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Swimming the English Channel: Mission accomplished

By: Karen Nazor Hill
(Contact)

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Karah Nazor

The trip to France from the shores of Dover, England, was a long journey — longer than it took us to fly from Atlanta to London.

Karah jumped into the water at Shakespeare’s Beach yesterday morning at 6:45 a.m. Every 30 minutes, we fed her energy bars, water to rinse the saltwater out of her mouth, and Gatorade. This kept her energy up for full 12-plus hours. The food was handed to her via a bucket on a stick. Physical contact with the boat and people were not permissible. Toward the end of the swim, she got somewhat disoriented. However, she always answered our questions correctly and responded to the official’s orders. Because of the current, she was oftentimes swept a distance from the boat and the official would signal her to return closer to the boat. He caught her attention using a loud whistle.

Also, somewhat intimidating at times, was the ships. The Channel is the busiest shipping channel in the world. Our pilot was in constant communication with the boats telling them a swimmer was in the water. One boat got uncomfortably close. Its wake was a challenge to Karah.

Karah trained for many months preparing for the swim. Her hard work paid off.

There was a question, at first, if her swim was official. When she reached the shores of France and stood up in just inches of water, she collapsed. She stood up again and collapsed (actually fainted) for the second time. The boat pilot’s assistant picked her up. He shouldn’t have, but he was afraid something was happening to her. She was actually OK. The pilot, the Channel Swimming Association representative on board the boat, the officers of the CSA, all agreed she successfully reached the shore.

When we got the thumbs up that her swim was official and will forever be recorded in the successful English Channel swim book, we rejoiced and brought out a bottle of champagne. Today, we, the family, are carrying reminders of being her on-board team. My face looks like a tomato (I couldn’t find my Bull Frog); Hank’s is a mixture of tan and sunburn, and her uncle’s face resembles a beet. Her very smart aunt brought a cap and stayed out of the sun as much as possible. I had to stand by the rails and watch every stroke of my daughter’s swim.

We’re in Wales now, visiting my husband’s relatives. We’ll go back to Dover on Wednesday so that we can go to White Horse Saloon, a bar that has become a haven for swimmers who have successfully swam the Channel. Karah will add her name to the prestigious list of accomplished swimmer.

We’re heading home on Friday, and I can tell you one thing for sure. For the rest of my life, I will always tell people that I’m the mom of an English Channel swimmer.

(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.)

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