CHANNEL CROSSING DAY SIMULATION

On May 28th 2010 I had a Channel Crossing Day Simulation with two of my pilots; my wife, Kim Howard and my friend pilot and swimmer Gary Bruce, who will be in charge of preparing my food, feeding me, counting my stroke per minute on every hour and, making sure I am doing well during my swim.


The preparation started with Kim and Gary mixing the protein/carb drink bottles, heating the vegetable broth, making the tea, labeling the bottles and organizing it inside a basket in order to feed me the right food at the right time. All of that preparation was guided by a feeding schedulle excell sheet.


After that we went to the South End Rowing Club Dock where we finilized the details for the swim. That day I was attemting a 6 hour swim but due to a pinched nerve on my back I had to stop the swim after 1:30HR.

On the picture above Kim is finishing greasing me up with Vaseline in order to protect me a little bit from the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay. Please disregard the "flotation device" I have hanging above my swim trunks. The "device" besides keeping me afloat is giving me great insulation.

Thumbs up! Here I am moments before the swim with Gary Bruce who will be my pacer during my solo crossing across English Channel. Gary will jump at the 6th, 9th and hopefully the 12th and last hour of my crossing.