He'll Take Longer Than The Time He's Been Given and Will Apologize Later

Doug will speak to hundreds of people from all over the world this morning in Chicago on behalf of A Long Swim and the Les Turner ALS Foundation on the formula of taking an audacious goal and using it to raise funds for a cause.  Here he is practicing on our back porch last night.  I took this photograph from outside, he didn't know I was there.  He practiced for over an hour, until he got it right.  The day will be full of speakers, and Doug has been given 20 minutes.  He'll take longer, I know, and will apologize later.

Catalina Channel Complete With Bagpipes

Catalina Here We Come ... 

Starting Wednesday, September 26^th at 10:00PM Doug will begin his swim of the Catalina Channel off the coast of Santa Catalina Island.  21 miles in 60 degree water that gets up to 3,000 feet deep with 5 foot swells that originate off the coast of Hawaii.  There are jellyfish, as there are in the English Channel, but this channel is also home to seals (can’t wait to get pictures) and sharks (can certainly wait to get pictures).  

It takes a year to secure your reservation for this marathon swim that 260 people have successfully completed, the first being George Young in 1927. 

Our boat pilot is one of only two who are certified by the Catalina Channel Federation; Greg Elliott and his boat Bottom Scratcher.  Word has it that early in the morning as the sun comes up Greg belts out a set on his bag pipes.  Here’s a picture of Greg doing this thing ... 

Doug crewed on this swim a couple of months ago for his friend, Goody Tyler.  Goody's swim was not successful and that experience was one that made Doug postpone this swim so that he could train more extensively.  Here is a really good picture that Doug took and texted to me early in the morning of Goody's swim:  

And here's a picture of Doug with Goody taken aboard the pilot boat ... 

The Crew This Time ... 

The crew this time will consist of a few of Doug’s swimming friends and our oldest son, Mack.  Mack, who lives in San Francisco, is also an accomplished swimmer.  He did, however, miss the English Channel swim by one flight, since the boat left earlier than expected, so this will be a nice pay back for him. Here's one of my favorite pictures of Mack taken on the beach of Wissant Bay in France ...

Missing Meg ... 

Missing will be my good friend and project manager extraordinnaire Meg, who has accompanied us on ALL of our previous swims.  She should really think about leasing herself out for managing these marathon events.  With the school year in play, and after losing time to the Chicago teacher’s strike, she’s going to sit this one out.  I’m going to miss her every single moment and I’m hoping that the Megalodon doesn’t come up from those 3,000 foot depths looking for my Meg. 

Here's my Meg crewing for the 24 Mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim ... (with Gordy McConnell)

And here she is crewing on the English Channel ... (with Bill McConnell) 

 How To Watch and Get Information ... 

I’ll be reporting, and this is important, in real time on Doug’s personal Facebook page and my personal Facebook page.  So make sure you are “friends” with us.  When I reported from the English Channel the signal was weak and I found this the most efficient way to get things done.  I’ll include pictures and videos taken with my trusty iPhone.  Don’t forget we are two hours behind most of you. 

Once the swim is done I’ll get all of the photographs up on the Facebook pages for A Long Swim and My Bionic Boyfriend.  Here are links to those: 

My Bionic Boyfriend's Facebook Page

A Long Swim's Facebook Page

Follow along on Doug's Spot Link which will update the map every 10 minutes:

Doug's Really Cool Spot Link

Oh, and the most important part, Doug is doing all of this in the name of his Dad, Dr. David McConnell, who died from ALS.  Doug has raised almost $200,000 so far for the Les Turner ALS Foundation.  Donations may be made on Doug’s site www.alongswim.com.

Good Luck Doug!  We are proud of you!

