Then in my last 7 hour swim in Dover, before heading to Edinburgh, I started to feel dizzy after the 6th hour, and very dizzy after 7 hours.
Something was not right. I barely made it to the bus without collapsing, pulse racing. I had never experienced anything before. The next morning I felt better, but not ok. I bumped into heart surgeon Otto Thaning from Cape Town, oldest English Channel swimmer at age 73 in , who had planned to swim again this year but had stopped after 1 or 2 hours after helping Lewis Pugh for a week on his Long Swim along the length of the English Channel.
Otto kindly listened to my story, took my pulse, and simply said: no swim this year! Get a proper heart and lung checkup first, maybe it is only something minor β and then you can still try again next year.
My pilot also said: health first β when you get green light from the docotr, do come back anytime! The interesting thing was: my tide Sept. Only one swimmer started with my pilot, but stopped after only 4 or 5 hours I was wondering why she started at all under these conditions and with the forecast for that day, but coming from Australia, she probably wanted to take even the slightest chance. I was grateful I was not in Dover any mor, waiting and wondering what to do. So I was taking a break for a couple of weeks, focussing on other things, and am about to start more serious training again soon.
Like our Southern Hemisphere Peace Run which is coming up in In I had already paid the whole amount for the boat cash to my pilot, assuming we would be able to swim in the next few days of the tide. But it did not happen β and all the way into October there was no extra swim day available. Oldest female Channel swimmer is 65 right now, oldest male 73! Training in Heidelberg is not easy, with no cold open water anywhere near, but that is the fate of many Channel swimmers and aspirants.
