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James Stead - The Mental and Physical Extremes of Training for the English Channel
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James Stead is not a normal individual. Well, maybe if you’re the kind of person who enjoys six hour swims in the ocean in temperatures below 60 Fahrenheit or 15 degrees Celcius. James is training to swim the notorious English Channel....
Something that less than 1900 people have done solo, not in a relay…. 8,200 people have taken part in channel crossings….
It’s a distance of about 21 miles, with a current pushing the swimmer sideways...there are jellyfish, ships, whales….
I think of it as the mount Everest of swimming, and for those who have done it successfully, they are in an elite group, indeed.
63.0% of swimmers have been male.
37.0% of swimmers have been female.
Doing some research for this episode with James I discovered that the legendary Swimming Hall of Fame coach Doc Counsilman of Indiana University, mark Spitz’ coach…..a man who endeavored to recruit me to swim under his leadership at Inidaina when I was a high school senior, had in that year himself completed the english channel in 13 hours and 7 minutes, ata the time he was the oldest to cross successfully….had he told me that in one of the many phone calls I received from him, who knows, maybe I would’ve gone to Indiana University….ahhh such is fate on which path to take when we approach forks in the road….
Back to James, he’s been training like a man possessed, and his English Channel crossing is scheduled within a week’s time….
James is the husband of my the Happiness Quotient guest Elisabeth Sharp McKetta, episode #78, Elisabeth is the brilliant author and creative writing teacher at Harvard and Oxford. Here is that episode:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/268133/8451398
I spoke with James on May 18, 2021….where he was training on a Lake in the Lake District, not too far from where he and his wife and children are living now in Cornwall England….
I’ve trained hard in my life on many occasions….for mountains, swimming events, trail racing, and for life in general. The commitment and mindset to train for the English Channel is honestly something I wonder if I’d have the right stuff for….well, I don’t like swimming in any water deep enough where I can’t see the bottom...there might be a snapping turtle or worse, right?
See, I told you James wasn’t normal, right?
That’s my kind of person…..
Here’s my conversation with James Stead about his decision to swim the E C and the incredible physical and mental rigors of training for his swim, which is coming within hours of this episode going live.
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For more information about Thom Dharma Pollard:
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