Wednesday 30 / October / 2024
Muscat: An Oman school teacher fell short a couple of miles from completing his English Channel Swim, after his record success in swimming from the Dimaniyat Islands to Al Mouj Marina last May.
Eric Block, an American Maths teacher at the British School Muscat, embarked on the world renowned English Channel swim from England to the French shores, after 10 days of anxiously waiting in Dover, England, for suitable weather to attempt the challenge.
Block had prepared for more than two years for the swim, and raised more than OMR900 with Oman’s community members for the U.K. Special Olympics Charity.
He was joined on his swim by the boat—the Viking Princess—and his support team, which consisted of his wife Emma, his brother OJ, and his friend Barrie, who also used to teach in Oman. Block began the swim in the afternoon of July 25 at 12:30 pm.
“All swims have to start from the shore. After walking up the beach until I was totally out of the water, they gave the signal and I was back into the water and started swimming. You are not allowed a wet suit for the swim, only a basic swim suit, cap and goggles. I just swam next to the boat,” he said.
Though Block was originally scheduled to swim during a neap tide, the delay in dates meant that he had to swim during a spring tide, which has much stronger currents. Other than the choppy water conditions, his obstacles included other ships, as well as jellyfish stings.
“The English Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world so the pilot had to ensure we stayed clear of all the large ships we kept passing. There were also a lot of jellyfish in the water, and while I tried to avoid as many as possible, I still was stung several times on my arm, face and chest. The crew could see the large swarms of jellies in the water from the boat,” Block explained.
After sunset, Block had to swim in darkness with only a change of goggles, and a light fixed onto his suit for safety. This was also when Block struggled to pick up the pace so that he would beat the tide.
“Picking up the pace, and some problems I had with my nutrition during my stops for feeds, started to affect me. Because of the path you swim due to the tide and currents, it can look like you are close to France when really you still have a long way to swim, so I was not focusing on the lights in the distance. My body started to break down.”
“After about 9.5 hours of swimming, at about 23:15 I was feeling very ill. The toughest decision I have ever made in my life was to abandon the swim and climb back on the boat, with the lights of France so close. We were about four kilometres (km) from the French Coast,” Block said.
Block would’ve still had a minimum of 1.5 hours to swim those four km to shore, as the swim is rarely a straight distance. He was very ill on the boat ride back to Dover, which ultimately confirmed his decision to get out of water.
“The English Channel is one of the toughest swims in the world for a reason. More people have climbed Mount Everest than successfully swum the channel. The shortest distance between England and France is 33 km. I swam more than 40 km during my swim and was still a bit short.”
“I have been preparing for this swim for two years, and even though I didn’t make it, it has been an incredible experience. I have also raised more than OMR900 for the UK Special Olympics charity. I have had amazing support from the entire British School Family; my colleagues, families and the students, as well as friends, family, and strangers from all over the world!”
