Training to swim The Channel" question

jos360

Hi guys,
Im pretty new to sea-swimming (actually completely new). I was just wondering how long it would take to train to be able to swim these sort of distances? (20+miles).

Im not overweight, and I weightlift six days a week for 1-2 hours. I used to swim competitively as a kid and can still swim with good form and whatnot. Im not very fit, but probably better than average.

So if I were to train say 5 days a week for something like this, how long could I expect it to take. Obviously I don't expect a precise answer, but we talking months, years? Also, what sort of training does one do for this kind of thing?

Thanks if you've gotten this far

okane1

About one year. To swim the channel it will take most swimmers 12hrs, going at 3km/hr. You will be in cold water 14°degrees.

I have friends who have swam the channel and the training they do is crazy. It would put our swim log to shame. 8hrs sessions in the pool for time to time. 5hrs plus in the sea back to back. They do unreal distances. Most of them do the long distance swim camp in Cork, where you will do almost 100km in one week.

If you are interested, check out the channel website for further information
http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/

and the Long Distance swimming org in Ireland
http://www.ildsa.info/

jos360

okane1 wrote: »

About one year. To swim the channel it will take most swimmers 12hrs, going at 3km/hr. You will be in cold water 14°degrees.

I have friends who have swam the channel and the training they do is crazy. It would put our swim log to shame. 8hrs sessions in the pool for time to time. 5hrs plus in the sea back to back. They do unreal distances. Most of them do the long distance swim camp in Cork, where you will do almost 100km in one week.

If you are interested, check out the channel website for further information
http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/

and the Long Distance swimming org in Ireland
http://www.ildsa.info/

Thanks man

2old4dacold

see also http://cspf.co.uk/swim-the-channel

and http://loneswimmer.com/ is a great read on a regular basis

DonalB

Unless you have open & rough water experience, assume two years. One year for open water experience and building your swimming base and getting adapted to the heavy training load. The rest of your exercise experience will be mostly useless except insofar as you are used to training regularly. Then one year of full training. Best pilots and tides are usually booked two years out anyway.

Some people Solo with less. Some make it, some don't. Some who train like we do, don't make it, the Channel is often cruel beyond easy words.

(Disclaimer; it's rumoured I may be the loneswimmer).

okane1

DonalB wrote: »

(Disclaimer; it's rumoured I may be the loneswimmer).

If you are loneswimmer, keep away from our swimming log!!!

DonalB

1,001,100 metres. Just checked. Lovely-looking number. Year to date. Taking it easy last two months.

okane1

Busy cave exploring! They look stunning. I've swam into a few caves near Westport at the start of the year, really is a lovely feeling been inside them with the light and noise of the rushing water. Must actaully get back up sometime and do it again.

2old4dacold

DonalB wrote: »

1,001,100 metres. Just checked. Lovely-looking number. Year to date. Taking it easy last two months.

out of curiousity, would you be able to break that down into pool and open water distance covered for us ?

DonalB

Ran the spreadsheet, I never break it down that way myself, it's showing 276,600 OWS. So 724,000 pool.

2old4dacold

so about 25% OWS then. none of us on boards swim log hitting that or even close to it.

obviously the shorter OW swims are achievable doing >90% pool work, but what at what target distance does a ratio more like your own become necessary ?
(your opinion / best guess)

DonalB

Well, I didn't have a ratio target. It's mainly pool until May, one day OW a week through the winter & then it reaches 10C so I can start swimming over an hour+ in the sea. I make sure to do a million metres a year regardless whether I have a swim goal for the year. This year I had Manhattan so I was doing full training. Last year I didn't aim for anything specific so I didn't hit 1 million until late November. If I wasn't able to do a 10k OW at any time with no notice, then I'd be worried. What I do is about normal for many of our group (Sandycove island), a couple a little less, @swimforever does more! I've kind of worked out what suits me.

mad m

A million meters!!!! Holy may I say it ****!

Is it with a group when doing over an hour in sea? Do you feed while out in it for that length of time....

A million meters.....

How long do you spend in pool for a session?

I'll be down that way (Sandycove Island) for the swim in couple weeks. Love that swim.

DonalB

Most of my pool & swimming is by myself (hence the site name). I only feed on swims over about two and half hours. A bit training year is from 1.5 to 2 million.
Pool sessions are minimum of an hour when I'm taking it easy. Long pools sessions happen once a month during winter/spring, which build up to 8 hours.