The English Channel is the world’s busiest shipping lane – every day more than 500 vessels move from England to Europe and from the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean and vice-versa. So, the biggest danger for swimmers attempting to cross the channel is not sharks but ships. Factor in jellyfish, changing tides and currents, as well as physical and mental exhaustion and it’s easy to see why swimming across the English Channel is regarded as one of the world’s toughest swim challenges.

We talked to Kiama endurance athletes Ben Gaffey and Samson Hollywood, Albion Park’s Alex Shoebridge and swim coach Philip McILwraith from PK Swim School in Dapto about the experience.

The Coach: Philip McILwraith

Philip McILwraith is a swimming coach with 26 years’ experience in coaching endurance athletes for triathlons and open-water swim events So when Ben Gaffey asked him for help in training to swim across the English Channel, Philip knew it would be a massive commitment. It would take two years of coaching to prepare Ben for the treacherous swim, which can be up to 38km long, then require an international trip of several weeks, no easy task for a man with a young family.

Philip agreed to coach Ben and his training partner, Samson, full-time and to assist Alex, who was making the crossing separately to Ben and Samson, once a week. When interviewed, the three swimmers could not speak highly enough of Phil’s training methods and his exceptional character, which motivated them to finish the gruelling swim.

Phil drew up a comprehensive training program for Ben– five to six sessions per week, including lap and ocean pool swimming – but the regimen had to be flexible enough to accommodate the demands of everyday life.

With Alex, Phil had to monitor his progress and help him with technique.

After years of training, when it came time for the Channel crossings, Samson ended up doing his swim a few days before Ben. Phil spent an arduous 12 to 13 hours at sea on each swim, guiding and encouraging Ben and Samson through challenging tidal and weather conditions.

Channel swims start in complete darkness and both the swimmers depended on Philip to guide them across, to make sure they maintained the correct pace and to help them to overcome physical and mental exhaustion.

Ben Gaffey

Completed 1 August 2024 in 12hr 51min

Ben had been an elite athlete for several years, completing Ironman triathlons (3.8km swim, 180.2km bike ride and 42.2km run) before he decided to swim the English Channel.

Ben soon realised swimming the English Channel was a complex process. There was a two-year waiting list to book a spot as it could be attempted only three months of the year (June-August), and only 12 boats offered pilot services to athletes. Even if you had a spot booked, the wind, tides and weather could still stop your swim.

It is not so much a race, Ben said, as getting from point A to point B, but you have to keep a certain pace otherwise you miss your chance to swim into the shortest finishing point in French waters, either side of Cap Gris Nez. If you miss that point of entry you have to swim further, sometimes a couple of hours more, to reach land.

During Ben’s swim, the support crew helped with regular feeds – a bottle of liquid every 30 minutes – pain medication and antihistamines. All this had to be dropped overboard on a string as the swimmer is not allowed to touch the boat and the crew are not allowed to touch the swimmer. Even the time it took to refuel the boat had to be calculated accurately so Ben didn’t miss the tide.

Ships were a major hazard during his swim. Ben even saw the Ever Given, the 220,000-tonne megaship that ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal for six days in 2021.

The biggest challenge, however, was mental. Ben relied on Phil’s expert coaching, and a white board (with words of encouragement on it) that was dangled in front of him. At certain times during the swim Phil was allowed to swim alongside Ben to encourage him to keep going.

Ben eventually finished the swim in 12 hours and 51 minutes, ending at Cap Gris Nez.

Samson Hollywood

Completed 27 July 2024 in 13hr 27min

After training for 12 months with Ben, Samson was keen to book a spot to complete the English Channel crossing himself, but no available time-slot lined up with Ben’s. When Samson arrived in England, he tried again and while most boat pilots said ‘no’, one told him to keep checking – and a time-slot came up.

Samson knew Alex had already completed his swim and that was “really encouraging”.

On the Thursday after he had arrived, Samson asked his pilot if he could swim on the Saturday. The pilot said the weather was a little rough, but it was doable for a strong swimmer. When Samson received a call from the pilot at 1am on the Saturday to meet at 3am to start, he doubted himself, but Phil knew what Samson was capable of and said: “Tell him we are going!”

After the first hour, Samson started to relax in the rough conditions, because he knew if he became frustrated he ran the risk of not finishing.

He was cold for the entire swim and his main fear was the risk of hypothermia and that he would get pulled out of the water before he finished.

Samson credits Phil, Ben and the support crew with helping him to push through and finish. He missed the Cap Gris Nez landing and had to swim a couple of extra hours into the bay to finish.

However, when he stumbled to shore he received a hero’s welcome. He could hear people yelling out his name but didn’t understand why. The whole experience was surreal, he said.

Samson said Phil’s coaching and mentoring during training and the swim itself was crucial to his Channel crossing success.

“If I wasn’t feeling great, he lifted me up.”

Alex Shoebridge

Completed 18 July 2024 in 13hr 33min

Alex had intended to swim the Channel in 2020 but Covid-19 prevented that, so he rescheduled to 2024. Phil had been his swim coach on and off for several years and, in 2005, Alex did a team relay Channel crossing with his brother and father, but he wanted to do a Channel swim by himself.

Alex said his training regimen was not typical but he managed one two-hour session, five to six times a week, fitting them around a demanding work schedule and family commitments.

He arrived in the UK on a Monday and his pilot called him about a cancellation on the Thursday.
If Alex took that booking, he would only have 72 hours to overcome jet lag and prepare. Conditions were good, so he decided to go ahead: he hired a swimming coach and a support person because his support crew hadn’t arrived in the UK yet.

The biggest challenge Alex faced – apart from jet lag and not having his own support crew – was a shoulder injury. He said he swam the last one and a half hours with one arm. He drew strength from the fact his support person swam with him for the last 45 minutes to make sure he finished the race.

Unfortunately, he missed Cap Gris Nez so he had to swim another two hours to reach land.

He was exhausted, in excruciating pain and couldn’t talk as his tongue was three times its normal size. (Saltwater burns the tongue and often after a long swim like this people can’t swallow for days). He had jellyfish stings and sore eyes from leaky goggles, and he was seasick on the way back to the UK – but he had done it.

He arrived back in Dover, went to The White Horse pub and wrote his name on the wall, a Channel swimmer tradition.