Bob Lee Rides Again (and stops over to say goodbye)

As he prepares to leave, tomorrow, on the third leg of his quest to circumnavigate the perimeter of the United States, Bob Lee stopped by to say goodbye to Doug.  We were actually just getting ready to head over to his house to say goodbye to him.  Bob and Doug share something very different in common.  They're both attempting uncommon feats as they raise funds and awareness for the Les Turner ALS Foundation.  Bob and Doug are both members of the Les Turner board, and they further tune their efforts as they drive to their board meetings together.  And through Bob's mentoring he and his inspiring wife, Anne, have become great, great friends of ours.

While I have always felt like I volunteered my photography for causes, Bob came along and quietly nudged me to bump it up more than a notch.  I didn't even feel it happening and the next thing I knew I was everywhere with my camera and he was right there, quietly nudging more and more.  For his cause, Ride For Three Reasons, I have been there nonstop.  And during the next two months, as Bob rides his bike from Vancouver to Tijuana, I'll be writing some more about my friend and I promise some surprising and moving stories about his wife, Anne, who I want to be just like when I grow up.  And, believe me, I'm not alone.  Stay tuned.

Watch Bob's progress on his blog ... www.3reasons.org

And PLEASE like his facebook page to show him the love while he's on the road ... http://www.facebook.com/Ridefor3reasons.BobLee

A Fun English Channel Photo/Video Essay

As Doug celebrates the one year anniversary of his English Channel swim, what I remember is this ... there were times when things weren't so pretty and during those times I was holding on for dear life rather than using my camera.  The swells were sometimes 5 feet and coming from all directions.  The last half of the swim was in the pitch dark so I don't have any photographs for that segment either.  (I do have some video, however, some of which I'll add here.)   In all I took about 400 photographs.  For an event of this magnitude I would normally take over 1,000.  

This is a photo/video essay of some of the moments I captured from the English Channel ... some you've seen and some you haven't ...

Here is Doug recapping his swim a few days after he had a whole lot of sleep ... Ashley took this video while she froze inside Dover Harbor ...

During the swim, pretty much a few of the kids were sick most of the time ... 

And one was happy-go-lucky and on deck the whole time ... 

Our boat captains were Lance Oram, who grew up taking swimmers across with his father, Mike Oram, and Chris Streeter, the famous Alison Streeter's uncle, the same Alison Streeter who has crossed the English Channel 46 times.  These guys were characters but when the going got tough they didn't fool around.    

This picture makes it look like it was all fun and games ... and at this moment, when we first took off, it was. The White Cliffs of Dover are in the background.  I was using a little Fuji camera that also took video and also worked under water.  All of the video from this event was taken with this little camera.  

Here's the crew goofing around ... 

Here is a video of Doug swimming in rough water while the boat captains were listening to music and enjoying themselves ... 

Here is a video that I took from the galley of the pilot boat.  I had to brace myself with my legs and hold on tight.  The noise you hear is from the bilge, it's not someone screaming.  

Here is a video where you can see Doug's night goggles in the pitch darkness of the English Channel.  

Once darkness hit, once he landed, once he reached our pilot boat, I didn't take one photograph.  It just didn't seem right.  But I did take some photographs as the sun rose as we headed back to Dover Harbor ... 

Ashley, 13, took this video while she froze in Dover Harbor, with that little fuji camera I mentioned ... 

Honestly, in the beginning of this swim he made it look so easy that I thought, "I have got to do this next year."  I have since changed my mind.  

Helping Goody Tyler Swim The Catalina Channel

Doug is on the pilot boat as Goody Tyler swims the Catalina Channel.  Doug is scheduled to make the same swim on July 25th.  This is an email that Doug sent out this morning ...

We left the Long Beach Harbor around 7 pm and started to motor out to the Island. There are 14 people aboard, between 3 boat people, 2 Channel observers, 8 swim support crew and Goody in the Speedo. It was a rough ride out there, and several people were sick.

By the time we got to Catalina, it was dark and time for last minute prep with Channel grease.

