I swam the Channel

A WOMAN from Binfield Heath said she cried when she reached the French shore after swimming the Channel.

Laura Reineke, 50, had feared she wouldn’t make it during the early stages of the challenge when it was cold and dark and she was seasick.

But she persevered and swam 56km from Dover to Wissant Beach in 15 hours, 23 minutes on Wednesday last week.

“It felt brilliant to finish,” said Ms Reineke, a member of the Henley Mermaids, a group of open water swimmers.

“It was very emotional getting to shore after two years of training. I was crying through my goggles.”

The mother of three injured her left shoulder during the swim, her mouth was sore from the saltwater and she suffered a number of jellyfish bites.

“Immediately after the swim, I didn’t want to eat anything,” she said. “I was just exhausted. You’re not allowed to wear a tracker so I thought it had taken about 19 hours but when I got out, I was told it was only about 16 so I was really pleased.”

Ms Reineke was raising money for the Henley Community Hub, which she is creating at Trinity Hall in Harpsden Road. The hall is already home to Henley Music School, which she founded.

She had been preparing for the swim for two years, training in the River Thames with her fellow Mermaids and in the sea off Bournemouth and in South Africa.

Ms Reineke set off from Samphire Hoe, Dover, at 2.39am. She was accompanied by a pilot boat called Anastasia carrying her support team made up of three friends.

They were fellow Mermaid Joan Fennelly, Lee Saudan, who has swum the Channel herself, and Debbie Frazer, who supplied her with liquid food on a line during the swim.

They relayed messages to her from friends, family and supporters on a WhatsApp chat created specifically for the challenge. Ms Saudan joined her in the water three times during the swim as a support swimmer.

Ms Reineke said she hadn’t been able to sleep before setting off.

“After all that training you just want to do it,” she said. “I got up at midnight and got the boat at 1.30am.

“You have to come out of the harbour to Samphire Hoe and then I had to jump in and swim to the shore before actually starting.

“In the first three hours I felt really sick and was retching and actually was sick.

“I have never been seasick before. I think it was a combination of the dark water, dark sky and because there was a lot of swell, so the flow was going up and down.

“I had taken anti-sickness tablets just in case but the nausea was horrible and it just went on and on.

“The water was really cold and I was shivering. I thought, ‘I’m never going to complete this. I feel terrible’.

“Then as the sun came up, I warmed up and I had a good word with myself.”

The water was around 18C, although it became colder when she reached the separation zone, the safe water between shipping lanes.

Ms Reineke said: “I saw lots of ferries and supertankers and you can get quite close to them, although the pilot plots your route so that you aren’t going to hit them.

“There were lots of jellyfish. I did get stung a few times but it was like a nettle sting.

“There were a few sections when I had to pull it out of the bag, including one hour of going hard to make it through a particularly bad bit in order to hit the right place in France.

“The feeding was difficult when you feel sick and can’t get the volume in but need the energy boost to swim.

“My crew were fabulous and just fed me more often and with stronger feeds. I couldn’t eat solids, except for four jelly babies. I spat out the rest.

“Everything turns to dust in your salty mouth. I had a seasick pill hidden in a Battenberg so I did eat that.

“Throughout, I worried I wouldn’t complete it and I would have to tell people but pain is temporary, quitting is forever. There was no way I was ever going to quit. I was always going to battle through.

“I actually swam a total of 56km because of the tides you get in the Channel. The tides are massive, as are the currents, so you have to really push through.

“As I neared the French coast, I needed three bursts of 20 minutes when you have to go hard.

“The wind was going against the tide and it was really nasty and hard to get through. By then my shoulder hurt but I made it.

“Lee was my support swimmer when I really needed it for the push spurts.

“Support swimmers are only allowed to swim for three hours and not consecutively, they have to take two hours off in between.

“She ended up getting in three times throughout the whole swim and that was great. It helped to have someone swimming at the exact same speed and next to you.

“The support team were brilliant. When I was being sick and I thought I wasn’t going to make it, I asked them, ‘Am I going to make it?’ and they said, ‘Oh yes, you’re nearly there.’

“I cried for about 20 minutes through my goggles. They were a huge help and brilliant. When I reached French waters, they were really funny and all put on moustaches and berets and put up French flags.

“When you get to the French shipping lanes you still have got quite a long way to go. The tides get really massive and the French water is the hardest bit.

“I saw that was coming but I had no idea how long I had been swimming for or really exactly where I was. I just had to keep going.

“You can see land but the tide whips you along the shore so you don’t get any closer until the tide turns when you have to really push to get through to the shore.”

Nearing the French shore, the water temperature was about 19C and Ms Reineke said: “It felt lovely, like a bath.”

On reaching the shore, she was allowed to stay for 10 minutes and met Patrice Chassary, a Frenchman who likes to greet all the Channel swimmers who arrive on Wissant Beach.

Ms Reineke said: “He takes a picture and a video of you coming in and congratulates you.

“He’s about 65, I guess, and has been doing it for ages. He’s lovely and gives you a big hug and claps you in.

“There were lots of people on the beach who looked at me as if I was mad. I was covered in grease and a bit puffy. I looked like I had been swimming for 15 hours....”

She then got in the boat to return to Dover, which took about three hours. Her children, parents and friends were waiting to greet her.

Ms Reineke said: “A solo swim is never a solo swim, it takes a team to get you across that line.

“On the boat back, we sat and chatted and I looked at the pictures and warmed up.

“I didn’t have time to look at the WhatsApp group chat then and I went home, showered and went straight to bed. I was shattered.

“But at 4.30am, I was woken up because my shoulder was really painful so I took some tablets and looked over the messages. I was in tears because they were so lovely.

“I had so much support from everybody. Henley and the community were right behind me, which was amazing.”

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