Varsity Channel Relay 2023
The biennial channel relay involves a race between Oxford and Cambridge across the English Channel, with six swimmers from each university tackling the cold, darkness, and jellyfish in an attempt to cross the channel in the fastest time. Each swimmer takes it in turns to swim for one hour, with the rest of the team cheering (or sleeping) on the boat. Due to the impact of currents and tides on the event, both teams usually set off at the same day and time to make the race as fair as possible. This year, however, the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation couldn’t find an observer for Oxford when Cambridge were called to swim. As a result, Cambridge swam on Friday the 7th of July and Oxford on Sunday the 9th of July, both setting off at around 3.30AM.
Max Anderson Loake was the first swimmer from Oxford, setting off from the white cliffs of Dover as the sun rose over the glassy water. The stunning scenery was complemented a playlist perfectly curated to motivate Max through his swim: non-stop Taylor Swift. Next up was Esme Briggs, who faced the largest swarm of jellyfish of the day. Some nasty stings to the face caused a few expletives to be heard from the boat, but she soldiered through to produce an extremely speedy swim. Esme then passed onto Jackson, a veteran of the event having competed in 2021. Jackson’s talent at open-water swimming was evident, with his long, smooth strokes sending him flying through the water. Jackson then passed onto his fellow Blues Captain Eva Ponting. While Eva is normally known as a sprinter, she was able to hold a blistering pace throughout the entirety of her swim. The wind and chop also began to increase during Eva’s swim, both of which she took in her stride. Next up was the Team Junior Sam Nicholls. Sam was tasked with swimming through the separation zone, which involved fighting his way through masses of seaweed and dodging a few scraps of rubbish. However, he brought the same unwavering positivity to his swim as he did to the rest of the day, and was able to produce a whopping swim. Sam then passed onto fellow Blues Vice-Captain Charlotte. Despite a brief moment when Charlotte mistook high-pitched noises from the boat for the sonar of nearby orcas deciding how to best attack her, she was able to face her fears and push through to produce a very strong swim. Next up, we were back to the start – with Max, Esme and Jackson all completing a second one-hour swim. All three seemed to take an ‘all-guns blazing’ approach to their second swim, setting off at a near-sprint and finishing with some very tired arms and legs! Jackson almost made it onto French soil, but fell 200m short, handing over to Eva who was left with a 3 minute sprint to the shore.
The Oxford Team posted a final time of 9.03 compared to Cambridge’s 9.48. While it’s still been declared an Oxford victory and a thorough tab-shoeing, it’s worth noting that the two swims occurred on separate days so comparisons should be taken with a grain of salt. Congratulations to both teams for some fantastic swimming and an incredible achievement.
It would be remiss not to acknowledge the two reserves – David Pugh and Sophie Lawrence – who completed all the training and medical assessments but were ultimately not needed for the swim. The support of both throughout training was greatly appreciated. Thanks must also go to Open Water Captain Joseph Read for the organisation of the event. Finally, we must thank all those whose generous donations allowed us to participate in the swim – including the Poseidon Club, the late Nick Thomas, and all those who donated to the GoFundMe. The fundraiser also raised £2500 (and counting) for Choose Love, a charity supporting refugees and displaced people across the world.