Goody hopped in at 10 pm under beautiful stars and a quarter moon. His kayak escort is Neil van der Byl, whom I met for the first time here today, and he is amazing. Totally focused on the swimmer, managing feedings, and always on top of things. What a difference the right kayaker can make.

Feedings have been 30 minute cycles with a product called Cytomax. Marcia is concerned it doesn't have enough oomph (I think that is code for protein) for him, but he is suppplementing with gels and a bar here and there.

He just had another feeding and is getting cold and stung. Gord Gridley is getting ready to hop in the water with Goody, which I am sure will help a lot.  
I will report back.

Thanks
DPMc

Every Sunday Afternoon This Is What I Find ...

Summer is here and every morning around 5:30 I ask, "Where are you going?"

He answers one of the following, "Lake Michigan, Lake Zurich, Biltmore or The Park District."

 3 to 5 miles.

 And every Sunday afternoon this is what I find ...

 

The Catalina Channel is July 25th.  More on that very soon ...

Always Do What You Are Afraid To Do

The Channel Swim & Pilot Federation put together this video and some of our photographs from Doug's channel crossing ended up in there along with some great quotes ... including ... "always do what you are afraid to do."

On A Clear Day

We watched this movie before Doug swam the English Channel and I thought it was okay.

On a quiet Saturday night we just watched it again and now I think it's my favorite movie. Funny and full of English Channel chatter with some great pictures ... it's gonna get ordered from Amazon today.

Buck Island ... The English Channel ... The Lesson

http://365barrington.com/2011/07/13/48-childhood-swims-spark-english-channel-challenge/

So You Think You Want To Be A Photographer?

I'm headed to Prairie Middle School today for career day to talk about "being a photographer." I'm going to tell them all about the other skills that a photographer needs including WRITING and then I'm going to tell them about the beauty of BLOGS! Oh, and I'll tell them how it all happened. Here we go ...

In the beginning I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. Most people don't. But we all have something in common, our passions. And if we follow our passions it all kind of works out. The hard part is identifying your passions.

As a kid your age I didn't participate much. I wasn't on a team and I didn't belong to a club, but I watched everything around me and I wrote about it. I wrote for myself and I wrote to myself. I kept millions of diaries. I wrote about all that I watched and all that was going on around me. Looking back now I know that my passion was to watch and record life.

Where I grew up a lot of kids didn't go to school past high school. My family struggled with money and I just knew the way out of that life was to go to college. I majored in business because I knew with a business degree I could always get a job no matter what happened to me. I had to pay for school so I worked and went to school at the same time. It took me 8 years but I graduated from DePaul University in Chicago with an undergraduate degree in business as well as a masters degree in business. I still wrote in my diaries and I didn't pay any attention to photography.

When I was about 26 a camera finally landed in my hands. I had a brother-in-law that had an amazing camera and he let me borrow it. I had a great job, because I majored in business, and I had the money to go buy the exact same one. I LOVED it. Instinctively I knew that I had found a new way to record life. And right after that I made another huge investment. I bought a video camera. My life changed.

Because photography was my passion I spent a lot of time at it and I was really good at it. And I did what I knew how to do, I watched. I watched other photographers and I copied them. In time I found my own style, which is very important. I never took a photography class.

I photographed and videotaped EVERYTHING! My dogs and cats and, eventually, my children. I recorded just about every moment of their lives.

I became a professional photographer, which means you get paid for your work, about 12 years ago. I took what I knew best, business and photography, and I opened my own studio. I was the first woman in my town to do that.


Now, let's talk about ...

. What are the economics of being a photographer?

. What about the fun and excitement of being a photographer?

. How you get to dress? (I love this part)

. What is the equipment like?

. Who are my favorite photographers?

Alison Shaw www.alisonshaw.com
Thomas Balsamo www.portraitsbythomas.com
Caroline Ghetes www.carolineghetes.com

. How can you use photography in your lives?

. What about video? VIMEO

. Then, we're going to talk about my favorite new thing as a photographer ... BLOGS!

