Strongest Motivator - So far I've raised approx 6k and have been over-whelmed by people's generosity in these hard times; the fear of letting them down was foremost in my head whenever I felt like getting cold feet before and during the swim.
Most Surreal Moment - standing on a boat in the depths of night in nothing but my budgie smugglers covered in sun cream
Silliest Moment - jumping in to the water from the boat to swim to the English shore in readiness to start and singing my lungs out "Oh it's a lovely night for a swim"
Best Comic Moment - (for the crew, anyway); choking on a mouthful of drink on being told by my crew that the Channel General, Freda Streeter, had phoned to say that I must keep my pace up or the crew could "kick my arse".
Most Beautiful Moment - seeing the the dawn come up and the sun rise, even though I knew a 'blood' dawn spelt bad weather for later in the day
Worst Moment - after only 3 hours into the swim when I felt physically dreadful, exhausted and so, so, nauseous; I'd tried my whole repertoire of mental 'coping' strategies and had already settled for the last resort of telling myself 'left hand, right hand, left hand right hand' for the next 2 hours.
Most Thrilling Moment - after 5 hours when I suddenly realised my shoulder-injuries weren't troubling me, I'd stopped shivering or feeling tired and nauseous and I felt strong enough to tell myself "I can actually do this" and to truly believe it for the first time ever.
Most Painful Moment - jelly fish sting in the south west Shipping Channel, a very painful area I can assure you!
Most Wasted-on-me Moment - an inquisitive seal who kept popping up to have a look at me mid-swim, to which I remained completely oblivious.
Most Anxious Moment - after 12 hours, having had France in my sights for the last 3 hours and after swimming as fast as I could for 2 hours in response to my pilot's advice to try and break through the currents but having been slowed down by Force 5 winds and sea swell to match, realising that the tide had turned for the 2nd time and that we were now getting swept by tide and winds towards the North Sea and further away from France
Daftest Moment - having become so focused on keeping going and being convinced that I was as far away as I had been 3 hours ago with at least 3 hours left to swim, that I failed to hear my crew shout that I was only half a mile from shore.
Slowest 'Penny-Dropping' Moment - being irritated that the boat wasn't keeping alongside, turning round to see why and slowly realising that the shouting and waving of my crew to go on ahead was because it was too shallow for the boat to get any closer in to the shore and I must be almost there!
Most Relieved Moment - running out of the water and standing on the beach waving back at the boat to confirm I'd done it.
Best Memento Moment- the stone I picked up from the shore to show my observer.
Most Anti-Climatic Moment - being sick as a dog the whole 3 hours boat-trip back to Dover because my body couldn't digest the super-strength carbohydrate drinks I'd been having to get me through the last few hours of my swim.
Best 'Doh!' Moment - catching the reflection of my face on the way back after the swim, seeing a red and white egg and realising that through all the nerves before starting I'd forgotten to put sun cream on my face.
Happiest Moment - having landed back in Dover having stopped being sick, I was thinking of everyone who had helped me along the way and felt at peace with the World; as if that wasn't enough, I then heard the surprise family-welcoming committee - I think this photo says it all.Most Frequent Q & As -
Q How long did it take?
A 15 hours 47 minutes.
Q How far did you swim?
A 29 miles.
Q How windy was it?
A Force 1 increasing to Force 5.
Q What was the sea-state?
A Low 1 increasing to Moderate 5.
Q Why didn't you swim in a straight line?
A Tides, currents and winds - when the tide turned after 12 hours, it combined with the wind to push us north east at a speed of 5 knots - not very helpful when you're trying to swim south.
Q Would you do it again?
A Can't see why. But I think I understand now why some people do - 'Never say never', right?.....
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