Fred Foundation

Due to favourable weather conditions Matt ended up setting off for France
at 5.30am on Tuesday morning.

The first 12 hours of the swim went to plan as we passed through both
shipping lanes and passed a number of passenger ferries. The only major
incident during this time was Matt getting a jelly fish full in the face -
something of a rite of passage for channel swimmers.

As we entered French waters and drew to within 3 miles of the French coast
the tide has changed which meant we were dragged sideways and back out
to sea which meant that Matt has to swum to stand still for an hour and a
half.

Despite this he battled on to beat the tide to get himself within 1 mile of
the beach.

Unfortunately this epic battle then took it’s toll. With Matt now barely
able to string a sentence together and floundering through exhaustion, the
crew took the difficult decision to take him out of the water with a mile
to go (he still wanted to carry on). By this stage Matt had been swimming
non-stop for 15 hours 47 mins.

While he didn’t touch French sand, due to the tide Matt actually swum
further than 21 miles during this period. This way an epic day and a truely
great achievement.

What’s more we have managed to raise over £2,000 for the Fred Foundation so
thank you to all of you who contributed.

Wetsuits at this stage are for wimps.   Admittedly I do have a history of competing in endurance events, although these are usually land based. Marathons and Ironman are one thing but swimming the channel is going to be epic by comparison.  Inevitably I get asked why I am doing this? The honest answer is just to see if I can. No more than that. Also, I feel very lucky to be able to give it a go.  I wanted to swim for the Fred Foundation to represent young autistic people for whom this kind of challenge would be inconceivable.

Matt’s Channel Swim Webblog

After throwing myself into the sea in Brighton last October to swimming  in Portsmouth harbour in January and Tooting Bec Lido in February (water temperature 2 degrees C – I was numb for 3 days)
last weekend’s itinerary included a 7 hour swim on Saturday during the day followed by a 20 minute swim in the dark to get used to what I might face on the day / night. On Sunday we banged out a further 5 hours for good measure. This weekend marks the conclusion of the training with a two 8 hour swims. After that I begin to taper my training towards the big day. This means less swimming and more eating. I cannot think of another sport where it is actually beneficial to gain weight.

On July 22^nd  Matt Gower will be attempting to swim the English Channel on
behalf of the Fred Foundation.

The English Channel is 21 miles wide with the average water temperature
during the swim likely to be in the region of 15 degrees centigrade.
This compares with a standard indoor swimming pool which tends to be around
28 degrees. Wetsuits are against the rules during channel swims.

Matt anticipates the crossing taking around 16 hours. The quickest it has
ever been done is 7 hours, the longest a staggering 26 hours.

Fewer people have successfully swum the channel than have reached the
summit of Mount Everest.

Many of you will be aware of The Fred Foundation and its aims to help
children with autism reach their potential and Matt will be helping the Fred Foundation to raise money to help fund individual specialised education programmes.

Trying to secure the right education for a child with autism is an
immensely long and stressful journey and requires years of dogged
determination
and a belligerent refusal to accept defeat.  In comparison to this,
swimming the channel should be relatively straightforward.

Your help and support would be massively appreciated by Matt and the rest
of the Fred Foundation team.

http://www.justgiving.com/difficultnotimpossible

Thanks very much!

The Guardian has an interesting article today on Autism. The supplement explores the difficulties and challenges facing children on the autistic spectrum moving schools and within schools. Find it on line on www.guardian.co.uk

Felicity

We are pleased to report that Duff conquered the 26 miles in style and came in yesterday at a perfectly respectable 4hrs 35 min’ ish (we have shaved off 10 minutes queuing for the loo!)  Not bad for a Fat Dad – his words not ours.  So far he has raised  a huge £5,950 !!  Definitely not bad for a ‘ Not So Fat Dad Now’ don’t you think?    Thank you so, so much to all of you who sponsored him.  We are over the moon.

As I write, our hero Duff  is pounding the streets of London for 26 miles! Thank goodness the weather has turned a little cooler for him. He was very nervous – understandably. I will report on his finish time soon I hope!

Remember you can still sponsor him at

http://www.justgiving.com/Duff-Borer

Felicity

…And our Duff Borer is out there  pounding the streets -  training for the big Marathon Day on the 25th April!  Thanks so much to  everyone that has donated so far you have all been so kind and generous.

http://www.justgiving.com/Duff-Borer