Swimming Across the English Channel in the Name of Science
Swimming across the English Channel has always been a favourite for marathon swimmers of all ages. There is something about the long distance of the body of water and the choppiness of it that makes for an exciting and daring swim for most. Not a lot of people make it across and a select handful of people have managed the feat over the years. Now a sociologist is trying to make the crossing in the name of scientific research. She will try to uncover the reasons behind extreme sports and also the fascination and joy that doing something like crossing the Channel brings to people.
Swimming across the English Channel is hard work. Ever since 1875 when the first person successfully swam across, it has become an obsession for some. That first person who made the cross was Captain Matthew Webb and he apparently smothered himself in porpoise oil and leapt in. Fewer people have managed to cross the Channel than those that have managed to climb Mount Everest. That should give people pause to see just how difficult the swim across is. A sociologist from Warwick University named Dr Karen Throsby plans to make the journey across as part of a body of research she is doing into the effects of swimming on body image and on the reasons behind people taking part in extreme sports. Let’s hope she can make the difficult swim across and find out some very valuable information in the process.
The question arises here as to why the swim across the Channel is so hard. It is a journey of about 21 miles across but the difficulty lies in the fact that swimmers have to deal with extremely cold temperatures, physical and mental exhaustion and also dodging sea traffic in what is a very busy sea route. People who want to try and make the crossing are encouraged to start slowly and steadily at their local pool and build up their stamina and strength. They also need to control what they eat and sometimes they may need to bulk up and pile on a few pounds in order to make the dangerous swim across. The actual swim burns so many calories that people are known to eat double the amount of what they usually eat in order to reach the necessary levels of fitness.
With only 10% of people completing the intense distance, the task is a daunting one. This is why it is referred to as an extreme sport and is so difficult. 10% is a very small number of people who succeed. It takes an average swimmer 16 hours to make the 21 mile distance. The other reason why people pack on the pounds to make the swim is because of the intense cold, swimmers are usually all muscle and very little fat and so when the cold gets into their bodies their muscles lock up and swimmers cannot continue. The other big problem with the swim is the fact that the weather can change at the drop of a hat. The weather is very hard to predict beforehand and provides the swimmer with immense challenges on the day of their swim.
There are many reasons why people undertake such a difficult and daunting swim. Dr. Karen Throsby is going to be studying some of these reasons, and in initial interviews with some of her fellow swimmers in training, she has found some interesting facts. Some of the swimmers say that they are doing it as a challenge that they want to overcome. They feel if they can do this one thing they will be able to handle anything that comes their way. Others have an intense love of adventure and swimming across the Channel is one of the biggest adventures they can think of. These are similar reasons that people who take part in extreme sports usually give when asked why they do what they do.
In the future it looks like the number of people who cross the English Channel is set to rise. The fascination that the crossing has among people is incredible and more and more people are in training to take on the brutal Channel. We have to wonder if it will ever become commonplace to make the crossing and everyone including children make the crossing every other weekend. Or maybe it will stay as the extreme swim that it is today. We will just have to wait and see what the future holds for this very interesting type of swimming.
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