. Blogs are free, allow you to document your creativity, and will look great as an addition to your college applications!

. What are my favorite blogs?

My Bionic Boyfriend (I chronicle my husband's open water swimming career)
Wordpress's Freshly Pressed (Their most recent favorites)
Love And A Six Foot Leash (A woman celebrates her rescue dog)
Caroline Ghetes (She turns her work into blog posts, simple and fun)

"I Can Still Taste The Waves"

The Open Water Swim I'd Most Like To See

Of all the swims that Douglas is aligning on his calendar, this is the one that I'd most like to see. It's supposed to be short and it's supposed to be wild and it ends in San Francisco, one of my favorite places these days.

Getting Caught Up In It All (this is actually funny)

So when you hang out with all of these swimmers you start to get the lingo. Head down, ass up is one. Going for it with your cap on is another. And I thought doing a two way was something naughty.

I'm not sure who made this video but he or she seems to have the inside skinny knocked down.

Happy Birthday

Dear Douglas,

It's just before midnight, and as you are about to turn 54 here's my entry on your facebook page.

Susan



It's not quite midnight here in Illinois, so ahead of the hour I want to wish you a happy birthday. Mack is coming home and we'll all be together just like we were exactly three months ago when you did that really cool thing. (I love you.) Wait till you see the the presents the kids have for you.

Next Up ... A Little Party

Next up ... a little party for 100 local interested friends + swimmers + family to watch Doug make a killer presentation about A Long Swim. Why anyone would want to swim the English Channel, how to swim the English Channel, what happens after you swim the English Channel, and more. It's funny and touching and a whole amazing experience wrapped up into one fascinating hour.

He's been making presentations to investment banking firms and rotaries and schools, and I've gone along to each one, but this time the audience will be completely filled with people I love. What a night this is going to be.

(My friend, Ellen Anderson, made this sign by hand and hung it,with the help of other neighbors, at the entrance of our neighborhood. This was the first thing we saw upon returning home from England.)

This Is Important

So important that we stayed in last night, on a Saturday night, and went to bed early. It was such an honor that it weighed in a lovingly heavy way on our minds and it was all we could think about.

There were ALS patients at the event whose lives have been shattered, and swimming the English Channel paled in comparison to their accomplishments of fighting to live another day. We never had doubts about dedicating this swim to ALS. Today we were extremely proud and we were quite humbled.

So far, A Long Swim has raised $157,000 for the Les Turner ALS Foundation. No need to stop now. The next swim will be Catalina in July of 2012 and the dedication remains the same.

Volunteer Of The Year for The Les Turner ALS Foundation!!!

Doug's been named the Les Turner ALS Volunteer Of The Year. If you click on the title of this post you'll get to the article in Chicago's Daily Herald. I wish I could put it right here but I can't figure it out!

Coolest Crossing ... The Ultimate Cold Water Swimmer

Who You Meet Along The Way … An Extraordinary Adventurer

The author of three books and the swimmer of many cold water swims, Lynne Cox is someone that Doug not only admires but follows like he’s crushing on her. So when she rolled into our neck of the woods to do a book signing of her latest book “South With The Sun," I tagged along mostly out of homage to this woman’s amazing accomplishments as well as curiosity over my husband’s seemingly smitten stalking of her.

In the car on the way to the event I held her book in my lap and read one chapter. It was the one entitled “Coolest Crossing,” chosen because of the title and because it had interesting pictures. I’m not a swimmer, not even close, and my interest doesn’t extend beyond Doug’s involvement in most cases. But I was about to become enlightened.

I read the whole chapter and wished I had been more open minded and allowed myself to read this chapter much earlier so that I could have read the whole book. I was enthralled with what I read. With her. With her team. Her team was, a little, like me. She was, a lot, like Doug. And not only was I about to hear her speak, I was also about to be part of a small group sharing dinner with her at an intimate restaurant. I was nervous.

