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Sarah Thomas documentary film "The Other Side" launched on Kickstarter
emkhowley
Boston, MACharter Member
Jon Washer of Jon Washer Photography (who provided photography at last year's Boston Light Swim) and I have been working on creating a documentary film about @ssthomas' upcoming four-way English Channel swim slated for next month. It's been quite the adventure taking this foray into filmmaking--it's a brand new thing for me. But we wanted to share the Kickstarter page with you if you're interested in supporting the project. We have a teaser video on the Kickstarter page which gives a small taste of what we hope to create with this film about Sarah Thomas, which I personally think is long overdue. Thank you to those of you who have already supported this project!
- *Note: donations are going to fund the production of the film, not Sarah's swim itself. *
Stop me if you've heard this one...
A grasshopper walks into a bar...
https://elainekhowley.com/
Comments
Pretty sure seeing myself on camera makes me more nervous and nauseous than actually thinking about swimming the Channel a few times...
I’m pretty sure 4 is more than a few. ?
4 is not just more than a few, 4 is epic!!!
I'll probably be tracking you from the Channel!! Wishing you the weather you deserve Sarah !!
The scary part is that 4 laps is proof of concept for some nut to finally attempt an I.M. Go Sarah Go!
I wonder sometimes if we've become desensitized by the massive swims by Sarah, Caroline, Chloe, & others.
A one-way English Channel launched this sport and remains its archetypal challenge. For many it is the swim of a lifetime.
I am always super-impressed by two-way English Channel swims. There are 1 or 2 each year, and I consider them among the top swims in the sport in a given year.
A three-way English Channel swim is an incredibly rare, historical feat. The only 4 swimmers who have done it (Erikson, Rush, Streeter, McCardel) are absolute all-time legends who were at the peak of their powers. And many more have tried and failed.
A four-way English Channel?!?!?!
I don't even know how to conceptualize this, it's so far out of this world. But if anyone can pull it off, Sarah's who I'd pick.
I remember when Mark Spitz won 7 Olympic Gold Medals. At the time it was absolutely mind boggling that anyone could achieve something like this. It was on the level of breaking the 4 minute mile, which was impossible until it wasn't. Now there are high school kids who have done it. And no one will equal Michael Phelps in the Olympics... until someone does.
Human beings continue to strive and achieve massive undertakings. I don't know that we are becoming desensitized as much as we are always cheering on the next impossible task. All the swimmers you mentioned above have set exceedingly high marks. I remember when Sarah's 80 miler was an insane distance, only to have her eclipse it the next year. It's what makes us interesting little creatures.
As someone who can safely say I will never swim the Channel, I don't believe I'm desensitized as much as I am confident in the ability of those who strive to achieve the impossible.
Endurance sports are moving in a different direction. Recently watched a documentary about a young lady who won a 240 mile running race. 100 mile races seem almost routine. It is somewhat mind boggling.
As far as the past relative to the English Channel, Philip Rush's 3 way is akin to Bob Beamon's long jump record. The speed is beyond comprehension, especially the first two legs. I believe the tides went against him on the 3rd leg. 7:55-8:15-12:11.
I'll definitely support the documentary. The clip is excellent. Needless to say, this goes beyond courage, intelligence, guts, and tenacity. Great respect to Sarah and all involved. Quite inspiring from myriad perspectives.
Keep moving forward.
I was able to talk to Philip about his three way a little bit this year when I did the Cook Strait. For his third leg, he said they had him swim up and down the coast for 20-3 hours until the tide changed and he could go forward. Brilliant piloting and I can't even comprehend how fast he was on that swim. THAT is definitely a mark that will stand for a long time.
Coverage of Sarah in today's Financial Times:
https://www.ft.com/content/e2b96288-ce23-11e9-b018-ca4456540ea6
Trouble with paywall? Try this.
When he was here in July talking with our Open Water Clinic participants, he stated about the pilot having him swim for the tide to change. He also mentioned he felt has if he could have finished at least 1/2 way again. It was so inspiring for many to listen to that they ended up changing from swimming a 1K or 3K during our "races" to the next longer distance.
I wish you all the best Sarah!
Sarah is a "GO" for Saturday Sept 14 at 2300 UK time:
https://track.rs/ssthomas
Leg #1 of 4 begun at 00:07 British Summer Time, September 15.
Do we know which boat is escorting her?
Anastasia / Eddie Spelling / CS&PF
Leg 1 done in 11:26. Perfect landing by Capt. Eddie under Cap Gris Nez lighthouse.
Excuse my ignorance, but on a multi-crossing attempt like this, what happens when reaching shore between legs? Does she exit the water or turn around without exiting? If she does exit, what is the "allowable" time before restarting next leg?
I am in awe of the physical, and more so of the mental, toughness it takes to undertake something like this. Go Sarah!
Per @emkhowley, who is crewing:
She has to cross the high water mark and then immediately return to the water at least knee deep. Then she has up to 10 minutes to eat and regrease.
