Before heading to down to Folkestone I had asked if anyone was going to be swimming before the channel swim celebration and thankfully someone got in touch with me.
Joan Fennelly and Laura Reineke are part of the Henley Mermaids and had driven down on the day for the CS&PF celebration. They completed a relay together in 2020 and last year Laura completed a solo in 15.24 on the same day I finished my channel swim – making us channel twins! They agreed to pick me up so that both Laura and I could go to the pub and sign the wall (a tradition for channel swimmers) and then we would go for a sea swim together.
After quickly eating lunch Laura arrived to pick me up and we headed to Dover. First, we tried The White Horse pub but after some issues with relay teams getting aggressive to sign the wall the pub decided to no longer allow people to sign the wall in there. They told us to go to Blakes, which we had never heard of. Using google maps we drove past it and I saw a step into it, after going round the one way system again we managed to find somewhere to park.
We headed into Blakes and were faced with a steep flight of stairs, we met the owners who informed us the wall where people sign was downstairs and there was no way I would get down them. Laura went downstairs to sign the wall and I sat upstairs chatting with the owner/someone who worked there.
I explained about my swim and what I had done and they told me they couldn’t let me not sign so since I couldn’t do it downstairs, I could sign it at the top of the stairs instead!
Once the signing was done we headed to the beach. The last time I was at the Swimmers beach was just days after my channel swim in August and it was a bit strange to be back. We headed down the beach and into the water, we thought it was around 7 degrees.
The nice thing about swimming in the sea is that you can’t faff with getting in, simply because the waves splash you so you might as well get all the way in. We enjoyed a sea swim for about 10 minutes and thought the water was around 7.5 degrees, the only downside of the swim was that we had some kids throwing stones at us!
Once we had swum Joan, Laura and I headed back to Folkestone ready to get dolled up for the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation meal and awards night.
My sister, mum and I were all ready to go and the taxi was ordered. We turned up a bit early so we would have time to mingle and get some drinks. Heading into the venue the event was downstairs but there was a lift, so I had no access issues at all. As soon as we went in, had got rid of our coats, and found somewhere to sit I felt eyes on me and had several people come up to me, some that I had swum with but most I had never met in person before. We headed into the room to find our seats and were pleased to discover we were on the same table as Lance (my pilot) and Mia (one of the crew) and on the table next to Tanya (crew on my boat from my relay in 2022).
The evening started with talking through and mentioning the losses that the channel swimming community all felt so strongly this year. Firstly, Iain Hughes, who sadly went missing on his charity English Channel swim on 20th June 2023 and next we celebrated the life of Ady Brown, a well-known face at the beach in Dover, a channel swimmer with so much knowledge and experience who will be and is sorely missed.
It was then food time! We had a lovely meal and as expected had a laugh on our table, although I must say, I wasn’t expecting to see an image of Lance in a Mankini and I am not sure I will ever remove the image from my mind! The meal was vegetable soup for a starter, Beef with veg for the main course and a melting in the middle chocolate desert; my mum being Gluten free was meant to have a fruit salad for desert, but they dropped it and didn’t have any spare but never mind.
After the meal it was time to go through all the swims from the 2023 season, you can find the full list here: http://cspf.co.uk/cs-and-pf-swims/2023
For relays, their team names were mentioned and for solo swimmers they were mentioned by name and all those swimmers that were in attendance sent in a small paragraph about their swim. Each person was asked to stand and had their paragraph read out, each person was applauded for their incredible swim, and it was a real privilege to be able to celebrate and applaud all the incredible swimmers that were there.
When it came to them talking about my swim they started with “I won’t be asking this person to stand for a reason that will become clear”.
This it what was then said:
“In 2023, Sophie Etheridge, a British Adaptive Swimmer with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, completed the longest ever solo English Channel swim in a record time of 29 hours and 4 minutes. Sophie is unable to kick her legs when swimming due to the severe pain it causes her. Etheridge’s achievement also supported and raised over £6000 for the Swimming Teachers Association STARLIGHT campaign, aimed at training swimming teachers in disability swimming.”
