A Brisbane teenager has become the second-youngest person to swim the English Channel twice in one day, swimming 68 kilometres in 22 hours to make it happen.

Brianna Thompson, 17, lost a layer of her tongue and suffered from severe leg cramps and jellyfish stings in the swim from England to France and back — a feat of endurance only achieved by 20 others.

2019 ISHOF Honor Open Water Swimmer, Marcy MacDonald completed her 17th crossing of the English Channel on Saturday, July 6th, 2019, on the 25th anniversary of her very first crossing. MacDonald wrote this to family, friends and supporters after her swim:

“Greetings from Dover! I am enjoying a day by the sea with a few muscle aches after yesterday. I’m over the multiple jellyfish zaps but I am happy to say I will be able to swim another day. The next stop is in Bridgeport, CT for the Swim Across the Sound. I’ll be doing a 2-person relay with my childhood team mate, Geoffrey Michaud. Both of us grew up on the Manchester Rec Swim team.

Like other environmental constituents, such as pressure, heat and oxygen, cold water can be either good or bad, threat or treatment, depending on circumstance. Given the current increase in the popularly of open cold water swimming, it is timely to review the various human responses to cold water immersion (CWI) and consider the strength of the claims made for the effects of CWI. As a consequence, in this review we look at the history of CWI and examine CWI as a precursor to drowning, cardiac arrest and hypothermia. We also assess its role in prolonged survival underwater, extending exercise time in the heat and treating hyperthermic casualties. More recent uses, such as in the prevention of inflammation and treatment of inflammation‐related conditions, are also considered. It is concluded that the evidence base for the different claims made for CWI are varied, and although in most instances there seems to be a credible rationale for the benefits or otherwise of CWI, in some instances the supporting data remain at the level of anecdotal speculation. Clear directions and requirements for future research are indicated by this review.

Rowan Clarke on Clevedon, Somerset

As an outdoor swimmer and swimming coach, Rowan is often found on the side of Clevedon Marine Lake giving guidance to all ability levels. She is on the Board of Trustees for Marlens, the charity that looks after the Marine Lake and a member of the South West Seals winter swimmers.

Well that didn't go to plan. Instead of recovering from a celebratory Babycham in the White Horse in Dover I found myself in a hospital bed in Ashford on Sunday morning. My attempt to swim the English Channel was foiled in French inshore waters by Swimming Induced Pulmonary Edema (SIPE). I'd been airlifted from my support boat and was in a resuss bed.

The First 11 Hours

I started my Channel swim just after 7am on Saturday morning. The training had been done, it was a beautiful morning and weather was forecast to be improving. I had the pilot and crew that I wanted. I was raring to go. I was greased up in the mixture of sun cream and udder cream which it’s basically a mix of Vaseline and lanolin (good for cows and Channel swimmers and even better for Channel swimming cows). Over the side and a short swim to the beach at Samphire Hoe for the official start. A few Pilates moves on the beach and some wise motivational words to myself about not stopping until I hit France and I was off.

At the Ventuski website you will fine lovely weather maps. Animated wind and waves etc. worldwide (where info is available).

13 extremely challenging swims for the advanced solo marathon swimmer. If the Oceans Seven are the “Everests” of open water, the Toughest Thirteen are the K2s.

The Toughest Thirteen (an MSF project) aims to inspire marathon swimmers to seek lesser-known, less frequently swum waters offering unique and extraordinary challenges. In 2019, over 200 swimmers have completed the Triple Crown, and many of the Oceans Seven swims have multi-year waiting lists. In contrast, for any of the T13 swims you may not have to wait longer than the next available good weather; and if you’re successful, you’ll be one of only a small handful.

Many of these swims have been DNF’d more often than finished!

Careful now! This is your easy Jellyfish Identification Guide

It’s that time of the year when the warmer waters around our coast see a huge rise in jellyfish activity.

Moon, Barrel and Compass jellyfish are among the more common species that are have been spotted in large numbers. Some more newsworthy jellyfish, like the dangerous Lion’s mane, will be making their annual summer time appearances along the coast as well, and with them a mild hysteria typically follows.

Wassenaar - 2019-06-26 - Team Zeeleeuwen is al wat langer bezig met de voorbereidingen om Het Kanaal over te zwemmen. Vorig jaar is zo ook een IJsselmeeroversteek gedaan om te leren naarst een varende boot te zwemmen. Het team is elke maand bijeen geweest sinds vorige zomer om te trainen. Dat gebeurde vaak in Aquamar Katwijk.

Het team staat gepland om in de week van 17 t/m 21 juli met Simon Ellis, loods bij CS&PF het kanaal over te gaan. Er is nog één kleine horde te nemen. Een nachtelijke zwemtocht. We doen dat dit keer op de Rottemeren.

Wassenaar - 2019-06-26 - Last weekend the international team of International SOS went to Dover with me to have a training camp. The aims were to get to know oneanother, to train, to qualify under CS&PF relay rules and to have a night swim!

The team arrived at the hotel in St Maragets at Cliff on Thursday Julne 20th. The White Cliffs Hotel is only a few miles from Dover.

In the afternoon the team had their first dip in the harbor to get used to the temparatures there. It was about 14,5C. For some OK, for others a bit fresh.