Sitting in the back of this little, independent bookstore, Lynne began her speech with lessons from what she has learned and seen. She told us that greatness begets greatness, meaning that when you start out to accomplish an amazing task, you look to those who have achieved those tasks. They, on the other hand, will almost instinctively bestow you with their greatness when they recognize the possibilities that you possess, and will give you information and strength to move toward your goal. She further said that those who have achieved greatness feel it is their responsibility to recognize those with possibility, those who are full of potential, and they feel it is their responsibility to pass on their ability.

Doug has seen this firsthand in his quest to conquer his open water swims. There are a handful of individuals who have achieved greatness who have bathed him in their light and empowered him. Sounds a little Star Warsish, but I’ve seen it.

Lynne then went on to recap the same chapter, Coolest Crossing, I had belligerently read on my way there. Magic was happening all around me.

Our dinner was held at a small, Italian restaurant that was quiet and calm and the talk at the table was plentiful. Lynne answered all of our questions with grace and poise and good humor and seemed totally, completely normal. Despite the fact that I can’t swim (so she probably wouldn’t want to be friends with me) I thought that if she lived by me I’d like to be friends with her.

I asked her how old she was when she swam the English Channel for the first time. (She crossed a total of three times.) She told us that she was 17, the year was 1974, and she set the record for women as well as men.

She told us that she set the record for the Catalina Channel, swimming from Catalina to Long Beach. She didn’t want to swim from Long Beach to Catalina, the way most people swim it, because she didn’t want to break her brother’s record.

Doug asked her if she had ever swum the Straits of Gibraltar. She told us that she was the first one.

This normal yet extraordinary woman has set records for open water swimming all over the world. She ate and laughed and answered our questions all night. I knew exactly why my husband was seeming smitten and why he stalked her.

She was extraordinary.

The books written by Lynne Cox are:

Swimming to Antarctica
Grayson
South With The Sun

They are all available on CD.

This is a picture of Lynne Cox at her book signing ...

A Long Swim Goes On The Road

What do you do when you have this cool story to tell? You tell it.

And top it off with videos and photographs that I took while no one was looking. The story just got cooler.

So Doug has a friend named Chad who made him a killer powerpoint and strategically added the photographs and videos. Thanks Chad, you rock.

William Blair invited Doug in to talk to their firm as soon as he landed back in the states. And that's how it all got started. Next up he'll be telling the story of A Long Swim this Sunday at 2:00 at ...

McHenry County College
Auditorium B
Crystal Lake, Illinois

You can rsvp at www.alongswim.com

SPECIAL GUESTS ...

Since A Long Swim raised over $150,000 for ALS research at Northwestern, the doctors from Northwestern who discovered the cause of ALS will also be there. The announcement that they had made this discovery came on August 21st, the day that Doug returned to England from France.

You can bring your kids and you can ask questions.

Statistics From The 2011 Season

Based on the 2011 season’s statistics from the English Channel Swimming & Piloting Association, it looks like this …

There were a total of 68 solo swims.

42 were successful.

26 were unsuccessful.

61% success rate.

8 were from the United States.

2 from the United States were men.

(Of the 42 successful swimmers, our boat pilot, Lance Oram, had 14 of them.)

An outside observer’s opinion: I had no idea what these numbers would look like. I knew that there were more relay swimmers and more individual and relay kayakers. I knew there weren’t many solo swimmers. I knew from the reactions that we received in England from shop owners and guys in bars. (In our best English accent now ... "F..., you made it?"

Interesting that from the United States there were 6 women and 2 men. I’d like to know who they are.

Believe it or not, this all takes time. These swimmer's shoulders are still a little sore. And this system is so new that it is very imperfect. It’ll just take more time.

Who You Meet Along The Way ... Energy

I have this little brother, his name is Robert, and he's not so little, because of his energy. He makes things happen.

