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Four Scots Swim the Channel |
| Four Scots Swim the Channel
Leisure manager, John McMillan (pictured far left) is about to embark on the challenge of a life time…to swim the channel!
What started off as a casual remark among a group of friends in the gym has now become a reality? John, who has been a member staff at the David Lloyd Club Renfrew for over 10 years and recently moved to the Glasgow David Lloyd, recalls how the challenge came around…
“I always had a desire to swim the channel, though only in my head until a chat with friends in January turned into a reality and in no time at all we had booked our slot, the boat and I was planning a divorce, only kidding about the divorce. Stupidly never one to turn down a challenge, we were in!
The team have chosen Alzheimer’s Scotland as their charity and are hoping to raise as much as possible through a variety of fundraising events. We have chosen this a one of the four of us, Richard Parker’s mother has it, though sometimes I wonder if he is not suffering from it in its infancy. A web site has been created to allow anyone wishing to make a direct donation to do so and ensure that all tax will go directly to the charity.
The other members of the team are, Kevin Gilchrist and Paul Harrison, who are members of David Lloyd in Renfrew and have been so for over 10 years, though I am by far the best looking as you will see from the photos.
As with all things like this, entering, planning and training for this event is a complex and time consuming endeavour. The swim, scheduled for 24th September 2009, involves John and the three other participants swimming in relay with each swimmer in the water in rotation for one hour at a time. At 22 miles at the shortest point, the swim is expected to take around 16hrs in total. The strict channel crossing association rules demand that only swimming trunks can be worn for the swim. This raises a real risk of hypothermia with water temperature of around only 15 degrees!
In addition to the physical challenge, the swimmers will have to contend with navigating the world’s busiest shipping lane, tidal changes, jelly fish and the flotsam and jetsum discarded by the ships!
So why on earth would anyone want to swim the channel? John explains, “I have always enjoyed pushing the limits and taking myself out my comfort zone. My main sport is road and cross country running, though it is always good to do something a little different. Some of the other guys have also done some big challenges with Paul running the west highland way in a day as a relay, Richard has just recently completed the Lanzarote Ironman, though you would not think it with the photo’s and Kevin only last week completed the Rob Roy challenge which involved a lot of running cycling and drinking. Noticeably only one of these challenges has involved swimming, so for al of us this will be by far the hardest and scariest thing we have ever done, I think!
If anyone would like to make a donation they can follow the link below… http://www.justgiving.com/4scotsswimthechannel
John McMillan
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