Man hopes to become first blind person to swim across Channel
A former Paralympian is hoping to become the first blind person to swim the English Channel.
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00:00This swim is significant for a number of reasons, not only is it the fact that it's the first
00:06time a totally blind person has ever swum the English Channel, secondly obviously for
00:11me being an Australian it's very important that Australia lead the way in many of these
00:15particular achievements, and thirdly we also get the chance to swim the Australian flag
00:21across the English Channel and take it to the Athletes Village and present it to the
00:26Australian Paralympic team, and I think fourthly also from a world's perspective in history
00:32it's the first time a father and daughter have actually represented their country at
00:36a Paralympic Games and my daughter Taylor will be representing Australia in Judo and
00:41potentially if she's there I'll hand over the flag to her and the team in the Athletes
00:45Village.
00:56Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go
01:26I think there are many challenges associated with the English Channel and it's not just
01:52me swimming the actual channel, it's the entire team. I have a team of six swim guides, four
01:58females, two guys, and the challenges, whether it's not just today or tomorrow or next week
02:04when we swim the channel, it's the last two years. And those two years have been about
02:08the preparation, whether it be the day-to-day training out there in the open water, whether
02:12it be the seas, whether they be rough or choppy or rips or the whole range of various conditions
02:18and more so importantly, the actual cold water. And this team has endured some fairly
02:23significant conditions along this particular journey, but they also recognise that success
02:29is a journey never ever a destination. And the challenges now for us as a team is to
02:35get across the channel as quickly as possible, not be impeded by the actual tides and to
02:41also ensure that we have the best possible conditions.
02:48For more information visit www.fema.gov