Man hopes to become first blind person to swim across Channel

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A former Paralympian is hoping to become the first blind person to swim the English Channel.

Transcript

00:00This swim is significant for a number of reasons, not only is it the fact that it's the first

00:06time a totally blind person has ever swum the English Channel, secondly obviously for

00:11me being an Australian it's very important that Australia lead the way in many of these

00:15particular achievements, and thirdly we also get the chance to swim the Australian flag

00:21across the English Channel and take it to the Athletes Village and present it to the

00:26Australian Paralympic team, and I think fourthly also from a world's perspective in history

00:32it's the first time a father and daughter have actually represented their country at

00:36a Paralympic Games and my daughter Taylor will be representing Australia in Judo and

00:41potentially if she's there I'll hand over the flag to her and the team in the Athletes

00:45Village.

00:56Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go

01:26I think there are many challenges associated with the English Channel and it's not just

01:52me swimming the actual channel, it's the entire team. I have a team of six swim guides, four

01:58females, two guys, and the challenges, whether it's not just today or tomorrow or next week

02:04when we swim the channel, it's the last two years. And those two years have been about

02:08the preparation, whether it be the day-to-day training out there in the open water, whether

02:12it be the seas, whether they be rough or choppy or rips or the whole range of various conditions

02:18and more so importantly, the actual cold water. And this team has endured some fairly

02:23significant conditions along this particular journey, but they also recognise that success

02:29is a journey never ever a destination. And the challenges now for us as a team is to

02:35get across the channel as quickly as possible, not be impeded by the actual tides and to

02:41also ensure that we have the best possible conditions.

02:48For more information visit www.fema.gov

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