Last month Chris Fairweather, a former Bolton School pupil, swam the English Channel.
Chris, who left the School in 2009, took on the challenge wearing his former Bolton School Water Polo trunks! He was accompanied on the pilot boat by his brother Jack, who left Bolton School in 2011, and a friend.
Chris was a member of the School team that planned to swim the Channel in 2009 only for the attempt to be cancelled due to poor weather conditions. He was all set for a solo swim last year, only for COVID to put paid to his plans. Now he has finally achieved his ambition.
Recapping his impressive feat, he said: “On 20th July at 8:04pm I set off from Samphire Hoe Beach, just outside Dover, with the aim of not putting my feet down until I got to France. I was certainly nervous in the final few weeks but, stood on the beach that evening, I was ready to go: there was a job to be done after all the preparation.
‘I landed between Escalles and Wissant on a beautiful sandy beach - many people arrive to rocks - at 9:43am UK time the following morning, 13 hours 39 minutes after I started. I’d not done any night swimming or seen a single jellyfish in my training, but I certainly experienced the two that evening! I’ve done other sporting events before and experienced joy and relief in winning or getting to the end. This time it was just fatigue - I’d struggled with eating from 8 hours onwards, regularly being sick. However, in time and as I travelled home, I developed a growing satisfaction. I’ve fallen short a number of times in sport so it is great to have achieved what I set out to do. The achievement will grow on me, having told myself for months that it was well within my capability as, after all, not many more than 2,000 people have achieved it: a more exclusive club than for those that have reached the summit of Everest! I keep looking at the blue bit between England and France on Google maps and thinking “that’s mad!”
‘Whilst it was not my primary goal, I’m proud that people have donated over £2,200 to Macmillan Cancer Support as a result - a generous contribution from friends, family and colleagues for which I’m very grateful.’
