Walliams Swim - remarkable?

essex-commuter

I can swim but don't do it as a sport or for fun.

What David Walliams is doing at the moment totally blows me away, it seems such an amazing feat.

Is that because I'm not a swimmer, or is it truly remarkable? Does it equate to say riding LEJOG then JOGLE in X amount of days or is Walliams Thames swim totally off the scale?

asprilla

The total distance is six times longer than his channel swim. Yes, the channel is filthy, choppy and has currents but this is six times longer. I'd say it was harder than the channel.

Folks from Mrs A's work do the Arch to the Arc each year which is a relay triathlon from London to Paris (sometimes it's the Tower to the Tower). Each leg is a relay so you can change competitor(s) as often as you like during each leg. In the last 4 years they have yet to complete the swim section due to exhaustion amongst a team of 8. As a result I'd say that swimming the channel was remarkable and this is just insane.

ince

essex-commuter wrote:

What David Walliams is doing at the moment totally blows me away, it seems such an amazing feat.

Is that because I'm not a swimmer, or is it truly remarkable? Does it equate to say riding LEJOG then JOGLE in X amount of days or is Walliams Thames swim totally of the scale?

+1

I was thinking along this line the other day, how do different sports stack up for the same level of fitness. I can't run and I'm not a great swimmer but I can ride a bike. If I ride 100 miles is that equal to a 25 mile run, 10 mile swim etc for my level of fitness if I could run and swim at the same level I can ride?

suzyb

Any swim is remarkable. I haven't been swimming since my early teens (when I didn't look like a balloon in a swimsuit) and I still remember how knackered I was just doing breadths of the pool.

Can't imagine how much harder it would be to swim a river.

mr_ribble

essex-commuter wrote:

I can swim but don't do it as a sport or for fun.

What David Walliams is doing at the moment totally blows me away, it seems such an amazing feat.

Is that because I'm not a swimmer, or is it truly remarkable? Does it equate to say riding LEJOG then JOGLE in X amount of days or is Walliams Thames swim totally of the scale?

As someone who has swum the channel as part of a relay team twice, I have the upmost respect for David. His time of 10h 34 is about an hour and half quicker than what our team posted. He is a great swimmer, and very talented at the sport.

I don't think you can make a comparison. I have done Marmotte as well, and if someone asked which was harder I would say its an impossible comparison.

bails87

I occasionally go swimming for 'fun'/as a change to do something with my spindly arms rather than my legs for once

I'f I do 50 lengths, in a 25m pool, in an hour then that's a decent acheivement.....it's not even a mile! I'm sure my technique is absolutely terrible, but I'm not unfit and I find it hard work. In contrast a 'stubby' woman sometimes turns up at the same time as me and absolutely flies along.

Is Walliams going downstream? Couldn't he just bob along and go with the flow?

mr_ribble

Asprilla wrote:

The total distance is six times longer than his channel swim. Yes, the channel is filthy, choppy and has currents but this is six times longer. I'd say it was harder than the channel.

Folks from Mrs A's work do the Arch to the Arc each year which is a relay triathlon from London to Paris (sometimes it's the Tower to the Tower). Each leg is a relay so you can change competitor(s) as often as you like during each leg. In the last 4 years they have yet to complete the swim section due to exhaustion amongst a team of 8. As a result I'd say that swimming the channel was remarkable and this is just insane.

I've competed in this since 2009. Indeed it's crazy.

The thing to remember that just cant compare distances outright. So for example, a cross channel swimmer who is going with the tide might be able to cover 5km in an hour. However, that same swimmer when trying to hit the French shore when the tide is going out, may cover only a km in the same time.

Also, cross-channel swimming is done sans wetsuit, so you have the cold factor. So even though its 6x longer, given that its with current the whole way and wetsuited its definately not 6x as "hard".

Still... the guy is a legend.

essex-commuter

ince wrote:

+1

I was thinking along this line the other day, how do different sports stack up for the same level of fitness. I can't run and I'm not a great swimmer but I can ride a bike. If I ride 100 miles is that equal to a 25 mile run, 10 mile swim etc for my level of fitness if I could run and swim at the same level I can ride?

I'm a fair runner, sort of club level - I can run a marathon in under 3hrs 30mins.

Taking actual racing out of the equation and looking at training, a 20 mile training run to me would be the equivalant of something like 150 mile bike ride. I can run 18 miles at 8 minutes per mile and be completely knackered for the rest of the day but I can ride 100 miles at an average of 18mph+ and not feel too bad at all.

Swimming, I do 3 lengths and I'm gasping, I have no technique.

Horses for courses I guess.

pbt150

bails87 wrote:

Is Walliams going downstream? Couldn't he just bob along and go with the flow?

Technically he is going downstream, but over the summer the Thames is virtually static. Think about each reach (section between locks) as a carefully managed lake rather than a river.

asprilla

Mr_Ribble wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

The total distance is six times longer than his channel swim. Yes, the channel is filthy, choppy and has currents but this is six times longer. I'd say it was harder than the channel.

