Welcome to Effortless Swimming, the podcast for swimmers, triathletes and coaches. Join Australian swim coach, Brenton Ford, as he reveals the latest techniques and information to improve your swimming. Let’s dive right in. Welcome to another Effortless Swimming podcast. Today’s guest is a friend of mine, Chloe McCartle, who’s a six times solo English channel swimmer. And Chloe has started taking relays across to England to swim the channel. So I want to talk a little bit about that today and how you can get started in channel swimming, because unless you know someone who’s done it before, it’s very hard to get started and know what to do. And also I just want to talk about some of the things that people who are looking to get started in the channel, what you’re sort of in for, I guess, in terms of training and preparation, and just give you everything you need to know about swimming the English channel.

So Chloe, welcome to the podcast. Brenton, looking forward to our chat. Yes, well, we’ve already been going for a few minutes, but you’ve got to love Skype and how it doesn’t work all the time. So this is round two, but it’s going to be much better than before, no doubt. We’ve been talking for the last couple of weeks about what you’re doing with relay teams and introducing them to swim the channel. Tell the listeners a little bit about what you’re doing with relay teams to help people get started with channel swimming. Yeah, Brenton, you probably noticed, and some of your listeners will have picked up on the fact that if you swim the channel six times, you are absolutely crazy or you really love it. And I think I’m probably a mixture of them both. I’m a little bit crazy. I mean, I did two doubles in those six crossings and also two singles. I just really had this affinity with the English channel. It feels like I’m coming home every time I go back to England and I know I’m there to swim the English channel.

It’s a really special world and there’s no other marathon swim or marathon relay in the world like it. And I’ve done a few of them, including Manhattan Island, circumnavigating the whole city of New York, swimming marathons in Hawaii, swimming in Ireland. There’s just nothing like an English channel. So I feel like it’s my duty and it’s really my passion now to share that with as many people as possible. And I could just easily coach solos across the English channel, but I feel like if I include relays in what I can offer and how I can mentor and coach people, I can reach so many more people. And there are a lot of people who would love to swim in this channel, but feel like maybe they’re not up to swimming in it the whole way by themselves. And there are so many opportunities to jump into a relay and experience all that the channel has to offer without having to commit to the time, the energy, the sacrifices, the extra expense of doing the whole thing solo.

Yeah, well, I mean, I know just how much of a commitment it is, not because I’ve done it personally, but I’ve had one of my subscribers from the channel last year. And in terms of time and energy and money as well, it is a big investment. But if you can do that as part of a team to, I guess, get a taste for it and see if this is something you’d like to do solo, I think doing the channel as a relay and having teammates to work with and train with and bounce off of as well, it’s such a good way to get started with it. Yeah, it is. And doing it in a relay and keeping the idea, the option to open the future of possibly doing a solo, as you’re saying, you get to bounce off other people, but you also kind of go through nearly the whole processes of if you were a solo. So you go through, you know, the type of training, not as much training, so a lighter load, but the type of training, so the cold water training, the certificates that you need to do to qualify for the English Channel Swim.

So usually if you’re a solo, you do a six hour qualifying cold water, but as a relay swimmer, all you have to do is two hours. So you really do, as you’re saying, you get a taste for it and you get to go through all those procedures and the whole mirroring the training in a way that you would do if you were going to do a solo. So it really, it’s a great introductory year. It’s a chance to build up your extra fitness, you end up doing a lot more aerobic training. So, you know, you’ll have a chance to build up all that as well. So, you know, for some people, it’s a great way as an introduction to the solo as a solo in a future year. And for other people, you know, this is it. This is all they want to do and they may not want to do a solo. And that’s 100% fine as well. They’ll still get, you know, the feeling of being in a team and completing it and touching French shore. And what’s really interesting, I’m not sure if you’re aware or your listeners are aware,

but once you complete your solo, your relay, you get to write your name and your team if it’s a relay on the wall of White Horse Pub in Dover. Did you know about that? No, I didn’t know about that for teams. I’ve saw a picture of one of my sisters doing it last year. And yeah, that was, you can say the smile on his face, how stoked he was to be able to do that. Yeah, it’s just, it’s really special. You gain so much confidence and pride in, you know, in your training and in your performance. Doesn’t matter how fast or how slow you are, because no one cares about that in English Channel. They just care, did you make it across? So, and that’s another reason why being in a relay is so accessible, because there’s no, you know, minimum or maximum time requirements as in like speed for X amount of meters or kilometers. The most important thing is that you get in and you do your hour. So in a relay, in the relay that I’m offering a master’s relay for 2015,

all you need to do is swim for your one hour, your designated hour in your turn. So in a team of six, for example, if you’re the first summer off, you swim from the start until the end of hour one, then you get back on the boat. The next person’s already jumped in. They’re starting hour two and they’ll keep rotating until it’s your turn again. So once all six swimmers have swum, that’s six hours gone. And then you’ll jump back in if you’re the number one person in that team and you’ll do hour number seven. So you basically just rotating through and whenever you get to the other side, you get there. There’s no need to kind of rush across or be a national level swimmer or a medalist at master’s level. It’s not like that at all. It’s really is about that team and that camaraderie because every person pulls their weight equally. You can’t have one or two speedy swimmers and make them swim extra like in a lot of relay races around the world.

