On the Shoulders of Giants...

Sunny Lowry - cousin of L.S. (painter of matchstick people and after whom the Lowry Arts Centre is named) yes she of cross Channel fame - ate eight-egg omelettes before her Channel swims. 

I've had one egg, two rashers bacon, two slices bread and butter (Warburton's medium white) half  a sausage and two cups delicious coffee.

Here we go...

Pre-Swim Cold Feet

The last time I swam in a 'wild' setting was in Bala a couple of months ago. So I feel a bit daunted by this Saturday's swim in Windermere. Last year I got ready for the Great North Swim gradually by swimming in lakes and the sea on a regular basis in the months leading up to the swim. For one reason or another I haven't done that this year. Consequently, I feel a bit out of practice and nervous. Will I exhaust myself? Will a pike bite my toes? Will I see a dead body if I open my eyes when I do front crawl? Might I have a heart attack? And so on......Today the weather has been beautiful. I've decided to calm down and just let myself take my time on Saturday and enjoy the experience. All will be well.

For inspiration, I spent the afternoon at the Victoria Baths, Manchester's wonderful Water Palace, one of my top ten, no - top five, favourite buildings. All the scaffolding has gone from the Men's First Class Pool to reveal the sparkling, brand new watertight glass roof. I can't wait for the day when the pool will be filled and the public allowed back in.

In the sunshine, the whole building felt so warm and welcoming and the guide who showed us round was very knowledgeable. For the princely sum of £12 I signed up to become a Friend of Victoria Baths. My son enjoyed the tour and would like to have a go in the Aerotone - a prototype stainless steel jacuzzi. I decided to appoint myself as unofficial Poet in Residence, so I'll write some pool-themed poems over the next couple of months.

At this Sunday's Open Day at the baths (5 September) a special new stained glass window in honour of Sunny Lowry will be unveiled at 2pm. I'll be thinking of her when I'm in the lake.

Forces To Be Reckoned With

I've been back in the archives today and found these pictures. I think they speak for themselves.

Annette Kellermann

Ethel 'Sunny' Lowry

Channel Icons - The Sequel

Ever the obsessive, I've been unable to leave the mystery of which UK woman was the first to swim the Channel. Here are my latest research findings:

1.   1927 - 7 October  - Mercedes Gleitze - 15h 15m

2.   1927 - 13 October  - Ivy Gill - 15h 09m

3.   1928 - 10 August - Ivy Hawke - 19h 16m

4.   1928 - 24 August - Hilda Winifred Sharp - 14h 58m

5.   1933 - 28/29 August - Ethel 'Sunny' Lowry - 15h 41m

Channel Icons

Here's another Channel mermaid - Ethel 'Sunny' Lowry (1911-2008) - who swam the Channel in 1933 when she was 22 years old. It was her third go, having been thwarted by storms and tides on her first two attempts. She swam from Cap Gris Nez in France to St. Margaret's Bay, Dover and completed in 15 hours 41 minutes. Born and raised in Manchester, she was a cousin of the artist LS Lowry. She swam at the Victoria Baths in Manchester and was an ardent champion of the baths which were closed in 1993. In 2003 they featured on the BBC TV programme 'Restoration'. From a selection of buildings facing dereliction, the baths were voted by the British public to be most deserving of a £3 million grant to set them on the road to restoration and recovery. More about them later.  

But here's a little mystery which I can't seem to solve. As a Mancunian, I like the fact that Sunny made her mark on the Channel, for women and for Manchester. She is frequently referred to as the first British woman to swim the Channel. Yet where does the woman in this photograph fit in the English Channel picture? 

She is Mercedes Gleitze (1900-1981), a London typist. She is also referred to as the first English woman to swim the channel. On her eighth attempt, she swam from Cap Gris Nez to St Margaret's Bay on 7 October 1927 - six years before Sunny's attempt - and completed in 15 hours 15 minutes. Shortly afterwards, another woman - Mona McLennan - made the crossing, but it later emerged that Mona's swim was a hoax. Then the legitimacy of Mercedes' record was also called into question. She was greatly upset by the slur and made an attempt to clear up any doubts with a 'vindication swim' on 21 October. She wore a Rolex 'Oyster' watch around her neck. It kept time beautifully, and Rolex used Mercedes' endorsement to publicise their name, but unfortunately for Mercedes, the sea conditions were so brutal that her attempt failed. Her successful crossing is listed in the records of the Cross Channel Association, so I'm puzzled as to how all the pieces of Sunny's and Mercedes' stories fit together. Great women, great swimmers, both of them, whatever the details may be.