[News] Graeme Souness to swim the channel.

[herecomesaregular]

Probably started and finished and the 6 marines put in the hard work. Rather dishonest to fool the fools BUT good fundraising and good publicity for the likeable chappy.

What a divvy comment - the other swimmers were not famous so by putting his name to it he raised the profile massively. Plus his age (70) and his heart history. I cannot fault him on this but.... you go ahead.

 

[GT49er]

Great fundraising BUT he didn't swim the channel. He was a slow part of a strong relay team.

Give it a rest!

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Does it really matter? Doubt they'd have raised the £1M without his contribution, so well done Graeme; no petty quibbles.

This, at least he had the b**** to get up and do it, and at 70 years old with no real experience of long distance swimming, it was no mean feat.

 

[surlyseagull]

Does it really matter? Doubt they'd have raised the £1M without his contribution, so well done Graeme; no petty quibbles.

Agree, who cares if he did 200mtres or 20 miles he has used his public profile for a good cause and helped raise a lot of money, not only that but raised awareness of this disease which is the main objective.

 

[timbha]

Agree, who cares if he did 200mtres or 20 miles he has used his public profile for a good cause and helped raise a lot of money, not only that but raised awareness of this disease which is the main objective.

Although he’s raised the profile and in turn helped to increase the amount raised, some people will feel a little misled. I for one had assumed that he had given up his time to get fit for this gruesome challenge and was going to tackle the entire crossing.

It seems that the media were happy to swerve the truth.

When someone runs the marathon for charity and asks me to sponsor them, I always agree if I know they are putting themselves out to do it. Otherwise I am making a donation.

All said and done it’s raised a lot if money for a great cause.

 

[dazzer6666]

Although he’s raised the profile and in turn helped to increase the amount raised, some people will feel a little misled. I for one had assumed that he had given up his time to get fit for this gruesome challenge and was going to tackle the entire crossing.

It seems that the media were happy to swerve the truth.

When someone runs the marathon for charity and asks me to sponsor them, I always agree if I know they are putting themselves out to do it. Otherwise I am making a donation.

All said and done it’s raised a lot if money for a great cause.

I too genuinely thought he was ‘swimming the channel’…….the headlines and even all his interviews I heard certainly implied that - don’t recall him ever saying he was part of a relay, and he was asked some very direct questions on how he was going to swim 20 miles. Reporting seems to have subtly shifted to the relay team.

Anyway, hope the money raised does the poor girl some good

 

[Iggle Piggle]

To all the "he's just gone for a paddle brigade" here's some facts about channel relay from someone that has done it (and received some substantial donations from NSC members for which I am forever grateful)

Your leg in a channel relay is no more or no less than a 1 hour swim. If you exit before your hour is up, then the whole team fails. Souness has done a 2 hour swim with those timings. That might not sound much but you spend the other ten hours bobbing up and down on the support boat puking up with sea sickness and would rather be in the sea than the pokey corner of the boat you find yourself in. Whilst it's long nights at the minute, you can find yourself doing a swim at 02.00 in the morning in the pitch black (I jumped in the channel at 3.30 in the morning and almost shat myself) Finally - and assuming they've got an official time - wetsuits are strictly banned.The sea temp is pretty cold at this time of year. A pool will be 28 or 29 degrees. It's about 15 at the minute.

I've done a load of long distance swims but the channel was by far the hardest. Massive respect at his age to do it.

 

[dazzer6666]

To all the "he's just gone for a paddle brigade" he's some facts about channel relay from someone that has done it (and received some substantial donations from NSC members for which I am forever grateful)

Your leg in a channel relay is no more or no less than a 1 hour swim. If you exit before your hour is up, then the whole team fails. Souness has done a 2 hour swim with those timings. That might not sound much but you spend the other ten hours bobbing up and down on the support boat puking up with sea sickness and would rather be in the sea than the pokey corner of the boat you find yourself in. Whilst it's long nights at the minute, you can find yourself doing a swim at 02.00 in the morning in the pitch black (I jumped in the channel at 3.30 in the morning and shat myself) Finally - and assuming they've got an official times - wetsuits are strictly banned.Thr sea temp is pretty cold at this time of year. A pool will be 28 or 29 degrees. It's about 15 at the minute.

I've done a load of long distance swims but the channel was by far the hardest. Massive respect at his age to do it.

They were definitely in wetsuits

 

[Iggle Piggle]

They were definitely in wetsuits

I can understand why. In order to swim without a wetsuit you need to do a 3 hour swim in temperatures of 15 or less in the sea to be eligible. This needs to be witnessed. For the inexperienced, this can be very difficult. For a fat bastard like me it was fine - albeit you wonder where your balls have gone when you get in - but there was a 8 stone Irish guy that simply couldn't cope with it. He failed his 3rd go when I did mine. I think he wanted to kill me when he saw me eating an ice cream not long after on Dover beach.

They would still have had to do the 3 hour sea swim though prior to the relay (in wetsuits), that was a strict safety thing.

 

[timbha]

To all the "he's just gone for a paddle brigade" he's some facts about channel relay from someone that has done it (and received some substantial donations from NSC members for which I am forever grateful)

Your leg in a channel relay is no more or no less than a 1 hour swim. If you exit before your hour is up, then the whole team fails. Souness has done a 2 hour swim with those timings. That might not sound much but you spend the other ten hours bobbing up and down on the support boat puking up with sea sickness and would rather be in the sea than the pokey corner of the boat you find yourself in. Whilst it's long nights at the minute, you can find yourself doing a swim at 02.00 in the morning in the pitch black (I jumped in the channel at 3.30 in the morning and almost shat myself) Finally - and assuming they've got an official times - wetsuits are strictly banned.The sea temp is pretty cold at this time of year. A pool will be 28 or 29 degrees. It's about 15 at the minute.

