Thirty miles to glory

An epic accomplishment by my new friend, Davis Lee, who succeeded in his quest to conquer the English Channel. My account in last week's Boston Globe can be found here. Below is the unabridged version, accompanied by a stunning photo from Lisa Poole.

Thirty miles to glory

So, Davis Lee, you've finished your long-anticipated solo swim across the English Channel. What's next? According to the 35-year-old nuclear physicist from Newburyport, that's a question that requires reflection.

"I'm not sure if I've exorcised whatever demons made me want to do it, but perhaps it's all still a little too surreal," said Lee after his 12-hour, 41-minute swim from Dover, England, to Calais, France, last week. "I think one needs to stand on the cliffs of Dover and look into the distance, the cold, gray, rough water, with tons of shipping traffic, to even start to comprehend the absurdity of the task."

Lee was joined in England by his two-year-son Oliver, and his wife, Katharine, who is expecting the couple's second child in November, as well as his coach, Andrew Soracco, and his brother, Timothy Lee. Having a solid support crew was a comfort, though it didn't offset all the obstacles thrown at Lee. His anticipated swim date was delayed for two days. When he finally got the green light, it came at 1 a.m. Lee learned his start time six hours earlier, so he'd been awake for 16 hours by the time he stepped into the murky waters off Shakespeare Beach.

And he was already cold. The swashbuckling crew aboard his pilot boat, the Sea Satin, were below deck "guzzling tea and chain-smoking," said Lee. So the first-time channel swimmer had to choose between staying above deck, and getting chilled, or keeping warm below deck and risk nausea from the secondhand smoke. With high humidity, the salt air felt as cold as the water, he said, and swimming at night was "really, really freaky."

"The first hour was very calm, the next eight were very rough," Lee said. Worse, the tide changed just a few miles off the coast of France, turning the channel into "a washing machine."

"There were times, both early on and later on in the swim, when it was just dark, figuratively and literally," said Lee. "I wasn't going to allow myself to give up before I got to France, but if they pulled me from the water, I don't think I would have minded."

Even stepping onto French soil, after swimming 31.6 statute miles, was a bit anticlimactic. "I wish I could say it was amazing, with fireworks going off," said Lee after his first day back at Axcelis Technologies in Beverly. "But I was just spent. I was cold. I'd been awake for more than 30 hours. There was nothing left there to feel."

"And once you get out (on the French coast), you have to swim back to the boat to go back to England. That was probably the longest 300 yards of my life."

Reunited with his family in Dover, Lee grabbed a pint at The White Horse, a pub named after the channel's whitecaps that are said to resemble horses. The walls and ceilings are littered with signatures of successful channel swimmers.

"One of my favorites, because I could relate, had the name, time, date, and just said 'It was bloody horrible,'" said Lee. Lee took a similar tact, finding a spot on a ceiling beam above the bar, and signing his name, date, time, and adding, simply, "It was cold."

This week, Lee said he finally feels normal again. "I've forgotten a lot of the pain. The saltwater has been rinsed from my mouth. If you gargle saltwater for 13 hours, your mouth is destroyed."

Still, the question remains: What's the next challenge? Prior to his English Channel adventure, Lee admitted he was eyeing the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, a stretch of open water that makes the English Channel look like child's play due to the frigid temperatures.

"It's equally long, but about 10 degrees colder. There are only eight or nine people who have done it," said Lee. "It's significantly more complicated. They have a little web site, that says, 'If you haven't completed an English Channel swim, we wouldn't even consider taking you on this. Don't even bother calling.' That's pretty hard-core."

However, after his channel crossing, Lee acknowledged he's gained a new perspective of the effort required, and the potential hardships. "We've got a baby coming," Lee said. "I'm going to see how that goes before planning any big, crazy swims."

Plus, the prospect of even colder waters would force Lee to recalibrate his training regimen. "I'd probably have to train in Maine all summer," he said, laughing. "And pack on another 40 pounds of fat."

FINIS

Channeling his energy!

How can you not enjoy meeting someone like Davis Lee, an individual who is both inspirational and inspired? Articulate, humble, brilliant - he's the ideal interview. But what drives a man to want to tackle the English Channel? It's a simple question, but one that has no easy answer. Below is the unabridged version of my story that ran in the Boston Globe (click here to read the published article).

The Long Swim
Newburyport man attempts to cross the English Channnel

When Newburport's Kate Lee learned she was expecting her second child this spring, she sent her 2-year-old son Oliver to greet his father at the door with a bottle of tequila and a shot glass. Given Davis Lee's plans to swim the English Channel later this month, seven week's before Kate's due date, the couple's friends might wonder if he didn't finish off the entire bottle.

But such recklessness would be far too rash for this 35-year-old nuclear physicist. Lee, a native of Greenwich, Conn., has actually been entertaining thoughts of an English Channel swim for two decades, since he was 14, living in the Bahamas. In a way, much of what he's done since has pointed toward the day that he would tackle the feat.