I just finished a 12 hr drive....with a decent stop at a Chilis restaurant for lunch in the amount of time it’s taken Sarah to swim her second leg. And I had company to chat with for the first five hours! Awesome job Sarah and crew
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Any word on how's she's doing? Based on the pacing, it looks like she is in control & still swimming as planned for leg #3? Are the weather conditions favorable?
@ssthomas flip-turned off the seawall at Samphire Hoe (perhaps not literally) to complete a 24-hour two-way crossing and is now swimming into truly rarefied waters.
Here are the split times of the four humans to complete 3-way English Channel crossings:
Chloe McCardel (2015) - 11:34 + 11:08 + 13:30 = 36:12
....
Sarah Thomas (2019) - 11:26 + 12:34 + ?????
Go @ssthomas!!!
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Looks like Sarah is beginning the 4th leg!!!
Here's something that's never happened before: Someone swam the English Channel three times without stopping, then turned around and started swimming back.
TRACKER MIRROR PAGES - please use to help distribute the load on the server:
How many people can say they recorded splits for their Channel crossing(s)? Absolutely incredible... I'm getting tired just watching the dot...
Watching swim history being written - again. Beautiful.
Milko
https://db.marathonswimmers.org/p/milko-van-gool/
Thanks for splitting out the servers, @evmo. I guess a lot of us are watching intently
Wow.. and again WOW.. and look at the speed.. Amazing.
She is making a single EC crossing looking like a easy job for kids..
As Curly said - getting tired just watching the dot. I'm mesmerized by Sarah's performance so far, and can't wait to see her finish. Since nothing else is getting done today, back to the dot.
Someone tell me please how I'm expected to get any work done today????
Is she really averaging a 23:30 mile after 42 hours??!? That's insane. Did I do the math right??
Track total includes tidal movement up and down the channel. Your math is right but it doesn't represent true swimming speed. That being said, she has made very good (and consistent) time on the 3+ laps so far.
At first glance, it looks like excellent tide management, however, we're also watching a once in a lifetime swimmer.
Keep moving forward.
Someone mentioned (maybe on another page) how she's managed to cross the same midpoint right on the money the first three crossings. Looks like it's a different amplitude this time to catch the current back. So fascinating! I can't believe she's almost done. That captain and crew must be working their tails off to get her in just the right currents. Nice team effort al the way around.
I saw that too....it looked like she was on track to maybe have the same general shape as other tracks...then I saw the dots start to "turn inward".
I have a colleague who does mathematical modeling as his research area....
and he's agog at what would need to be gathered from a data perspective in order to model (predict) swims such as these. The fact that those pilots are as successful as they are in getting people across speaks volumes to their knowledge of wind, sea, and tide.
They're amazing.
Question... her current track doesn't look like she'll hit Dover like she did before. Is there any rule that she has to land back at the Dover location? Or can she just hit any point of England for her final landing?
Capt. Eddie is doing exactly what he needs to do. She's going a bit slower now, and a bit behind the same place in the tide cycle as she was before. Therefore Eddie going "lower" to give her more room to ride the pending flood tide back to Dover.
Yes, she can hit anywhere on the English coast.
That's brilliant. This guy obviously has done this a time or two.
Very exciting to see the strategy in action.
As far as I'm concerned, it is art. She is painting the freakin' channel. Absolutely beautiful!
I remember Sarah commented at the end of her Lake Powell swim that she felt she could have gone further. If that fourth line turns around and becomes a fifth line my head will explode.
Sitting here biting my nails as her tide starts to turn!
We hit head-exploding territory as soon as she made the turn after 3.
I showed my students the track.... described it as "mind blowing."
What blew their minds?
them: "How does she eat while swimming at the same time?"
me: she treads water -- and drinks from a sports bottle
them: "oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" "that makes more sense than keeping your arms moving and trying to eat at the same time."
Mind blowing....
simply mind blowing.
& then there's that sleep challenge!!! Just try to stay awake for 45 hours.
Based on where she was at last year, my head is in shreds already.
We need a T-shirt with the final tracks on it!
@ssthomas' crew is projecting a finish at St Margaret's Bay, northeast of Dover - approximately 5.8 km from her current location (7.7 at the time of the screenshot below). She will get a good tide-ride and have quick access to medical services if necessary.
It will be light in Dover in about 2 hours. Who will be the lucky few, to witness one of the greatest sporting moments of our time?
Thanks for the update @evmo. One question, what happens if she hits landfall in an area that she can't exit the water? Does she have to keep swimming parallel to shore until she can exit past high water mark for it to be official?
If she can't exit then my understanding is that she can just touch fixed land and be done. I believe to complete lap 2 she touched a sea wall and turned.
http://notdrowningswimming.com - open water adventures of a very ordinary swimmer
Enlarged my screen. History appears to be minutes away.....Western Docks area....
Keep moving forward.
So amazing! Congrats @ssthomas and team
dieciseisgrados.com/