I've done a load of long distance swims but the channel was by far the hardest. Massive respect at his age to do it.

All valid points and well done to everyone that undertakes it. Most of us are full of praise for GS raising the profile and fund raising.

There’s a group of us on here that likes detail, ie a bit more than the headline “Souness completes channel swim for charity”.

Other than people with inside knowledge of such events, what else were we to believe?

Do we know how far GS swam, etc, etc?

 

[Iggle Piggle]

All valid points and well done to everyone that undertakes it. Most of us are full of praise for GS raising the profile and fund raising.

There’s a group of us on here that likes detail, ie a bit more than the headline “Souness completes channel swim for charity”.

Other than people with inside knowledge of such events, what else were we to believe?

Do we know how far GS swam, etc, etc?

The thing with sea swimming is that the tides make it an almost irrelevant question to ask in terms of distance. If the tide is directly behind, even the shittest swimmer will get a decent distance by just being in the sea, when the tides are against you it feels like you are going nowhere. The distances each swimmer covered can belie thier ability. Similarly, 2 boats doing a channel relay at different times of the year can cover staggeringly different distances.

I'd be very surprised if Souness hasn't swam for 2 hours of the 12, had to do a 3 hour witnessed sea swim as part of his training and been sick at least once on the support boat

 

[amexer]

Nothing to do with if people like him or not. Good for him for giving the cause publicity and swimming in the sea whether it was one or 3 hours

 

[dazzer6666]

The thing with sea swimming is that the tides make it an almost irrelevant question to ask in terms of distance. If the tide is directly behind, even the shittest swimmer will get a decent distance by just being in the sea, when the tides are against you it feels like you are going nowhere. The distances each swimmer covered can belie thier ability. Similarly, 2 boats doing a channel relay at different times of the year can cover staggeringly different distances.

I'd be very surprised if Souness hasn't swam for 2 hours of the 12, had to do a 3 hour witnessed sea swim as part of his training and been sick at least once on the support boat

They mentioned 2-3 hours on the radio earlier…..

 

[Swimboy64]

Eh? I thought he was going to swim the channel. How far did he swim exactly?

Each member usually swims for an hour
which is a very comfortable swim but well done to him for being part of it.

 

[Swimboy64]

They were definitely in wetsuits

They were so not recognised by by the CSA or CS&PF but the CCA do allow wet suit swims but I don’t think he’s bothered about it being registered

 

[Swimboy64]

I can understand why. In order to swim without a wetsuit you need to do a 3 hour swim in temperatures of 15 or less in the sea to be eligible. This needs to be witnessed. For the inexperienced, this can be very difficult. For a fat bastard like me it was fine - albeit you wonder where your balls have gone when you get in - but there was a 8 stone Irish guy that simply couldn't cope with it. He failed his 3rd go when I did mine. I think he wanted to kill me when he saw me eating an ice cream not long after on Dover beach.

They would still have had to do the 3 hour sea swim though prior to the relay (in wetsuits), that was a strict safety thing.

Relay qualifying swim was always 2hours has it been changed

 

[Iggle Piggle]

They were so not recognised by by the CSA or CS&PF but the CCA do allow wet suit swims but I don’t think he’s bothered about it being registered

That answers that. I did peruse the CSA and CS&PF twitter feed today and found nothing. Didn't realise the CCA allowed them but did watch the celebs try and fail a few years so knew someone did.

You are right, it's 2 hours on the qualifying swim. My memory is a bit shit. its also 16 or less not 15 as I stated earlier.

 

[knocky1]

I'd be very surprised if Souness hasn't swam for 2 hours of the 12, had to do a 3 hour witnessed sea swim as part of his training and been sick atleast once on the support boat

I'd be surprised if he did any of those. Great fundraising.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I'd be surprised if he did any of those. Great fundraising.

Thats the rules on the CSA website that @Swimboy64 has ascertained Souness and co did the swim with. There is a observer on board who makes sure you follow them. Admittedly he might not have thrown up. Their trip looked remarkably calm but he would have had to swim for 2 hours to qualify and would have been in the water for 2 x 1 hour stints as well.

Regulations | Channel Swimming Association

The official Swim Rules and Regulations set by the Channel Swimming Association - CSA.

www.channelswimmingassociation.com

The observers are incredibly anal. If you jumped in to do your stint and didn't go behind the swimmer getting out and accidentally went in front, they would threaten to disqualify you for cheating.type of anal.

 

[knocky1]

Thats the rules on the CSA website that @Swimboy64 has ascertained Souness and co did the swim with. There is a observer on board who makes sure you follow them. Admittedly he might not have thrown up. Their trip looked remarkably calm but he would have had to swim for 2 hours to qualify and would have been in the water for 2 x 1 hour stints as well.

Regulations | Channel Swimming Association

The official Swim Rules and Regulations set by the Channel Swimming Association - CSA.

www.channelswimmingassociation.com

The observers are incredibly anal. If you jumped in to do your stint and didn't go behind the swimmer getting out and accidentally went in front, they would threaten to disqualify you for cheating.type of anal.

Great info. I could do what he might have done without training at 63 but I couldn't swim the channel. I guess the observers may have been a little lenient. Repeat Great fundraising.