Swimming with sharks in South Africa and how I remain calm(ish)

LAST month I travelled to Cape Town for some open water training and some distance swims (sadly, the temperature of the River Thames is still only about 7C to 9C).

One of these distance swims was my qualifier for swimming the Channel — 17,653m in six hours. Done!

Let me tell you, it was epic. The swim began in Langabaan Lagoon, Western Cape, at 5.30am in the pitch black with very windy and extremely rough conditions.

The swim camp was run from a houseboat on the lagoon, which most of the time looks like Barbados. Not this day — it was wet, windy, cold and fairly grim. The water temperatures ranged from 11C to 15C.

When I began, I was terrified. I had to have a word with myself to keep going. It became marginally better once daylight arrived.

One of my biggest fears of sea swimming is rough water and one of the reasons I wanted to train in South Africa was so that I could experience it. If I can swim in that, I can swim in (almost) anything.

The only downside was the thought of what bitey things were lurking beneath.

Although I love all wildlife, and sharks are now endangered, it is not easy to get the Jaws theme tune out of your head when you are in the water for so long. Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun…

One great thing about doing bonkers things like swimming the Channel is that you get to meet some really interesting people. If you think you are slightly mad, there is always someone crazier.

Last year, on the same swim camp, I met Leigh de Necker, a marine biologist who works for the shark and ray protection project (you may have seen her on Sky television).

I asked her all about the sharks and she told me a story of woe. The tale began with a “husband and wife” team of orca killer whales called Port and Starboard (their dorsal fins flop to the left and right) and how they’ve had to adapt their eating habits because of the devastation humans have caused by overfishing.

There is clearly something missing in their diet, so they have taken to eating shark’s livers — only the livers.

In one week 15 shark carcasses were found on a beach with just a chunk taken out of them where their livers used to be.

Where there used to be hundreds of sharks, and particularly great whites, there are now only very few. We have completely obliterated the apex predator from the area, which means that the seal population has blossomed and there is now a fight for what fish are left between humans and the seals.

Anyway, having at least conquered one fear, it’s now back to training in the pool.

This month’s question comes from Mo Gannon, a friend from Henley Open Water Swimming Club, who also plays the violin in the Henley Symphony Orchestra.

She asks: “When you are on the stage in front of a big audience, or facing a huge expanse of water, have you ever been flooded with fear/adrenaline and what did you do to overcome it?” The answer is I certainly have nerves for all those events and it is really the same coping strategy for both.

I have been performing from the age of three, so have learned over the years to harness it, smile and get on with it, or as we say: “Tits and teeth.”

Where swimming is concerned, my training as a performer has certainly helped.

The first time I had “the fear” was when the I and the other Henley Mermaids took on our first Channel swimming relay and I was on the first leg.

The boat left Dover harbour at 11.55pm, went round the corner and stopped. I was told I had to jump in and swim to shore. Having had very little sea training due to lockdown, we were naive and hadn’t even thought about how the challenge would begin.

I swam ashore and then turned around and could barely see the boat in the black of a cloudy night. I had to swim through the breakers towards the open sea and the boat.

All that was going through my head was: “They’ll never find my body; it’s all my fault, this blooming Channel swim was my idea.”

Anyway, I had to put by big boy pants on, pull myself together and push on.

This has happened to me three times — at Robben Island, the qualification swim and our Channel relay.

Long distance and endurance swimming is 10 per cent swimming and 90 per cent strength of mind, so now I try to set my head first, don’t overbreathe, maintain a steady, strong stroke and power through with the end result always in sight.

I suppose this can be applied to anything.

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who attended the Henley Music School fundraiser we had at Christ Church on Saturday night.

Boyertown Senior High School, from Pennsylvania, gave a very impressive performance with string groups, choirs and a wind and brass band. The standard was exceptional.

The retiring collection raised more than £650 for the music school and Henley Community Hub.