I’m a 25-year-old marathon swimmer from North Yorkshire. I started open water swimming in 2018 after attending a beginners open water course at a local lake. In 2021, I completed a 6 person English Channel relay in 18 hours and 29 minutes and soon after signed up to my solo swim which I competed on the 28th August 2024 in 13 hours and 11 minutes.
When the summer marathon swims finish, I enjoy ice swimming, where in 2024 I became British Champion in the 250m. I have also podiumed at World and European level.
Outside of swimming, I work full time as an assistant management accountant and attend evening college classes for my ACA qualification, with the goal of becoming a chartered accountant in the future. I also enjoy competing my horses, Eddie and Spencer who I have competed to national level, including my first national level win in 2023.
3 Things You Probably Didn’t know about a channel swim?
- There is a 2-3 year waiting list to book a boat!
- You may have less then 12 hours’ notice to get down to Dover before your swim start time
- There is no finishers medal, instead the tradition is that you pick up a pebble in France! (Unfortunately, I landed at Cap Gris Nez, and there was no pebbles to pick up – does that mean I have to do it again?!)
How did you prepare to swim the channel?
Working with my coach, Carrine Green, we worked backwards from my tide window, planning in my taper period, rest weeks and training camp. I worked in 4 week periods where I built up my long endurance swims on weekends through the first 3 weeks and the 4th week was a recovery week.
I built up to two big training weekend which were a 7 hour swim on the Saturday followed by a 6 hour swim on the Sunday, followed by a 10 hour swim the following weekend.
During the week I included 3 pool sessions. 1 focusing on technique and speed, another smaller endurance set (8km in week 1 of the block, 9km in week 2 and 10km in week 3) and a threshold session. I also did one swimming specific strength session a week and had a rest day (which was normally spent working on the logistics of the swim, or travelling to a swim spot ready for my long weekend swims!).
Outside of the physical training I also worked with a sports physiologist to ensure I was able to fight my demons and learn how to push through the doubts and fears.
The year prior to my channel swim I had completed a swim from Jersey to France as preparation and completed my English Channel qualifier (6 hours in under 16 degrees) which all provided me with a good base going into the year of my swim.
What was your nutritional strategy?
The most important thing for my nutrition was that I used the same plan as I had been using in my training.
I fed ever hour with 500ml of water mixed with a sachet of VOOM Fusion Fuel, this provided me with all the nutrients I needed. Throughout the night and till the mid-day sun these were mixed with warm water to ensure I stayed warm.
I then had one cube of the pocket rocket energy bar every feed along with either strawberries, bananas or a mini roll as a treat!
How does the support crew/boat work, and just how important to your swim were they?
When booking a slot to swim the English Channel you contact a pilot. In 2021 I completed a channel relay on board Gallivant and I knew I would be safe in their hands for my solo crossing.
My support crew was made up of my partner (Luke Copestake), Graham Hill and Stuart Hacker – the dream team!! Between them, they knew me better than I knew myself. They kept me fed and motivated through all the 13 hours, even when I questioned where we were going, to which the reply was – France!
The term ‘solo swim’ is far from true. Behind my English Channel solo is a whole team of people from my coaches to my parents and friends at home, everyone made up a part of the jigsaw that completed my swim.
5 kit bag essentials?
- A plan of what you are going to do that session
- Recovery Fudge ( x 2 if you are training with your partner – otherwise he’ll steal yours!!)
- Water bottle and hydration
- Spare Hat/Goggles – nothing worse than turning up to a session and them breaking
- Tempo Trainer – I enjoy using these to ensure I am pacing right
A favourite endurance (pool) set?
Channel training is much of a mental test as it is a physical, this is one of my favourite endurance sets I did in the pool as it mixed things up a bit!
Warm Up (1000m)
400m easy
200m kick
200m pull
4 x 50m pull
Main Set (5500m)
Distance Set (3000m)
1 x 1000m at a steady pace
2 x 500m (descending)
4 x 250m (moderate pace)
5 x 100m (fast pace)
Speed Set (1500m)
10 x 100m (odds moderate, evens fast)
10 x 50m (MAX!)
Technique Set (1000m)
5 x 100m (focusing on form)
10 x 50m (25m drill, 25m swim)
Cool down (1000m)
200m easy
200m back
200m breast
400m easy free, long and relaxed strokes
Total: 7500m
3 Things Nobody Told You Before Swimming the Channel!?
- How beautiful the sunrise in the middle of the English Channel would be. This was by far my favourite part of my swim and a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
- A slightly damp, salty mini roll after 6 hours swimming felt like I was eating in a Michelin Star restaurant.
- After 13 hours of swimming in the sea, my tongue and month took a bit of a battering, which meant I struggled to eat any solid food for 48 hours after the swim
