Durrington man raises £2k in English Channel charity relay swim

Brian Elliott, 53, of Durrington, had been training for the swim all winter after committing himself to it just before Christmas.

Six swimmers set off from Samphire Hoe near Dover on Wednesday 3 August and swam for a collective 14 hours and 40 minutes, raising a total of nearly £12,000 for charity.

The training solutions manager had previously taken part in a three-hour Lake Coniston swim and a 10km warm water crossing in the Caribbean, but this was a new challenge.

"It was fantastic, unbelievable, all of it," he said.

"The first swim on Wednesday afternoon was rough and it felt like swimming on a rollercoaster but I was absolutely buzzing when I got back on the boat."

Watch Brian swim the channel

Each swimmer swam for an hour at a time and Mr Elliott was swimmer number two. He started at 4am on the Thursday morning, adding: "I swam as the sun was coming up which was quite nice, and we could just about see the French coast."

Rules dictated that swimmers could not wear a wetsuit during the relay so preparing for the cold water was necessary. As a triathlete, Mr Elliott usually swims in a wetsuit so underwent training to withstand the low temperatures.

This training included dipping into cold water once a week at the tank crossing points near Netheravon.

To his surprise, the channel was 19C during his swim, a temperature he described as "not a problem at all".

Brian Elliott emerging from the English Channel after his one-hour stint

Mr Elliott said the relay was less physically demanding than his other swims, but far more mentally challenging. He added: "This was mentally harder because you’re jumping in the dark channel at one o'clock in the morning.

"The worst thing was sitting on the boat for those five hours between the swims because it wasn’t going at any speed, so you feel every swell. Several of the team couldn’t eat anything during that time and emptied their stomachs a few times."

So far Mr Elliott has raised over £2,200 for SwimTayka, a charity which provides free swimming lessons and environmental education about clean water stewardship to underprivileged children who live along the earth’s open waters.

Looking forward to his next challenge, Mr Elliott will be training for a solo swim next year. To do this, he must complete a six-hour qualifying swim in sub-16-degree temperatures in October.

To visit Brian Elliott's JustGiving page to find out more information, click here.

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