At which point everyone gave me a standing ovation as I sat there unsure what I was supposed to do. Was I meant to smile? Say thank you? Take a bow? Disappear into the floor hoping it would swallow me up in embarrassment? – I more a less went for the last one!
The paragraph I wrote was then read out:
“As I got on Sea Satin Lance asked me what sort of time I was aiming for, I said a maximum of 20 hours, but I will just keep swimming till I get there. My words as I sat down on the platform on the back of the boat were “this is utterly insane”, it was. I started strong despite throwing up my first 2 feeds, after that I was ok until my stroke rate dropped and my support swimmer got in to push me forwards (I knew I needed to stay in front of her, so it made me swim faster), it worked, and I hit the halfway point at around 11.30am. Going into French waters the wind picked up and more jellyfish appeared, the swim was beginning to feel never ending but it wasn’t till 20 hours I asked how long I had been in the water for. The sun was beginning to set, and I knew I should be coming close to landing but France was clearly still miles away! Heading into another night was daunting, you feel isolated, alone and the waves had picked up meaning the boat was almost landing on top of me but between us we figured out the best place for me to swim. Many hours later I found myself swimming next to a rib boat wondering when I would be able to touch the ground and worried that when I touched the ground, I wouldn’t be able to clear the water. With a lot of encouragement from Lance I finally cleared the water after 29 hours and 4 minutes.”
I then got a second standing ovation, and it was during this one that I realised who was applauding me, some of those attending have completed some truly incredible swims that I could only ever dream of doing, I was embarrassed and still unsure how to react but at the same time, truly honoured to be recognised by such incredible swimmers!
After going through all the swims, it was time for the awards, it was already 10.30pm, I was shattered and being honest, I was in a lot of pain. My foot and ankle had swollen up and I ended up having to get a chair so I could put my feet up to try and get the swelling to go down a bit. Everyone I had spoken to about the awards told me in advance that I must be getting award, so felt I couldn’t leave just in case!
I’d been told that the award I would probably get would be The Peter Adams Award, which is for the CS&PF successful endurance swim of the year and when explained what the award was for people looked at me and seemed surprised when it was announced that Carlos Alfonso Acosta Aldrete had been awarded the trophy for his incredible 2 way swim (England-France-England) in 28 hours and 16 minutes, what an achievement! You can see a full list of the awards and the recipients of them here http://cspf.co.uk/cs-and-pf-awards
The last award to be given out was The JLDSC “For Special Recognition” award and cup, presented for the most successful CS&PF swim completed under exceptional circumstances.
It was announced that I had won it!
I was presented it by Sally Minty-Gravette (mbe), who I have chatted to before but never met in person. I received another standing ovation as I was given the award, I got my sister to come with me so she could carry the trophy for me and get some pictures for me.
People started shouting “speech, speech, speech” to which I responded “nope” and wheeled off, much to peoples amusement. We got some really nice pictures with my award with those from my crew and my mum and sister too.
Once the awards ended (at around midnight) we were told the bar was open till 2am and which point, I decided I just couldn’t stay any longer, I’d had enough, and I had a long journey home the following day so I said it was time to go. We eventually got back to the flat we were staying in at around 1.15am – way past my bed time!
On Sunday we got up early and ready and headed to the train station but as we were pulling up outside I got a phone call telling me we couldn’t take the train route we had booked as the lift at London St.Pancreas was out of order meaning I couldn’t change to the right train. As soon as I got that, I knew the journey would be hellish and boy was I right!
It was probably one of the worst journeys ive ever had the displeasure of doing. When we got home I was able to add my new award to my shelf in my lounge where my BBC Make a Difference award, my STAr Member award, the certificate from my 2 way Windermere swim and now, the CS&PF Special Recognition Award from the Jersey Long Distance Swimming Club!
Sorry for your inconvenience on your train journey back because the UK Government refuses to fund our railways properly.