He was the first one who made hotel reservations in Dover, even before us. He made a big donation to A Long Swim. He wanted to be there. He needed to be there. And we needed his energy. And does he ever have it.

Robert designs/creates/invents really cool things. Here he is talking about the good that comes from Green Toys, Inc., his baby. You're gonna love this...

Thank You Steve Jobs

For those of you who enjoyed videos and photographs in real time from the English Channel, they were brought to you via one piece of technology ... the iPhone.

Apple was the first stock I ever bought. And, 28 years later, my iphone sleeps under my pillow.

Steve Jobs is close to my heart for another reason. He came to his family through adoption, as have some of our children. Adoption is a beautiful way to have a family.

The New Normal

It’s not completely surprising. On some level it was expected. The way this has all played out. Parties and presents and cards, yes lots of cards. Newspaper articles and phone calls, yes lots of phone calls. The donations for the Les Turner ALS Foundation keep coming in and as of today the amount stands at $156,000.

Yet every one of us knows it’s time to move onward albeit with this accomplishment still at the forefront of our minds. All of it is all but impossible to forget. It has become a part of us.

Winter is just about here and this weekend I packed up the open water gear ... ropes, watches, those perfect water bottles we found after trying out so many. But the log book remains in the kitchen. It’s full of stroke counts and times and quotes and notes from all of the qualifying swims as well as the channel. I’m sure we’ll keep it out all winter so as to keep it all alive.

As much as we cling to this event and as much as we try to move forward the truth is that nothing will ever be the same. For any of us. We’ve found a new confidence, the kind that comes from together working hard and the kind that comes from together watching magic.

We have a few shells from Wissant Beach sitting on our dresser that are earmarked for our grandchildren. The ones who aren't even close to being here. The ones who are going to say, "My grandfather. He swam the English Channel."

As time moves on the new normal will become a little quieter but forever and ever the future in each of us is as bright as those lights that we saw shining, no they were singing and dancing, on the shore of France.

"Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads."

A Song About Freda Streeter, written by a guy named Ian Down (+ a 10 minute video that chronicles his swim) (Brilliant)

In 2010 a guy named Ian Down swam the channel in 15 hours and 47 minutes.

Ian had a tough swim, as he was awarded the Best Swimmer in Arduous Conditions for the 2010 season. He also had some tough encounters with Freda Streeter, the mother of The Channel. He wrote a song about her called "The Channel General Song."

Here it is ...

The Channel General sat one day
Surveying her swimmers in the bay
The Wind was soft. The sun was up
Freda drained the tea from her cup

Barry was up, and maxim-making
His shingle stompers to the swimmers taking
She stubbed her fag. She felt sublime
Her red caps were coming in to feed on time

(But one got out and said:)

Can't do it
Let me quit
My shoulder's bad I need to moan
I'm hypothermic
Feeling sea sick
I'm tired and I want to go home
Feel horid
And squalid
I need to get out and eat something solid
Can't do it I've had enough

(So Freda said:)

Stop chatting
Go back-to-backing
Or you'll get an extra hour or so
Quit bleating
My heart's a-bleeding
If you're asking to get out, it's 'no'
No more yak
Just go back
I'm not fooled by your plan of attack
Get in and start to swim

(But still she heard:)

Don't want to
I've turned blue
I can't feel my hands no more
Must stop now
Can't see how
I can swim when I'm so sore
It's no fun
When you're stung
By a jellyfish the size of the sun
Can't do it I'm getting out

(So Freda replied:)

Get to it.
Swim through it.
Do 5 hours and you'll be through
Listen mate
Nothing great
Is easy in life it's true
Don't blubber
Or ask for mama
Just move one hand and then the other
I've heard it all before

(no chatting at the walls)

I've heard it all before
(come in on time for your feeds)
I've heard it all before

(stay close to the shore)
I've heard it all before

And here's his video. We'll have one of these for Douglas in short order. At the end of this video, watch for the lovely picture of Freda Streeter hugging Ian. Brilliant.

