"The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination." Peaceful Warrior/Dan Millman

Sunday, December 26, 2010

CSA DINNER AWARD


On November 2010 Kim and I went back to Dover, England in order to attend the Channel Swimming Association Dinner Party. During this dinner I received my Solo Crossing certificate. The dinner happened on November 6th at the Dover Town Hall



Arriving in London



The Varne Ridge



Dinner at the Royal Oak with David and Evelyn, owners of the Varne Ridge and Gary Bruce, my Channel pacer.



10 mile run; Folkestone-Dover-Folkestone, before the CSA Dinner.

Moments before my run I asked David to help me make a hole on a pound coin so I could start my new collection of earrings. Evelynn got so excited with the idea she ended up getting some pound earrings to herself too.



CSA DINNER

During the CSA dinner I had the opportunity to meet the Deputy Mayor of Dover who made me an honorarian Dovarian.

UNE MANCHE PARTOUT STEPHAN LORENZZO


On July 2010 after my Solo Channel Crossing I had the honor of meeting French swimmer Stephane Lorenzo who became the first French disable swimmer to conquer the English Channel. He crossed the English Channel in 16:11 Hrs. Follow below his story and his website.(Stephane Lorenzzo, second from the right).


http://www.unemanchepartout.fr/mediascont.php?id=15

PRESENTATION.
STEPHANE LORENZO.

I am 37 years old, a competitive sportsman, and was a member of the French "Handisport" [disabled] swimming team from 1992 to 1996 and from 2003- 2004.

The passion is still the same - that of water and water sports, most particularly swimming.

The different occupations that I have had have always been in that area, and even now as I work as a Bodyguard and Swimming instructor at Aix-Les-Bains swimming pool, a qualified Sports Teacher.

After a break of several years for family and professional reasons, I decided to get back in training in the pool in order to take up a mad challenge: to swim across the English Channel. My motivation remains as strong as ever.

As I was born with a handicap, with no femur in my left leg, I still have to prove that I am as capable as an able-bodied person.

In taking on this challenge, I am hoping to prove to everyone that in spite of a handicap, of whatever kind, the human body can adapt and achieve great things.

To succeed in this project, I am giving myself two years of preparation [the crossing is planned for the beginning of August 2010] in order to make sure of my plans, to amass sufficient funds and to do my training.

I want to hold all the trump cards, have all the advantages on my side and so I have [ the help of] a physical training specialist, Frederic Bocquet, a physio-masseur, who will co-ordinate training sessions, and an advisory doctor, Valerie Gueguen, a sports doctor who will also look after my diet.

My preparations are made up of 6 x 3 hour long training sessions each week, plus a regularouting in a kayak on Lac du Bourget of about four hours.

I have the physique to do it, the mental capacity to succeed and the support required to make a go of this marvelous project: to be among the 900 swimmers to conquer the tiredness, the cold, the Channel currents and above all the first handicapped Frenchman to succeed.

An Association " Une Manche Partout" has been set up to collect the necessary funds. Also there is an internet site "http://www.une manche partout.fr" in order to publicize and give up-to-date information about the crossing, the training and to provide a site for the partners [sponsors]

I already have the support of various media groups who will follow my preparation up to the crossing. I would be very pleased to count on you as one of my sponsors, to carry our symbol, the flag of Aix-Les-Bains, of Savoie and of France as a sign of success and of surpassing oneself.




Swimmer uses Tibetan meditation technique in crossing of English Channel, Pt. 2

By South-Ender Mark Welte:

Mark Welte is a yoga-guided writer who has been practicing for over ten years and teaches in the San Francisco area. He aims to spread greater vitality in others-in mind, body, and spirit-through yoga, and help to de-mystify the ancient practice. Plain-spoken and humorous, Mark helps make yoga and its benefits accessible to everyone-including his wife and daughter! Reach him at . ilfaunoyoga@gmail.com


With so much going on for the first few hours of the swim--new waters, gargantuan challenge, a pilot boat the size he'd never encountered before, etc--Eddie neglected his Tummo. At the six hour mark he started Tummo, and "I started feeling warm, which totally changed my crossing. It became a joy. The water temperature was below 60 degrees but it felt like the Caribbean. When I finished I was on fire: standing on French shores I didn't feel cold or hypothermic. I got on the boat and my crew insisted I put on some clothes, even though I didn't want to. Later that evening, eating dinner in an English pub, I had to remove my pants because I was so hot! I got very little sleep that night."

Eddie was in the water for twelve hours and twenty-nine minutes, at temperatures under 60. He still practices Tummo, "it's winter and the Bay is getting cold!" He'll be using Tummo next week as he attempts to set a record for swimming from Alcatraz while towing 13 kayaks, as part of a fund-raiser to help repay the generosity the South End Rowing Club bestowed on him, helping him raise the funds necessary for his Channel crossing. The water temperature is currently around 54 degrees, and the swim should take well over an hour.

While Tummo's role in the athletic feat is undeniable and impressive, it's Eddie's larger conclusion that might be the most profound. "I would say you are what you believe. I see everything in life as energy. What we think about, we will attract. If we can mentally see ourselves accomplishing something, then we will accomplish it. As they say, “What you believe you will achieve.”

To the yogi that's truly paying attention to their practice, that sounds about right.

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