"Most people think I'm nuts," said Lee recently, between training swims. "It's just something I got in my head. Not many people have done it. Maybe I have something to prove. I don't really know. It's just something that became a goal. Why do people climb Mount Everest? You set a goal, and you do it."

The idea never left him. After Lee secured his doctorate in nuclear science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003 and moved to California, his fascination with the Channel took flight. He started swimming off San Diego's La Hoya Cove several times weekly. A chance encounter with another swimmer training for the Channel cemented Lee's ambition.

"That's when it all came together," said Lee. "It just spiraled from there."

Lee immersed himself, literally, in his pastime. In 2005, he contacted the Channel Swimming Association one of two governing bodies overseeing crossing attempts, for details. Two years ago, he and Kate, even as they became parents, agreed to marshal their resources for a Channel swim this fall.

"Pushing myself is a big theme," said Lee. "Physically, you can train yourself to do anything. But there's this massive mental component. I like putting myself in situations where I have to tell myself, 'I'm going to power through this, somehow.'"

Those who know Lee well won't be surprised. This is a man who overcame the challenge of dyslexia to earn his degree in math and physics from the University of Mary Washington in 1998 and his Masters in applied physics from John Hopkins in 2002 before securing his PhD from MIT. He's approached this latest challenge in the same vein – decide on a goal, plot a course, and follow that plan religiously.

"It's one of my big problems," said Lee. "I don't know when to quit."

A strict adherence to training over the past 18 months has Lee in ideal shape for his Channel adventure. Stocky by nature, Lee now has 190 pounds hung on his muscular 5-foot-9 frame. In July, he tamed the Kingdom Swim, a 10-mile race across Lake Memphremagog in northern Vermont, in 4½ hours. Last month, Lee entered the Boston Light Swim, an eight-mile race from Little Brewster Lighthouse to South Boston, for the second year running, and shaved 44 minutes from his 2009 effort, finishing under three hours.

"Davis is definitely ready. If anything, I've had to hold him back," said his coach, Andrew Soracco. "He's pretty amazing."

He'll have to be. The English Channel crossing is no small task. The 21-mile gap between Dover, England, and Calais, France, has played its siren song to swimmers for more than 135 years, ever since Captain Matthew Webb first completed an official, observed crossing on Aug. 25, 1975, in 21 hours, 45 minutes. However, due to tides and currents, Channel swimmers are typically forced to take a more roundabout line. Lee can expect to swim at least 30 miles in a large "S" formation, said Soracco.

Still, there are very real dangers. Lee, claiming he's not averse to risks (although he has put his sky-diving hobby on hold for the past 18 months), nonetheless employs his analytical approach to minimize them. "I like to know as many variables as possible," he said, sounding every bit like the nuclear physicist who works for Axcelis in Beverly.

"Everything in my make-up says I'm in the low probability side of the equation. I'm relatively young. I'm fit. I've really put in my time training. I've conditioned myself to the cold water."

Lee's chief concerns are water temperatures, changing water conditions, the distance, and stress.

"Physically, probably the most important thing is being able to withstand the cold water," said Soracco. "The channel averages between 55-56 degrees. If you can't keep your core temperature up, you're going to go hypothermic. That's the number one safety concern."

Lee estimates his body fat percentage is "somewhere between 12 and 18 percent," but he's not worried. After his tune-up at the Boston Light race, and a required 6-hour practice swim in late August, Lee and Soracco both deemed the swimmer Channel worthy.

"If I could magically be in England and swim tomorrow, I'd happily take the day off and just go do it," he said. "I don't have any anxiety or fear about it. I'm just eager to go.

Soracco also knows that conditions can change dramatically during the brief window when swimmers leave Shakespeare Beach. "The day Sybil swam, the Channel was like a washing machine," he said. "The first four, five hours, she fought to get her rhythm. The waves would come up and roll her over when she tried to take a breath. It was really harsh. The day after, it was as smooth as glass. I couldn't believe it was the same body of water."

Consequently, mental toughness is often the swimmer's greatest asset. And Lee has that trait in spades. "You have to have the mental capacity to keep everything together, and to keep moving," Soracco said. "The real draw is the risk, and overcoming the risk. It's so easy just to bag it. People quit, even though they certainly could have made it. Most people are their own worst enemy. They cave."

"Davis is almost supernatural. He never seems to falter. He never seems to have any doubt, at all," he said. "This guy is set. I'm just trying to keep him healthy. But mentally, he's unstoppable."

Unlike San Diego, where seal and shark sightings aren't uncommon, there are few "natural" dangers in the Channel, other than jellyfish. "The biggest hazard is the shipping traffic, which is ridiculous," said Lee.

"You're really trusting the Channel federation guys to know their route and know the boat traffic and let everyone know we're there," Soracco said. "Those tankers, they don't even see you. Those things are immense."

