Swimming the English Channel: Excitement building for Sunday attempt

I’m blogging today from “The Happy Chef,” a restaurant across from the Dover Harbor. It has been the most reliable place for us to use the Internet, and the folks here are nice. Karah swam early today, she’s tapering for her swim tomorrow, so we’re out and about early. Hank and I are eating a typical English breakfast: eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, tomatoes and toast. Not hard to tell we're not swimmers! Karah is warming up on a pot ’o tea, mate. As it stands at this moment, she’s scheduled to leave Shakespeare’s Point (near Dover Harbour) at 6 a.m.

Karah said she is typically nervous before a big swim, so tomorrow's jump into the English Channel will be no different. She said the moment she heads out to sea, though, she will be fine. “I am a daughter of the sea ...” she once wrote in a blog. She is completely excited.

For us folks on the boat who aren’t used to crossing back and forth rough seas, we’ve got motion-sickness patches. Sick or not, I don’t plan on taking my eyes off my daughter for the entire swim.

I never imagined how interesting this adventure would be. Though I’ve been a swim parent for all my adult life, I’ve never experienced anything like this. Swimmers from all over the world bond after the first hello. They often meet in the water. Each one here has the ultimate goal for a swimmer — crossing the English Channel. Each supports the other. Seeing swimmers representing their countries is as exciting as watching Olympians compete. Many exchange e-mails, addresses and phone numbers, and, no doubt, will be lifelong friends. We swim parents bonded as well.

Whether Karah’s swim is successful or not, we will come back to the United States more knowledgeable about England, the English Channel, the bond of swimmers worldwide and happy from the experience. We do, though, feel she’s got an excellent shot at crossing. She’s strong, she’s positive, she’s ready.

Protocol is that Karah swims across the Channel with a boat shadowing her across. She cannot touch the boat or people. When she stops to feed (Gatorade, energy bars, hot chocolate), she has to tread water. When she reaches France, she swims to the shore, stands there for a few minutes, and swims back to the boat. A Channel Swimming Association representative, who will be on the boat, will record the time and pronounce the swim successful.

So ... to all our family and friends in Chattanoogan and Karah’s “family” at the South End Rowing Club in San Francisco, keep your fingers crossed and positive thoughts for her success.

Karah “Bowie” is ready to rock.

Go, baby, go.

(Karen Nazor Hill is a features department writer for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Her daughter Karah Nazor, a former Chattanoogan who is a post-doctorate scholar at the University of California San Francisco, is planning to swim the English Channel. Karah is a longtime swimming enthusiast who swam with the East Ridge Youth Foundation, Greater Chattanooga Aquatic Club, Scenic City Aquatic Club, University of Miami and James Madison University. She won the first 3.5-mile Swim Around the Rock event around Alcatraz in San Francisco.)