Tuomas Kaario aims to become Finland’s first successful English Channel swimmer

A battle against fatigue, cold, darkness, strong currents, and the vagaries of the mind.

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In 1875, Matthew Webb, a merchant navy captain, became the first person to swim unaided across the English Channel. Now, 133 years later, Tuomas Kaario from the southern city of Espoo aspires to become the first Finn to do the same.
      To be precise, Kaario, a 36-year-old osteopath and sports masseur, is not the first Finn to attempt the feat, but officially none of his countrymen have previously succeeded in the endeavour.
     
So far just under a thousand people have officially crossed the English Channel by swimming. Kaario’s scheme to add to this number was hatched years ago.
      “I have cherished the idea since the late 1990s. At first I thought I would swim from Helsinki to Stockholm, but that perhaps would be a slightly too long a distance”, Kaario laughs.
      Kaario’s friend Antti Paronen swam across the Channel two years ago wearing a wet suit. That of course was not accepted as a proper effort, as officially the distance has to be swum in a mere bathing suit. The use of goggles, a swimming cap, ear plugs, and grease on the skin to prevent abrasions is nevertheless permitted.
     
”One of the attractions is the very fact that no other Finn has previously done the same. It felt like an impossible operation”, Kaario explains.
      It also sounds impossible, for the English Channel is not only one of the busiest watercourses in the world, but it also has some of the strongest currents. Because of the currents and the waves, the 32-kilometre distance will inevitability stretch to about 40 kilometres.
     
At best the water temperature in the Channel reaches 19 degrees Celsius. The most common reason for failed attempts is hypothermia, Kaario knows to tell.
      “Chilliness is my worst fear. Of course the distance is long, but you will start feeling the cold right from the beginning. Once it penetrates deep enough it is scary and miserable”, Kaario explains.
      Weather permitting, Kaario will attempt his crossing of the English Channel on Saturday, September 6th. He expects to be in the water for around16 hours, rather more than twice the time for the record, set in 2007 by Bulgarian open-water swimmer Petar Stoichev.
      Stoichev picked the same day - August 24th - that Capt. Webb had chosen. Webb took nearly 22 hours to make the first crossing.


Links:
  The Channel Swimming Association Ltd.
  Swimming the English Channel (Wikipedia)

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