You can kind of skew your result. It’s not like that at all. It’s very special. And there are a lot of rules around how your team can operate under official channel swimming association guidelines, which is interesting. Yeah. And I think in a way that’s, you know, it’s good. It means that every team is doing it the same and, you know, it really makes it official, I guess. And with, I mean, with most teams, they’d probably be swimming. Most swimmers would get two hours each at least, wouldn’t they? Yes. I’m very confident that every relay I send across will get two swims each. So a standard relay that someone who loves statistics has gone and taken every relay time that’s ever been recorded and averaged out the absolute average time of a relay. So that’s 12 and a half hours. But that’s including all sorts of speeds. So I’d be thinking 12 hours would be two swims each for a six person team. That would be the minimum.

But it wouldn’t be uncommon for a relay to swim anywhere between 14 and 16 hours. So there’s a good chance the first few swimmers off on the relay might get a third swim as the swimmers keep rotating if they’re a little bit slower getting into France. But as I said, time really isn’t an issue. It just means that there’ll be extra swims that will need to be done to finish off that relay. Yeah. And I mean, I think it’s a, that’s a good challenge. I struggle to swim in cold water for half an hour. So if you know, if you’re doing. That’s the visual bird’s lane. You need some shuttle fat. I’ve had that not at the moment, but in my past I’ve definitely had that. But I don’t know how I’d be in cold water. Anyway, it’s just, I’m a shocker in it. But you know, if you’re getting two hours swimming, it’s, you know, it’s a good amount of time to really challenge yourself across the, across the channel because I mean you, you have your cold water adaptation and you, you know, you’re in there getting your body used to it.

So that definitely helps. And, you know, you make it with your program and, and work out to making sure that they’re prepared and, and ready for it. Yeah, that’s a really good point. So I guess one of the things that’s really important to me is as a coach being able to guide everyone through this process. So some of the coaching that’s included in the program is 10 months of online coaching. So some people will have their own squad that they’re very happy with and that’s fine. So it’s optional for them to follow this coaching because they can swim with their squad, but others like to swim by themselves. So for example, they’ll get two or three pool sessions to complete in the pool per week. And then on top of that, when the time is right, so when the open water near where they leave or work is cold enough, then they can do open water swimming, which is really important. That’s a very important aspect.

So I guide them through all that. I guide them through other things like swimming at night because you’ll need to swim at some point in darkness for a channel swim. So all swimmers need to be prepared for that. Other really important things in the coaching program are the feeding regime. If you want to keep warm, you need to be able to have the right nutrition. And a lot of channel swimmers really don’t focus on their nutrition enough. And that’s why they get so cold in the channel is because, well, some haven’t trained enough, but also when they’re having their feed, they’re not getting the energy they’re required to keep warm. So that’s also really important. And then the team aspect is very important to me as well because it really is a team job to get across. So every month we have a monthly Skype session and the team gets to get our logs on. No matter where they are in the world, they log on and we have a session together.

So I’ve had an Australian team preparing this year and two other swimmers for a part of the year have lived in Japan. So even though they’re an Australian team, our Skype sessions have been happening between Melbourne and Japan. So it’s quite incredible the way the world is these days with the internet and communication that we can run these relays quite effectively even though we’re dispersed across the world. Yeah, that’s awesome how you can be in this team with people who they might be 2,000 Ks away, but you can still be a part of a team. I mean, I’ve got a friend who has a 50-50 share in a business with a person he’s never met face to face. So it’s amazing what you can do with the internet. And that’s one of the great things about it is like with us, I mean, we’re chatting over Skype now and hundreds, if not thousands of people will listen to this podcast. And you can get your message out to a lot of people, which is awesome.

So people don’t need to be located in Melbourne where you are in order to be part of the team. No, not at all. I’ve had people reach out because expressions of interest have been open for a few weeks now from the USA, from Brussels, from Florida in the US and from Ireland, though most have been from Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmania. So I’ve got so many applications to join the team that I’m looking at now creating a second team. It’ll just be dependent on whether I can get a position with the pilot because the positions that I like to secure, which are first and second positions, they’re very hard to get hold of. You have to book a year or two in advance. So I’m just fingers crossed now I’ve put the call out because I only want to run a position which I believe gives my relays from as the best chance of completing their swim. So for those of you that don’t know what position system means, it basically means during a set amount of time, say 10 days,

that’s usually the time frame that you have to swim your relay. You’re given a position by your pilot. So it’s like a priority order. Position one is offered each day of that tide first. So they can choose whether or not they want to take their swim on each day, usually over about a 10-day period. So that’s why position one and two are very highly sought after. So I’m about 9% sure I should get that second relay going. Otherwise, I’ll have to turn down a few people, which will be disappointing. But I will be running the relays again in 2016. So there will be opportunities in the future if you miss out this year. Yeah, so if someone’s listening to this and they’re thinking, oh, this sounds pretty interesting. I wouldn’t mind to see what a relay is all about. What are some of the, I guess, requirements in terms of access to cold water and ability to train X amount of times a week? What are some of the things that you’re sort of looking for with someone who’s applying?

