On Thursday, December 22nd, Rick Seirer shared with us his experiences of swimming the English Channel in September - a fascinating, inspiring story. The swim was not on Rick's "Bucket List", but he was inspired to give it a go after encountering one of Australia's most decorated Channel swimmers - who became his trainer. Training included swimming in water below 10 degrees for an extended period of time, and swimming long distances to prepare his body for the gruelling experience. Rick explained that swimming across the channel was not something you did in a straight line - because of the significant currents in the channel, swimmers have to swim in a large loop to ensure they end up in the right spot on the other side. The swim is quite costly because swimmers have to hire a support boat and no less than two pilots who negotiate a pathway between the dozens of huge ships that sail the channel. Some swimmers take up to twenty four hours to complete the swim, but Rick completed his in just under twelve.