Sue Oldham became the oldest woman to swim the English Channel

A PERTH GRANDMOTHER who has become the oldest woman to swim the English Channel says thinking of the special people in her life kept her going during the crossing.

Sue Oldham completed the swim from Dover to the French coast on Monday morning (Australian time) in 17 hours and 31 minutes. The 64-year-old, from Carine in Perth's north, first claimed the record in 2006 in a swim of 16 hours and three minutes.

"While a huge personal achievement, I did it for all who inspire me, like my son Michael and my five fabulous grandchildren," she said after her swim. "In fact every hour of the swim I thought about someone special in my life, and that would motivate me to continue - that's what took me to the end."

Speaking from the United Kingdom on Tuesday morning (Australian time) Sue told ABC Radio in Perth she loved swimming in the ocean. "When you start something you have to finish it don't you, no point in getting out when it gets a bit tough."

World's most difficult swim

The English Channel was regarded as the most difficult open water swim in the world, Sue says. "You just don't know what you're going to get because you've got currents and tides that could take you anywhere."

The endurance swimmer said she struggled for five to six hours to get her stroke right and her throat began causing her discomfort along with a blocked nose and a sore right shoulder. "But I would never stop, I would never give up, ever."

Sue's Perth trainer Pauline Pratt and fellow Perth endurance swimmer Selwyn Jellie were on the support boat encouraging her. She was covered in grease and vaseline for the swim and was passed food and energy drinks on the end of a pole because once in the water she could not touch the boat or be touched by anyone until the finish.

Sue says that after the swim she thought she would "hang up my bathers and goggles and retire gracefully". But after a glass of champagne to celebrate she thought she might still give the channel another go.

The record breaker said she probably swam 50km on her 2006 swim but the distance had yet to be worked out for her latest crossing. A month before her 2006 solo swim, Sueswam as the only female member of a relay team that still holds the world record for the oldest relay team to make the channel crossing.

For her latest crossing, she trained at Churchlands Senior High School swimming pool in Perth, swimming morning and evening for about five hours to fit around her part-time job.

Thanks to Australian Geographic!!!

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

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Underwater Riches: Sunken Treasures Around The World

Image via Wikipedia

It would take over 400 years to excavate all of the wrecked ships currently unclaimed on the oceans floors. But just think of all the treasure you might find.

Flor de la Mar – Sumatra, Malaysia

Among the richest shipwrecks never recovered, the 16th Century Portuguese vessel, Flor De La Mar was lost around 1511 in a storm off the northern coast of Sumatra. Containing the stolen treasures of the Melaka kingdom in modern day Malaysia, the Flor de la Mar’s cargo, including 60 tons of gold remains undiscovered despite lying in some of the best diving waters of the world.

Merchant Royal – Dartmouth, UK

Britain’s largest unrecovered treasure haul lies just 21 miles (34 km) from Land’s End in Cornwall. The Merchant Royal, returning to England with a cargo of Spanish treasure sank in bad weather on 23 September 1641, containing 500 bars of gold, silver and precious stones. Bring a dry suit and a torch.

San Jose – Baru Peninsula, Colombia

In 1708, during the War of Spanish Succession, English Commodore, Charles Wagner captured and sank Spanish treasure ship, The San Jose in less than 1000 feet (305 metres) of crystal blue water, between the Isla del Tesoro (known as treasure island) and Baru Peninsula. The San Jose’s cargo is estimated today at a value of more than $1 billion.

Nuestra Senora de Atocha – Key West, Florida, USA

In 1985, Florida treasure hunter Mel Fischer hit the mother lode when, after 16 years of dedicated hunting, he located the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha about 35 miles (56 km) off the coast of Key West, Florida. Carrying a haul that included over 40 tonnes of silver and gold, 100,000 Spanish coins and Columbian emeralds, Fischer’s family now run diving holidays around the Atocha where artefacts continue to be uncovered.

HMS Victory – English Channel, UK

In 2009 US company Odyssey Marine Exploration announced that it had discovered the predecessor of Lord Nelson’s Victory, sunk in 1744, on a group of rocks known as The Casquets near to the Channel Islands. Thought to contain 100,000 gold coins, a legal row continues as to ownership of the haul.

Notre Dame de la Deliverance – Key West, Florida, USA

In November 1755 Spanish Galleon Notre Dame de la Deliverance left Havana with treasures collected from mines in Mexico, Peru and Colombia. A day later the ship was caught in a hurricane and sank with almost all hands, 40 miles from Florida’s Key West. Containing an estimated $2 billion in lost gold and silver, the site of the Deliverance was allegedly discovered in 2003 but has yet to be raised.

USS San Jacinto – Abacos, Bahamas

The waters off the island of Abacos in the Bahama’s combine some of the world’s best diving, plus an estimated 500 wrecks to discover and explore. Perhaps most interesting of the discovered wrecks in this area is the USS San Jacinto, an experimental civil war era gunship, among the first to be powered by steam, that sank off Chub Rocks in 1865.

Hoi An Junk – Da Nang Peninsula, Vietnam

During the 1990s a junk was discovered which sank in over 260 feet (79 metres) of water, 14 miles (22.5 km) from the Da Nang peninsula in Vietnam. Appearing to be of Thai origin, its spectacular cargo of blue and white and polychrome ceramics, painted with human figures, landscapes, fish, birds, and mythological animals, dates to Vietnam’s Golden Age of the mid-15th century.

Thanks to Sabotage Times

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

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• Found after 300 years, the scourge of the British navy (independent.co.uk)