Welcome to Dover, UK

We arrived in Dover yesterday and have been getting acquainted with the area and exploring! Although the weather was great yesterday, high winds are predicted for

Beginning our swim in the Dover Harbor

the next few days so it could be awhile until we get the green light to swim. Last night, Paige and I headed to the Dover Harbor for a quick swim. The beaches in this area are mostly rocky shingle, rather than the sand I am used to. The water was pretty calm and not too cold so we swam a few laps of the buoy line, until it got too dark to really see anymore. I felt smooth and strong in the water even after 11 hours  sitting on a plane. I really enjoyed watching the sunset while swimming along the harbor.

Enjoying flat water in the Harbor

After the swim, we drove back to our rental house and enjoyed some cold pizza, before finally getting to sleep!

Today, we went to Hythe Beach because they were doing construction in Dover Harbor. I did a 2 hour training swim and the water was much choppier than yesterday. When I first walked in, it felt colder than yesterday, but I soon warmed up and tried to find my tempo. The water felt very lumpy and I kept getting smacked in the face by waves. I started by swimming south toward these two large towers on the beach. I swam to the 2nd tower and turned back north again and as I was

Coach Kim making sure they don’t shoot at me

passing the 1st tower a boat approached me and I saw a man in a guard uniform on the deck. He informed me that I had accidentally swam into a military firing range and that I needed to stay to the north of the towers. There was really no signage in the water warning of the firing, but I was just glad I got out of there safely! I swam to a jetty on the north side of the beach and saw Kim signalling me to turn back south. This time, I swam all the way back to the south but stopped just shy of the firing range. Paige hopped in at this point and swam with me for a little while, which really helped me keep my spirits up. It took until about an hour and a half for me to start feeling good in that water and also start having fun. When Kim signalled me to swim into the beach, I was actually feeling so good that I didn’t want to stop! I swam into the beach and climbed out of the water, where I warmed up in my parka. After eating lunch, we headed over to the town of Canterbury and explored. I cannot wait for my chance to swim the channel and plan to enjoy the rest of my time waiting in England.