The Things You Do For Love ... And Then There Was One

Out of four crew members, our kids, the quietest won an award.

Mack, stuck on a plane.

Bill, down for the count, sea sick.

Ashley, down for the count, sea sick.

Bill, the protective one, as he was about to go down, made sure that Gordy was at the helm and instructed him to never give up. “He needs to see someone every time he looks up here. It’s you Gordy.”

Gordy did just that. He even had fun. I remember seeing him allowing the boat to toss him around and waving his hands like a bird. I remember seeing him eating a sandwich on deck. The only one on the boat to eat, anything. I remember hearing him sing to the boat captain’s surprisingly American music. I remember him getting mad at me when things were getting tough. “What are we doing here? This is not safe. What if something happens to him.”

When it was all said and done Doug recounted that every time he looked up he saw Gordy. Out of 40,538 strokes, one half of which were 20,269 turns to the right side looking up, it was Gordy, the 3rd son, the smallest of the three, standing tall. Doug gave him the award of MVP of A Long Swim. And on the wall of the White Horse, that historic bar in Dover where all channel swimmers sign their names, Doug made sure that the world would know.

Under The Same Moon

One month ago while we were out in the dark English Channel the moon was exactly l/2 and as orange as Halloween, just like tonight. We saw a million little stars that wouldn’t show up on the camera. But we tried. The lights of Calais, France were flickering and dancing and seemed most welcoming, although we were headed to a dark, little beach south of that. Doug’s night goggles blinked red on both sides of his head and, when it was working, the light on his bum matched.

Here’s a video of the night …



A few days later we traveled, on one of those larger-than-life ferries, to that dark, little beach. What looked that night like a sad, little nothing of a place ended up looking like this by the light of day …

So, we’re home and settled. The kids have so much homework still that I’m sure it’ll affect their grades. Doug’s been on cloud nine and those who have swum the channel have assured him that the cloud number never changes. “It’s a life long benefit.” His business is exploding and the door bell is still ringing. When his mother rides her bike to the grocery store she says she can barely make it through for all the talk, talk, talk.

There are lots of unseen photographs and video to go through as time slows down and fall begins to set.

I’ll have more to report as time goes on about this swim and others coming up. In the meantime, Doug has his eye on the next swim. A short 26 miles from Catalina to Long Beach. And so the preparation begins. He just bought tee shirts for the boys as Christmas presents. (Don’t worry, the boys couldn't be less interested in this blog.)

The Video Bar WITHOUT Other Guys Swimming The Channel

Over to the right you'll see a video bar that NOW has videos of you know who swimming the channel. Not some other guys. Technical kudos to the chef.

Photography ... Like Playing Chess On A Bobsled

Photographing and taking video on a boat in the English Channel. No pressure. My backpack was full of every camera I owned as well as those new video cameras, including the one that could go underwater.

Here's a short video taken from the galley of the boat which was a place where I could brace myself and use my equipment.



A lot of the seven hours where we had light were “the shit hit the fan” type of moments. We were holding on with both hands and taking it all in. While there was chaos all around us trying to focus on something very narrow, taking pictures, was like the polo player managing the huge animal underneath him while he tries to hit a little, tiny ball. Or like trying to play chess on a bobsled. The deck of our boat was heaving so that in order to get from one side to the other we needed to crawl. There was so much going on that I was, honestly, overwhelmed.

Through it all I did “see” things and, while I only got 427 shots before the sun went down, I got what I think is the best photograph of my life. This was taken just as the sun was setting and just was the water was calming down. When I took it I knew something special had just happened.

I learned from one of the world’s best photographers, Alison Shaw, that the best time to use your camera is when the sun is coming up and when the sun is going down. I didn’t even realize the sun was about to set until I looked at that Sea France boat and saw that it was pink and glowing. Alison’s name immediately came to my mind and I shot away. This "Sea France" photograph was the last photograph I took before the sun set that day. I have a series of 6 of these images and the one you see above is the signature shot from this endeavor.

