27:09:08 Supporting Chris Pountney on his Channel swim.

I first met Chris down at Dover whilst training for my own channel swim. Chris was embarking on a 3 year 'Ultimate Triathlon' challenge. This was to involve swimming the English Channel this year. Cycling the 'Tour de France' next year and finally running the grueling 'Marathon des Sables' across the Sahara Desert the year after! Clearly we were not talking about the average person!

Initially Chris did struggle with his harbour training and when I asked him to be my support swimmer he agreed reluctantly, because he was unsure of his abilities. Chris turned out to be a great support swimmer for me and I believe the experience did boost his confidence somewhat.

Now it was Chris' turn! We met down at the marina and Chris appeared quieter than usual, deep in thought about the task ahead and admitting he was feeling sick. To me, he looked like someone focussing on the swim.

As we made our way to the start of the swim, the sun was out, the sea was calm and things were looking good. There were six other swims taking part that day and it seemed most were starting at the same time and place.

Chris made his way to the shore and in no time at all his Channel swim had begun! And so had my sea sickness! Luckily, this time it was short lived. The sickness went and I was actually able to enjoy being on the boat. A relay team were level with us but a little way off. I remember commenting that if he can keep up with a relay then he's doing well.

Chris didn't dissapoint. He didn't just keep up with the relay (who were changing swimmers every hour) but he actually moved ahead of them! His first 3 feeds were hourly and then they went to every 30 mins.

I had been given instructions to accompany him in the water at 4, 7 and 12 hours. So at 4 hours I dived into the sea. This bit never gets any easier!! We headed off together and I felt the confidence and determination Chris was giving off.

By now Chris was begining to complain of a painful shoulder. This was a bit of a worry! Pain killers were given and he continued through the pain.

At 7 hours I entered the water again. Still bloody freezing!! The sun was now going down and Chris said his shoulder was feeling a bit better. It was time to pick up the pace a bit. The rules state that a support swimmer must not swim ahead of the swimmer. This makes it very difficult to encourage them to pick the pace up! But I done what I could and he seemed to be going well.

Chris then hit a period where he appeared to be really struggling. The relay boat had now moved ahead and we were becoming concerned about a few negative comments Chris had made. Then, from out of nowhere he seemed to find his second wind and he looked strong and positive once again.

Next came a very tense period where the swim nearly had to be abandoned! Eddie, the Pilot, suddenly shot out from the cabin with his binoculars. He looked very worried! Pilots like Eddie know these waters like the back of their hand and take it all in their stride. To see him looking worried was worrying! Then his look of worry turned to a look of panic! Now I knew it was time for us all to panic! The reason for the panic was that there was a tug boat with a 500m rope pulling a huge ship which had no lights on it. It was a very eerie sight! The problem was, the tug was heading straight for us and the ship behind was moving randomly back and forth with the tide. Our boat was stopped and Chris was ordered to tread water at the back of the boat, with the instruction that if he is told to get on board, he has only seconds to do so before we speed off in a different direction! We all stood there completely silent, willing this boat to change course. It seemed to go on forever! Then it slowly changed course and although far too close for comfort, it passed in front of us. The swim continued.

At a little over 11 hours we were told Chris had about 5 miles to go, and he was looking strong. I remember thinking, he has another half an hour, then I'm in for an hour and by then he should almost have cracked it! I emerged from the water for the third time to be told he still had 4 miles to go. I was gutted! We were clearly moving sidways along the shore without making much forward progress!

A relay team on their return came by to shout encouragement at Chris which was a lovely thing to do and Chris really did look like he once again picked his pace up. This however, didn't last very long and Chris again started to look very tired. Then he suddenly stopped swimming. We asked him if he was ok but there was no answer. We were shouting at him to answer but he said nothing! Then he swam to the back of the boat and announced he was getting out. We were all yelling at him to continue and he eventually put his goggles back on and began swimming again.

About five mins later Chris started swimming towards the side of the boat. Me and his Father were shouting at him to move away but he collided with the boat. He then started drifting out away from the boat. He was getting fainter in the spotlight as we shouted at him to return. I knew he was not looking good. He appeared disorientated and I was preparing to dive in after him.

Eddie appeared and was also concerned about him. Chris was all over the place and barely getting his arms out of the water. Between the three of us the decision was made to pull Chris from the water. To allow him to continue would have at best been cruel, and at worst extremely dangerous. The tide was very strong and Chris was exhausted and maybe hypothermic. I remember thinking how hard it must have been for his father to see his son suffering like that!

Once Chris was on board he looked terrible - the right decision had been made. He spent the journey back curlled up in a sleeping bag. When back in Dover I told Chris what an amazing swim it had been. He had swum for nearly 15 hours - more than twice what he has done in the past. He broke through many barriers and ultimatley pushed himself to his absolute limit and then a bit further! Nobody can ask more than that!

The most amazing thing about it all was that Chris looked me in the eye with a smile on his face and announced he would be back in 2 years to do it again! Unbelievable that this could have even gone through his head after what he had just been through!

WELL DONE CHRIS ON AN AMAZING SWIM. YOU ARE A COMPLETE LEGEND!