Well, coming up to a month down the track I can reflect with some degree of objectivity on my channel swim. I've had some nice comments about my report, although perhaps not surprisingly I don't seem to have inspired many friends to consider swimming the channel.
At the start of the year I said I wanted to test the limits of my sanity/ability. The channel certainly felt like it did that. I pushed myself well beyond any comfort zone and then on and on and on through a fairly prolonged uncomfortable zone. I can honestly say I was successful in thoroughly testing my physical and mental limits!
The most common post swim comment I have had is "What next?". To which I generally quip "Something shorter and warmer". There is naturally an immense sense of achievement and all the positive feedback from friends and family helps me to appreciate why so many go back for more. Why some even go for multiple crossings. For me, swimming the channel was never meant to be about recognition. It was about challenging myself and testing my limits, to that end I feel I have achieved what I set out to do. What next? Does there even have to be a next? Is there any great benefit to be had by further pushing the boundaries of sense and physical achievement? That question I do not have an answer to........................yet.