Folks from Mrs A's work do the Arch to the Arc each year which is a relay triathlon from London to Paris (sometimes it's the Tower to the Tower). Each leg is a relay so you can change competitor(s) as often as you like during each leg. In the last 4 years they have yet to complete the swim section due to exhaustion amongst a team of 8. As a result I'd say that swimming the channel was remarkable and this is just insane.

I've competed in this since 2009. Indeed it's crazy.

The thing to remember that just cant compare distances outright. So for example, a cross channel swimmer who is going with the tide might be able to cover 5km in an hour. However, that same swimmer when trying to hit the French shore when the tide is going out, may cover only a km in the same time.

Also, cross-channel swimming is done sans wetsuit, so you have the cold factor. So even though its 6x longer, given that its with current the whole way and wetsuited its definitely not 6x as "hard".

Still... the guy is a legend.

Oh yeah, it's certainly not 6x harder, he's going down stream for a start. But I do think having to repeat the effort for several days adds to the difficulty.

I'm hoping that one day Mrs A's company will be short a team member for the challenge and I can step into the breach. It's a small company with less than 200 employees so it might happen one day.......

Aerozine50

Well Walliams's swim is certainly highly remarkable, I'd not want to do something like this unless I had every jab going to mankind, and just think of the the number of spent Johnnies and shopping trollies in the thames which well is disgusting!!

Ther was a simialr programme about trying to catch a trout in the Thames at some stage, but the thames as it passes through london simply becomes one large sewer since Bazalgette times.

It kind of puts this chap on a par with the paratrooper who swam across the open sewer pond at camp bastion. Eugh! no!!!!

Normally most Friday evenings in the sumemrtime I'll go and swim a nautical mile (2025 yds) in my local outdoor lido (40 lengths of a 50 metre pool) as well as cycling.

mr_ribble

Asprilla wrote:

Mr_Ribble wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

The total distance is six times longer than his channel swim. Yes, the channel is filthy, choppy and has currents but this is six times longer. I'd say it was harder than the channel.

Folks from Mrs A's work do the Arch to the Arc each year which is a relay triathlon from London to Paris (sometimes it's the Tower to the Tower). Each leg is a relay so you can change competitor(s) as often as you like during each leg. In the last 4 years they have yet to complete the swim section due to exhaustion amongst a team of 8. As a result I'd say that swimming the channel was remarkable and this is just insane.

I've competed in this since 2009. Indeed it's crazy.

The thing to remember that just cant compare distances outright. So for example, a cross channel swimmer who is going with the tide might be able to cover 5km in an hour. However, that same swimmer when trying to hit the French shore when the tide is going out, may cover only a km in the same time.

Also, cross-channel swimming is done sans wetsuit, so you have the cold factor. So even though its 6x longer, given that its with current the whole way and wetsuited its definitely not 6x as "hard".

Still... the guy is a legend.

I'm hoping that one day they will be short a team member and I can step into the breach. It's a small company with less than 200 employees so it might happen one day.......

Really. So in 2010 I got bitten by a sea lamprey when I was in the water, at about 4am when it was pitch black. At the time I thought it was a jelly sting, so I carried on with the rest of my leg. It was only when I got back onto the boat and my teammate put a towel around me, did they see this two foot eel attached to my back and sucking my blood.

Oh and then this year, no teams made it across because a few hours into the swim a storm arrived. One of out team got so seasick they called the Coastgauard and our observer broke her arm.

Still want to do it!

asprilla

Mr_Ribble wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

Mr_Ribble wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

The total distance is six times longer than his channel swim. Yes, the channel is filthy, choppy and has currents but this is six times longer. I'd say it was harder than the channel.

Folks from Mrs A's work do the Arch to the Arc each year which is a relay triathlon from London to Paris (sometimes it's the Tower to the Tower). Each leg is a relay so you can change competitor(s) as often as you like during each leg. In the last 4 years they have yet to complete the swim section due to exhaustion amongst a team of 8. As a result I'd say that swimming the channel was remarkable and this is just insane.

I've competed in this since 2009. Indeed it's crazy.

The thing to remember that just cant compare distances outright. So for example, a cross channel swimmer who is going with the tide might be able to cover 5km in an hour. However, that same swimmer when trying to hit the French shore when the tide is going out, may cover only a km in the same time.

Also, cross-channel swimming is done sans wetsuit, so you have the cold factor. So even though its 6x longer, given that its with current the whole way and wetsuited its definitely not 6x as "hard".

Still... the guy is a legend.

I'm hoping that one day they will be short a team member and I can step into the breach. It's a small company with less than 200 employees so it might happen one day.......

Really. So in 2010 I got bitten by a sea lamprey when I was in the water, at about 4am when it was pitch black. At the time I thought it was a jelly sting, so I carried on with the rest of my leg. It was only when I got back onto the boat and my teammate put a towel around me, did they see this two foot eel attached to my back and sucking my blood.

Oh and then this year, no teams made it across because a few hours into the swim a storm arrived. One of out team got so seasick they called the Coastgauard and our observer broke her arm.

Still want to do it!

