated or for those who wish to make another donation, thank you in advance for your very kind donation.

I have left all of last years posts on the page for those who have not read the story so far and as a reminder for me of the fantastic support and kindness that everybody has given me.

For more info on my swim, sponsors and  interesting swimming links please visit my web page at  www.swimmingthechannel.co.uk

Many thanks

Marc

Hi all, most of you probably know the disappointing news that I have failed in my attempt to swim from Dungeness to France. I was feeling unwell and sick from just over two hours into the swim. I began to feel inexplicably weaker and weaker. My stroke rate slowed down and I was not strong and lacked any power and was struggling to breathe. The weather was not ideal for a fast swim but was swimmable for me. I made the difficult decision to get out. Thank you everybody for all of your kind messages and encouragement. I am ok now but very disappointed obviously and a bit confused as to why I felt like this especially as training went very well x

Thirty years ago I swam the English Channel for the first time. So to commemorate the anniversary I am doing it again! The planned attempt will be on or around the 29th August.

This time however I am doing it the long way, I will be starting from a different location, Dungeness. As a result the crossing will be 25% longer than the traditional route, a distance of 26 miles. This has never been completed before so will be a World First.

I will be raising money for Julia's House, the Dorset Children's Hospice, providing respite care and support to children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and their families.

I have visited the hospice and was a truly humbling experience and encourage you to donate whatever you can afford. The hospice requires £4.7 million a year to operate, only 7% of which is funded by the government. The rest is received from charitable donations.

Thank you for taking time to read by Just Giving page. I will provide regular updates on my training an progress throughout the summer.

Many thanks

Marc

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.