French in quest to ban swimming completely across the English Channel
Swimming across the English Channel is notoriously difficult. It is known as the Mount Everest of Open Water Swimming and only a few who attempt it ever manage to cross over. Numerous athletic swimmers and celebrities have tried it and many have failed.
The training process is long and arduous but the feeling of accomplishment and triumph is unparalleled. 17 years ago, the French government banned swimming from France to the UK but numerous people in England still attempt to do it the other way. There is
a lot of danger involved in the crossing because the Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The question still lies there, will an overall ban be enforced or will daredevils still attempt the dangerous crossing every year?
People have been swimming across the English Channel since the later part of the 19th century. The first person to cross the Channel unaided was Captain Matthew Webb who crossed over between 24th and 25th August in 1875.
The feat was completed in 21 hours and 45 minutes but was unobserved so is not an official crossing. Over the next few years a lot of dubious as well as legitimate claims were made, and an official governing body was formed called the Channel Swimming Association
(CSA). The job of this body was to check and verify the times that swimmers claimed to have done. In 1999, the CSA was disbanded and reformed into two separate organisations; the CSA (Ltd) and the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation (CSPF). Both of these
organisations monitor and authenticate any crossing in the Channel from the Strait of Dover. However, with time the sport has come under considerable pressure because of the danger involved.
Just crossing the Channel itself is very difficult; the coldness of the water is a huge factor to consider for any swimmer. Also the length is another big element; 21 miles at its shortest points is a big task for any sort of a swimmer. The third thing and
the one that makes it very dangerous is the fact that between 500 to 600 commercial and private ships are present at all times in the Channel. It is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and there is a real danger to those that are trying to swim
across. The threat of a swimmer being hit by a commercial trawler or getting swept under by the power of the large ships is quite huge.
Recently the French Coastguard has been trying to urge the UK Government to ban any attempts to cross the Channel from Dover to Calais. They feel that there is a real danger to swimmers and the brunt of the problem falls upon the shoulders of the French
Coastguard to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the British swimmers. They feel any accident would be extremely tragic if that was to happen. On the other hand though, the CSPF has stated that each and every single crossing is well organised and safe. The
problem is that the health and safety should take precedent in this situation because the Ferry drivers and the Coastguards are both of the same view that an accident would be a major catastrophe and would cause untold problems for all parties involved.
The question to ask here is that is it really worth it for a swimmer to lose their life trying to do a very extreme swim across a dangerous body of water? There are other extreme sports out there and most of the time the only people who are in danger are
the people engaging in the activity. Skydivers, BASE jumpers and others only put themselves in danger. In an English Channel crossing, the swimmers are in danger as well as the ferry operators who could be involved in an accident.
We should all hope that nothing fatal takes place during a swim and everyone who does it is safe and well looked after. The need to fulfil a personal desire should not really come at the cost of the safety of others.
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