So how did I get into all of this?

Very good question!!  Many people talk about how it has been their life's ambition to swim the channel.  That's not the case with me.  I only learned how to swim properly in 2000, and I'm not exactly a great swimmer.  So this is not the most obvious of challenges.

As I'm not a great swimmer, I quickly learned that if I want to win medals I need to do the events that no-one else wants to, like 200 fly.  This same theory led me to try the odd open water swim.  One of these swims was the 2k open water swim in the World Masters Games in 2005 in Edmonton, Canada.  I was fortunate enough to win a bronze medal.  It was just after this that Dana Haugli (www.lido-legends.co.uk) called me and asked if I would consider being in a channel relay.  She caught me on a high, and before I knew it I'd signed up.

The lead up to the relay was undoubtedly the most scary thing I've faced.  I really tried to fail the medical to get out of it!!  But the day was fantastic - a wonderful experience.  I wanted more, and a channel solo seemed like the next logical step!

So on 4th August 2007 I made my first attempt.  Unfortunately this one wasn't successful and whilst easy to say 'Oh well, I gave it my best shot, never mind' there's more fight in me yet!  This is a journey and I'm here for the ride.

"It's not how we fail in life that defines us, it's how we rise after we fall".  As someone else once said 'the world is full of people who didn't realise just how close they were to success when they gave up' and if you accept that and the fact that there is no failure, only feedback - then I take this feedback, work out what needs to be done differently and rise to the challenge once more.