Kate, meanwhile, admits she knew exactly what she was getting into when she embarked on a life with Lee. "I actually asked him to marry me," she said. "When I met Davis, I knew this type of adventure, doing something that some people might consider out of the ordinary, that was him. To take away his ability to do any of that would be to take away Davis. It would have been signing up to be with someone else."

"People keep asking whether I am nervous, but I'm not. Both Davis and I grew up on the ocean. We both have a deep respect for the ocean, and having that understanding and respect for the ocean really makes me comfortable with him doing it."

She may not see her husband swim firsthand, though. She'll be seven months pregnant by late September, and she doesn't want to be a distraction on the pilot boat. If not, she and Oliver will be waiting in Calais. "I want all of Davis's concentration and energy to be focused on the swim," she said. "Even if I'm totally fine, I don't want people to be concerned about me on the boat. I want them all to be focused on Davis."

Concentration is key. While fewer than 1,200 swimmers have made crossing, thousands have failed.

"I want to finish, first and foremost," Lee said. "Assuming I do that, I would like to do it under 12 hours, and I would be ecstatic with a time under 10 hours."

Lee said he's not sure if he's prepared for the San Andreas-type shift that his life will take once he completes the crossing. There's the young family's new addition, a daughter, due to arrive on Nov. 14, to consider. Plus, the family bank account will need time to recover (Lee estimates the swim, from start to finish, will cost between $15,000 and $20,000).

"It'll be weird when it's all over, just because so much of our life has been focused on the swim for so long," said Kate Lee. "But so much of our life has been focused on this for so long that we're also excited for it to finally happen."

As for the immediate future, there's likely to be a glass of champagne, or maybe a shot of tequila, to be shared on the shores of northern France.

To follow Lee's Channel adventures, visit his web site at SharkyTreat.com, or his blog at sharkytreat.blogspot.com.

FINIS

Sidebar 1
In the boat

Davis Lee won't be adrift alone when he attempts to cross the English Channel.

For safety, and verification, every official Channel swimmer must hire a pilot boat. Lee rented a boat from the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation, the second of two sanctioning groups, to escort him through the Strait of Dover. Typically, the boat is a 35- to 40-foot fishing vessel, and the pilot helps navigate the waters, communicates with other boats, and often provides "encouragement."

Lee's coach Andrew Soracco said he'll play second fiddle to pilot Lance Oram in the cheerleading department. In 2003, Soracco took another swimmer, Sybil Fisher, to the Channel. Oram's father, Michael, was the pilot, and he didn't mince words when Fisher faltered in the heavy chop.

"His basic concept is, 'If you've got enough energy to complain, you've got enough energy to keep swimming. So, shut up and swim!' That's his motto," said Soracco. "Now we've got his son, Lance, and they share the same philosophy."

Meanwhile, Soracco will concentrate on keeping Lee's engine running. To fuel his Channel effort, Lee will rely on training drinks and energy gels, plus the occasional banana. Soracco will prepare a regimen of drinks and gels (and bananas) that he'll relay to Lee by way of a Tupperware container duct-taped to a rope.

"It's really high tech," said Soracco, laughing. "We spared no expense."

Competitive swimmers, on average, burn between 800 and 900 calories an hour, said Soracco. Open-water swimmers, who must also generate heat to combat the cold, consume more than 1,100 calories an hour, meaning Lee can expect to expend more than 11,000 calories during his effort. That's especially important since English Channel crossing rules don't permit wetsuits.

Still, those limitations don't faze Lee. "I'm a purist," he said. "I'll wear a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. That's it. Those are the rules. A wetsuit doesn't count. I plan to abide by those rules."

Sidebar 2
Big Red Numbers

2 – Number of sanctioning bodies that govern "official" Channel crossings, the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation and the Channel Swimming Association.
43 – Number of crossings by the Queen of the Channel, Alison Streeter (United Kingdom)
34 – Number of crossings by the King of the Channel, Kevin Murphy (United Kingdom)
6:57:50 – Time (in hours, minutes, and seconds) of the fastest recorded solo crossing, by Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria) in 2007
7:25 – Time (in hours and minutes) of the fastest recorded solo female crossing, by Yvetta Hlavacova (Czech Republic) in 2006
26:50 – Time (in hours and minutes) of the longest solo crossing, by Henry Sullivan (United States) in 1923
70 years, 4 days – Age of the oldest man to cross, George Brunstad (United States, in a time of 15:59)
60 years, 10 months, 4 days – Age of the oldest woman to cross, Linda Ashmore (United Kingdom, in a time of 15:11)
11 years, 11 months – Age of the youngest person to cross, Thomas Gregory (United Kingdom, in a time of 11:54)
12 years, 118 days – Age of the youngest girl to cross, Samatha Druce (United Kingdom, in a time of 15:27)
Source: The Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation (channelswimming.net)