Yeah, that’s a really good question. So Expressions of Interest for this relay closed July 1st. And then I get back to people and we have successful those that might not be in. And so from mid-July, the expectation and those that join the program will have to agree to this training regime is a minimum of two pool sessions a week until the end of the year. So if you want to do more than two, that’s fantastic. If you want to throw in open water, that’s fine as well. But there’s no expectation before the end of the year that you have to get into open water, whether it’s cold or normal temperature open water. But then once we tick over into the new year, the new minimum number is three sessions a week. Now it’ll depend what temperature water is around where you live because people will be in different areas. So for example, just say it’s cold water training at that time. Well, then the priority will be to do two cold water swims.

And then that third session will need to be a pool session. If there’s someone like Melbourne where I live, it’ll be quite warm in January. So they do three pool sessions and then they’ll wait until cold water starts and then they’ll prioritize their cold water. So basically it’s a minimum of three sessions when 2015 starts and whenever cold water is accessible near you, it’s a minimum of two of those three must be in cold water. So one of the things that I’m chatting to people about who have reached out and who are interested is can they access cold water? And by that I mean 12 Celsius to say 19 Celsius or anywhere from 55 to 65 Fahrenheit. And if they can’t access that, especially leading into the late June swim because the relay is going to run in late June 2015, then maybe it’s not the best challenge for them because cold water training is a big aspect of the preparations. Yeah, that’s important. I mean, you’re part of a team and if one person doesn’t pull their weight,

one person doesn’t follow the rules, so to speak, that impacts on the whole, on five other people. So I think it’s good that you’ve got requirements for people to be a part of it and make sure that everyone is pulling their load and making sure that they’re doing their bit for the team. Yeah, that’s right. And the good thing about my position is not only have I got the experience of being there and coaching people already because I’ll coach three teams this year and be on their boat as a support crew person, but also that I’m slightly independent. So if you had a group of friends who got together, say six friends who wanted to swim the channel in a relay, what do you do if one or two people aren’t pulling their weight if they’re not attending sessions or if they’re not quite handling the cold water as everyone else is? How do you have that kind of awkward conversation? How do you say or do you want to leave the team

or you need to train more? How do you track their training exactly if they’re leaving a little bit of a different area than you? So I kind of take on more of that responsibility myself and I think it alleviates a bit of the pressure or the unknown on team members because they can focus on their own training that don’t have to worry if other people are doing their training because it’s my job as coach to monitor everyone, give feedback, coach everyone and make sure everyone is pulling their weight leading into the channel swim. So it’s a bit of a different sort of offering and people can just get together and run their own relay team without someone like me assisting them and that happens every year. Several relay teams go over, but if you want to have my support and my guidance and my import and you need help finding others because you want to do it and you don’t know other people who want to do it which is the feedback I’m getting at the moment

then maybe I can help you. And if not, just email me. I love chatting to open water swimmers. Just say hi or just if you’re going over and doing a solo this year and you just want to reach out and have a coffee or something, I’m very open. I love chatting to everyone in the community and giving back as much as I can as well. Awesome. So how can people get in touch with you if they are interested? Well, my email is probably the best place to start. I’m also on Skype. If you look up my name on Skype, I’ll come up immediately. So that’s Chloe McCardle, C-H-L-O-E and then my surname will be Gap M-C-C-A-R-D-E-L and my email is very similar. So that’s Chloe at ChloeMcCardle.com but I think Brenton, you’ll be able to put a link on your audio recording or somewhere on your website. So make sure you go on to Brenton’s Effortless Swimming and he’ll sort you out. Yeah, I’ll add all of your details to this podcast and also in the email that I send out.

So that’s awesome. I know you’ve had quite an influx of people inquiring about your 2015 relays, which the positions close at the end of the month. So look, some people will probably miss out but it doesn’t mean that there might not be lots available for 2016. So if you’re interested, I highly recommend you get in touch with Chloe because if you want to get started with channels swimming or you want to go across as part of a team, then this is the best way to do it is with other people and with someone who’s been there many times before and there’s no one more qualified than yourself to help them do that. Thanks, Brenton. So thanks for being on the podcast with me, Chloe and no doubt I’ll catch up with you soon and best of luck to everyone training for the channel this year and next. Cheers, Brenton. Bye, everyone.