Birmelin Recounts Grueling English Channel Swim

Jenny Birmelin of Farmington Hills seems like a natural storyteller, and she has quite a story to tell.

Michigan's first woman English Channel swimmer shared the tale of her 11½-hour adventure with family and friends Friday evening in a presentation at the . Birmelin talked for more than an hour, recounting her journey from training in local pools, lakes and bays to crawling onto a sandy beach in Wissant, France.

Birmelin trained for more than a year in open water, even in winter, braving water temperatures below 50 degrees.

"I finally knew I could do this when I swam across Lake St. Clair in 2010," she said, adding that the realization was an emotional moment. "Around six hours, I started getting tears in my eyes."

During training, taking care of her mind and body were key, Birmelin said. She got regular massage therapy and paid special attention to her shoulders and back. Sleep was nonnegotiable, and Birmelin kept to a strict schedule that also gave her a day off from strenuous workouts each week.

"If you want to do a big swim like this, you've gotta stay healthy," she said.

Because there are so many variables, English Channel swims are booked during a week, with swimmers slotted in positions based on when they will be swimming. Birmelin was booked in fourth position on pilot Andy King's boat during the week of Aug. 19-27, which meant there was a chance she might not swim at all.

She and her husband, Noah, and her crew had been in England for four days when King called Aug. 19 to let her know she'd be swimming the following day. The swimmer in the first position had done just two hours before giving up.

Early the next morning, Birmelin and her crew arrived at the boat in Dover, England. She had to take off from the boat, swim to shore, and then start her swim from there.

"I just jumped into the darkness, and I was hoping no sea creatures were lurking," she said of her launch off the boat.

Swimming the channel

At 4:05 a.m., she heard a faint whistle and did a dolphin dive into the water. For two hours, until sunrise, she didn't stop to eat, but for most of the way, she was taking nourishment and hot drinks about every half hour.

Companion swimmers could join her for just an hour at a time, under strict rules. One bump from a companion's elbow could have ended Birmelin's journey. She said the most encouragement she had was watching the crew, who delivered food and water bottles to her via a long pole with a wire basket attached to it.

After 4½ hours, the water temperature had dropped from 63 to 58 degrees, and Birmelin hit a rough spot. She said she had to decide which would be worse — the half-hour boat ride home, knowing she was letting everyone down, or swimming on for the next six or eight hours.

"I thought about it long and hard," she admitted. "But from then on, it was one feeding to the next, get to the next companion swimmer."

Her last companion, appropriately enough, was Noah, who timed his swim so that he was with her when she landed on the beach in Wissant. The very last leg of her swim was a sprint, because the current was moving. It's the part of the English Channel crossing that breaks many swimmers, Birmelin said.

"No matter how much my shoulders hurt, and they were killing me, I just kept putting more power in each stroke," she said. "It was like nothing I've ever experienced."

Everyone's asking her what's next, she said, and first on the list is a return trip to England for a Nov. 5 ceremony honoring channel swimmers.

Birmelin's also working on a book, In Pursuit: Detroit to Dover, and is collecting donations for the Urban Swim Initiative, an organization that aims to teach every child in Detroit to swim. Anyone who wants to contribute any swim-related items — from bathing suits to foam "noodles" — may drop them off for her at the Farmington YMCA.