Sam Jones

Sam had a dream to swim the English Channel. She moved with her 2 sons to Dover and trained for 2 long years in Dover Harbour - nothing was going to stop her. She had been a life guard in Tunbridge Wells, her home town where she learned to swim. At last she got her chance and swam for some 14 hours before the tide turned her and she was pulled from the water, exhausted and heartbroken, her dream was broken. Not for long, 6 weeks later she had a phone call from her pilot saying `be on the boat at 9pm, were going tonight`. She knew she had to swim in the dark and for 14 hours to get to where she had been before. She arrived and was taken to Samphire Hoe where she started her second swim. 9 1/2 hours swimming in complete darkness. 16 1/2 hours later, one shoulder almost out of its socket, she hauled herself up on the beach at Cap Blanc Nez. Her dream had come true. She had a blue fish swim with her for miles but she only said `well it`s me whose invading his space` Sad when it left. When asked about the pain she was in all she said was `God it hurts but I`m a channel swimmer - how cool is that`. What a gutsy lady. She has helped many other swimmers being an official observer on the pilot boats (going out to observe another persons solo swim attempt the day after her own swim!) and also support swimming. She trained for sometime with the Dover RNLI which is another of her passions. As a single mum I totally admire her determination and character and the sheer strength of mind to achieve what she did at the age of 36. She so deserves this.