More than ever. You've done it since 3 times and had these things happen, but don't tell me you won't be back next year!

cougie

I think Walliams hit lucky with the conditions on his channel swim as its an amazing time for a novice. He's still a great swimmer and it must be hideously hard to have to repeat the distance day in and day out. I see he's swapped to a wetsuit lately ? I dont blame him.

Hope he makes it.

spen666

essex-commuter wrote:

ince wrote:

+1

I was thinking along this line the other day, how do different sports stack up for the same level of fitness. I can't run and I'm not a great swimmer but I can ride a bike. If I ride 100 miles is that equal to a 25 mile run, 10 mile swim etc for my level of fitness if I could run and swim at the same level I can ride?

I'm a fair runner, sort of club level - I can run a marathon in under 3hrs 30mins.

Taking actual racing out of the equation and looking at training, a 20 mile training run to me would be the equivalant of something like 150 mile bike ride. I can run 18 miles at 8 minutes per mile and be completely knackered for the rest of the day but I can ride 100 miles at an average of 18mph+ and not feel too bad at all.

Swimming, I do 3 lengths and I'm gasping, I have no technique.

Horses for courses I guess.

I know horses can swim and can run (gallop?) but can horses really ride bikes?

essex-commuter

spen666 wrote:

I know horses can swim and can run (gallop?) but can horses really ride bikes?

Duh.

t4tomo

Re channel swiming, its an epic challenge just to get across. I think I'm right in saying more peolple have climbed everest than have swum the channel. so hats off to Walliams on both his channel swim and this one.

BTW what happens in this Arch to arc thing when you don't make teh channel swim - do you jjts abandon completely or boat it over to Calais and carry on on the bike or running or whatever.

asprilla

t4tomo wrote:

BTW what happens in this Arch to arc thing when you don't make teh channel swim - do you jjts abandon completely or boat it over to Calais and carry on on the bike or running or whatever.

Boat to Calais and get on your bike.

Twostage

essex-commuter wrote:

Swimming, I do 3 lengths and I'm gasping, I have no technique.

Horses for courses I guess.

You beat me by two lengths there. I just can't do the crawl. I'm gasping by the time I get to the other end. I can do the breast stroke though (no sniggering at the back).
As for comparisons my guess is you need to compare heart rates during the activity taking into account what you have trained for. My heart rate is a lot higher running than biking in fact I can't sustain the effort on the bike to get my heart rate up to what it is when I'm doing my 10K running pace. I did the 100 odd miles from Gretna to Dumbarton the other week and felt a bit tired by the time we got to Erskine. Slept well but had no problem getting on the bike the next morning for the 18 miles to Glasgow Central. Couldn't do a marathon without some serious training (never felt the urge to do it). Could maybe do a 1/2 marathon without any special training (done plenty of them).
Swim the Thames - nope.
Good on him.

dcurzon

swimming is next on my 'to do' list. Did 18 lengths of a 25m pool earlier this week, but had to take lots of breaks throughout. Planning on swimming 2-3 times a week and build up to being able to swim a mile by early november. Confidence in the water seems to be important and something i am lacking at the moment. I'm taking a week out, then starting my challenge the week after.

itboffin

I once swam the entire world, then climbed Everest ....

on my way to work #nails :roll:

mybreakfastconsisted

Walliams did have jabs before he went in, and he started a course of antibiotics. There's lots of nasty stuff pumped into the river from sewage works, when he gets to London it will be worse. The river was biologically dead only 60 years ago. Swallow any Thames water and you've got less a rectum, more a trap door.

I can't stand Walliams, he's completely unfunny and Little Britain is puerile rubbish, but he's doing a remarkable thing and has raised getting on for half a million already. Chapeau sir.

PedalPedant

I'm not really a fan either but I think what David Walliams is doing is incredible. I swim fairly regularly in the local pool but I can't imagine how tough those sort of distances in open water must be.

Sadly, as mybreakfastconsisted said, the state of the river itself appears to be coming more of a problem the closer he gets to the capital.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14866031

Sounds pretty grim and it would be a real shame if he had to abandon because of health concerns.

PP

spen666

[quote="mybreakfastconsisted"...

I can't stand Walliams, he's completely unfunny and Little Britain is puerile rubbish, but he's doing a remarkable thing and has raised getting on for half a million already. Chapeau sir.[/quote]

I too am not that enamoured with his humour.

I also think it is a remarkable feat to swim the channel, let alone surviving swimming that distance in the Thames.

Is his fundraising achievement that great? By that, I do not mean that £0.5m is not much.
He is a very high profile figure who can raise money much more easily than you or I. People seem to want to throw money at things endorsed by celebrities.

That is not to take away from the fact he is actually pushing himself to raise money for charity.

I do have to say that I think this chap has pushed himself even further and raised an incredible amount of money for a non celebrity.

Mark Allinson ran 3100 miles across the Unorth SA in only 100 days this summer. He raised over £100,000 for charity (a hospice in the north east.

That is an average of 31 miles a day everyday for 100 days! In fact owing to bad weather, early on, on the last day Mark had to run around 55 miles on the last day

nich

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/20 ... u-can-too/