However, this one is pretty cool too because if you look closely enough you can see that Doug had just put on his night goggles, in anticipation of the setting sun. We were about to enter seven hours of darkness.

And Then There Were Three

When you’re going to swim the English Channel you GO when your boat pilot says GO. Even if it means your whole team has not arrived. Mack, our oldest, was literally scheduled on the next flight from San Francisco to London. He arrived in Dover eight hours after the swim was complete. When Doug’s coach, Marcia Cleveland, warned us about the things we weren’t going to be able to control it never occured to me that this would be one of those things. Here’s what it meant ...

From: Mack McConnell
To: Doug McConnell
Sent: Sun Aug 21 14:13:30 2011
Subject: Today's the day!

Dad,
You’re swimming right now. According to mom’s texts, She, Billy and Ashley have already tossed their cookies a couple of times. Being seasick sucks, but let it be at testament to the strength of your team. We’re all here for you.

I’m watching you swim, too. Except, to me, you look a lot like a blip on Google Maps. And I can’t see the waves from here, but I hear they’re pretty gnarly.

An airport is the last place I want to be watching you do this. In fact, I’d much rather be throwing up over the side of the boat on the channel. But, I’ll be there soon enough and I’m pretty excited about it.

I’m so proud of you for doing this. You wanted to do it, you said you’d do it, you brought everyone along on the journey and now you’re doing it. It’s like when Babe Ruth pointed his bat into the stands, and put the ball right where he said he’d put it.

I know you have an idea of the impact you’ve had on your team since you’ve started A Long Swim, but I have a feeling you’ll never know how much it’s particularly affected Me, Billy, Gordy and Ashley. It’s completely inspiring to watch not only what you did, but how you did it with such humility and grace. You are changing what the McConnell identity is all about; actually, you just made being a McConnell the coolest thing ever.

For us, accomplishing what we want has never been more clear. Rather than hitting the ball as hard as you can and hoping it ends up in the stands, you’ve got to point to the stands and do whatever it takes to put your ball there.

Right now, I’m learning, one Google Map blip at a time, that I can do anything I want to do. All I have to do is point my bat and know that I can.

I love you,

Mack

Not having Mack with us was a curse and a blessing. Mack is the quiet leader of the four kids. While encouraging them to keep their identities, all of our kids have different parents, after all, he sets a fine example for them and he holds their feet to the fire when he has to. We needed him to be with us on that boat.

But, because Mack wasn’t there, his brothers took on a role they may not have otherwise. Interesting. More on that later. Stay tuned.

Here's the whole lot of them a couple of days after the swim. See the guy in the green? He'll never be the same.

Thank You Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg

On this charming, technology-laden fishing boat in the middle of the English Channel we must have said the words iPhone and Facebook over and over. Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have created technology that has enabled foreign revolutions to assemble and imprisoned hostages to be freed. On a much smaller scale, many of our friends back home were able to be a part of this English Channel challenge and I knew that the 9 of us out on that dark night were not alone. Through my iPhone and Facebook we were able to share so much of special moments of this swim. I couldn’t answer texts much because we were busy but I read every single one that came in out loud.

Some friends realized through Facebook that they were watching independently so decided to watch together and drink champagne.

One friend of ours couldn’t sit still and decided to go to church and get his parish to all pray for us.

My family texted me all night long.

Basically, when things were getting hard our friends were there.

His landing was dark, quiet and uneventful. Getting him back to the boat made me crazy and once he was on board he needed us. I have video of him hugging my arm and not letting go, as if to say just that. I fear I let some people down because I had to put my iPhone away and tend to him. But one of the first things I told him was that you all were watching.

I wasn't the only one on the boat using an iPhone. Here are the Facebook entries made during the swim by our boat pilot, Lance Oram.