McConnell swims English Channel

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Photo submitted by Susan McConnell. Doug McConnell, 53, swam the 21-mile English Channel in 14 hours and 18 mins.

English Channel McConnell

Macdonald blog

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Updated: November 9, 2011 2:17PM

After 14 hours and 18 minutes fighting against strong waves, Doug McConnell felt sand under his hands, ending his swim across the English Channel.

The Barrington resident can now add his name to the list of about 1,000 people who have successfully swam from England to France via the English Channel, one of the world’s busiest commercial waterways that provides access from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea. Among the dangers of swimming the Channel are cold water temperatures and jellyfish.

McConnell, 53, trained for more than two years to prepare for the swim. He has raised about $150,000 for the Les Turner ALS Foundation in the process. On the day he completed his swim, Northwestern University announced researchers had found the cause of ALS. His family has been affected by ALS.

Barrington resident Don Macdonald, 49, also planned to swim the English Channel, but unfortunately poor weather conditions and additional travel commitments prevented him from doing so. Macdonald and McConnell were training partners.

McConnell arrived in England on Aug. 20, knowing he would swim sometime between Aug. 20-26. After polishing off a dinner of “very greasy fish and chips,” he received a call from boat pilot Lance Oram informing McConnell there was an opening for him to swim the following day. He started the swim at 1 p.m. Aug. 21 and finished 14 hours and 18 minutes later in the early morning hours Aug. 22.

“It was quite an experience,” he said of the 21-mile swim. Although the channel measures 21 miles, the indirect route swimmers must take makes the swim upwards of 30 miles.

The conditions were different than McConnell expected. Although the water was a steady 63 degrees, it didn’t feel nearly as cold as he thought it would. He spent the first six or seven hours of the swim fighting through five-foot waves. It wasn’t until around 8:30 p.m. the waves reduced to three feet.

“It just wears you out,” McConnell said of the large waves. “It’s really tiring. You can’t get a good stroke going.”

One of the things he was worried about for the swim were the dangers of jellyfish. Although McConnell did get stung in the chest by a jellyfish. Luckily for him, he was able to continue.

A swimmer since high school, McConnell was also formerly captain of the men’s swim team at the University of Illinois. As McConnell neared the end of the swim, his wife Susan, a member of his boat crew, yelled out encouragement for him, like when he was five miles from finishing, telling him it was just a regular day at the YMCA. And when he was about three miles away from the end, she yelled out that it was just a quick swim around Lake Zurich. Although he couldn’t see the shore from the water, McConnell trusted his boat crew when they told him to swim for the lights.

“I swam for the lights and lo and behold 200 yards later, I felt sand under my hands,” he said. “... I felt very lucky. There were so many things that came together to make this happen. It was everybody’s victory.”

McConnell’s boat crew, who followed him on the swim and provided food and water as well as direction, included his wife Susan, children Bill, 19, Gordy, 17, and Ashley, 13, as well as close family friend Meg O’Doherty.

“The whole thing is still kind of sinking in,” McConnell said.

McConnell was the last swimmer to make an attempt that week due to weather conditions.

Although Macdonald arrived in England Aug. 17, the weather prevented him from entering the English Channel to attempt the swim. A family trip to Scotland then prevented Macdonald from waiting past Aug. 27 to attempt the swim. Though disappointed, Macdonald won’t let it discourage him. He raised funds for the Barrington Community School District 220 Educational Foundation and though unsure how much was raised, his primary focus for after the swim was working with the foundation to spend time in K-12 classes talking about his experience.

Despite not being able to swim, Macdonald still thinks there is a message of hard work and perseverance to be shared and hopes to start scheduling some school visits soon to talk about his experiences.

“It’s a journey,” he said. “It consists of successes and failures and how to deal with both of those.”

Macdonald hasn’t given up and plans to contact the boat pilots to find out if they had any cancellations for next year. If it doesn’t work out for next year, he is also looking at several other challenging swims. Macdonald was an accomplished swimmer in high school and excelled in the backstroke for the men’s team at Indiana University.

“I’ve got plenty of time and you’ve just got to sit back and digest it,” he said.

For more about their journeys, log on to McConnell’s website at alongswim.typepad.com and Macdonald’s blog at www.one-stroke-at-a-time.blogspot.com.