| Home | SAILING IS FOR WIMPS – GREEK ISLAND SWIM TREKBy Wing Commander Keith Willox A sailing tour of the Greek Islands is for lightweights reckons Wing Commander Keith Willox. He took the RAF Open Water swimming squad to swim around them. The late afternoon sun blasted into the dark depths of the ferry as the hydraulic ramp clanged down onto the dockside of Naxos harbour presenting the RAF Swim Squad with their first challenge. It was the wrong island; over an hour away from Paros the intended start point. The vagaries of the Greek Island ferry system abandoned the swimmers and 40 other irate travellers to an unexpected change in their itinerary. Some swift contingency planning to reunite the squad with the pilot boat and guide put things back on track.     The RAF team were embarking on an expedition with a difference. Instead of sailing from island to island they would be swimming around the Cyclades. The mixture of 7km swims across choppy straits, hikes across sun-baked rock and scrambles up 1,000m mountains was set to provide a challenge for both body and mind.
The 6-man RAF Squad ranged from an air mover to airframe technician, catering officer to MT driver. Thy all share a passion for open-water swimming including Physical Education Officer, Flying Officer Trev Down an elite channel swimmer who made the crossing in under 10 hours. Senior Aircraftman Brian Beaton, the newest member of the squad said ‘the swims are challenging but the sunshine and wonderful scenery make a change from slogging against the currents in the English Channel’.
Safety cover and expert local knowledge was provided by Aussie, Simon Murie, a former mining engineer who has worked from the Philippines to Nigeria whose credentials include swimming the English Channel.
Launching themselves from a rocky headland for the first 7k swim from Naxos to Paros the swimmers soon settled down into two distinct groups. Safety was of paramount importance. Simon stalked the first group in a small dinghy providing direction and encouragement when required. The second group were covered by the mother-ship, a 12m vessel skippered by Akis, a local sailor with expert knowledge of sea and weather conditions.
     Before entering the water armpits, chins and thighs were smeared with Vaseline to prevent chafing but this provided little protection from the chilly pre-summer temperatures. A steady rhythm of front crawl made efficient progress through the swell. Cross winds whipped up choppy seas adding to the effort required to make headway. At the halfway point water bottles with a carbohydrate drink were hurled towards swimmers. Senior Aircraftsman Dia Jones commented ‘ The Agean is so salty that after half an hour it feels as if the inside of your mouth has been sandpapered. A carbo drink and a chunk of banana during the swim provides you with a great boost’.
Corporal Spike Buchan an inter-service champion said ‘It beats training the pool hands down. You just aim for a distant island and stretch out as your hand cuts through the blue water. Approaching the shore you can see shadows below and you then get the added bonus of checking out the underwater wildlife when you hit the shallows’.
The following day an early start ensured that the team were scrambling to the top of Mount Zeus by 10am providing sufficient time for the descent and the 5km swim to Koufonisi. As the squad descended it became clear that open water swimmers lack elegance when hopping from rock to rock but their determination and fitness kept them on schedule.
The evenings were spent in remote tavernas where carbohydrate rich pasta and mezze were consumed in copious quantities. Wing Commander Keith Willox, a veteran of RAF record-breaking marathon swims was enthusiastic about the week. ‘It’s the only real all-contact sport. Once the seabed drops away there is nothing but the sunbeams cutting through the intense azure-blue. It’s a bit like flying with the occasional jellyfish drifting by’
Despite a gruelling schedule the team made good progress from the major islands interspersing endurance swims with hikes across sun-baked hills.
After a demanding week the RAF Squad set out on their final challenge – an attempt to set a new record for an inter island relay swim between Paros and Antiparos. Corporal Spike Buchan struck out under the mid-day sun from the headland on the west coast of Paros. Despite constant headwinds the swimmers made rapid progress on their half-hour legs. Excellent teamwork ensured smooth handovers and rapid recovery of exhausted swimmers. The pace picked up as the team rounded the final headland where the finish point was visible some 6km ahead. As the sun set the team applauded the final swimmer aboard in Antiparos harbour after 5 hours and 22 minutes of swimming – another record for the RAF!
Team Members:
Wing Commander Keith Willox - DLO BathFlying Officer Trev Down - RAF Uxbridge Corporal Spike Buchan - RAF Honington Corporal Clive Hughes - RAF Brize Norton Senior Aircraftsman Dia Jones - RAF Leeming Senior Aircraftsman Brian Beaton - RAF Brize Norton Previous RAF Records: Gibraltar to Morocco 32 Miles Round Jersey Swim 54 Miles Belgium to England 63 Miles Round Manhattan 28 Miles
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