Gerrard Gosens' attempt to become the first blind person to swim across the English Channel

For Paralympian athlete Gerrard Gosens, taking on the challenge of swimming across the English Channel is more than just a physical one.

It’s also mental, as the blind swimmer confronts the elements and conditions of the day and then figures out how to overcome them.

Gerrard tells us on Streets of Your Town podcast how he is well into an intense training regimen preparing for his attempted Channel crossing in August—swimming from the UK to France in his quest to become the first blind person to do so.

It’s a big leap from his previous sport of running, having represented Australia in long distance running in three Paralympic Games and three IPC World Athletic Championships from 1996 to 2011, as well as the Paratriathlon at Tokyo 2022.

“Most swimmers hate running and most runners hate swimming,” Gerrard admits.

“I returned from the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and had decided to retire as a Paralympic athlete and had a small function at my cafe in the city. And whilst I was there, someone said to me that there’s never been a totally blind person swim the English Channel.

“So five hours later I was sort of into it and five hours of retirement was short-lived and I took on that challenge.

“So from there on in, it’s been a lot of hard work coming from a running background. I never have claimed to be a swimmer.”

He says it’s involved a huge transformation of his sporting skillset, including becoming accustomed to swimming in cold water, and building his support team.

“I have six swim guides, which I’ll be using in the crossing of the English Channel, and they’re rotating an hour on, hour off,” he says.

“But I think it’s more than just that because it’s the journey that this team has taken over the past two years now in respect of obviously the commitment to guiding a person who is totally blind, whether it be through some of the tough surf down at the Gold Coast or up on the Sunshine Coast or even for example, more recently around Bruny Island and the oceans around Hobart.

“So it’s been, I suppose, a great journey, but there’s been some learning curves along the way in how a team works together and also how you develop that team culture.

“That’s the funny thing about it is that I’ll never see the other side of the English Channel. I’ll never see the sands of France. I’ve never seen the Australian flag. I’ve never seen a green and gold tracksuit. And that’s something that I don’t need to see because I have the sense of belief and I don’t need to see those things to have, I suppose, the spirit of an Australian to go out there and achieve something.

The timing for Gerrard’s attempted crossing is dictated by the tides and by the coordinators of the actual crossing of the English Channel. His window is booked in for between August 10 and 17, fortuitously just before the Paralympic Games in Paris.

“So there’s a great connection being a three-time Paralympic athlete, obviously I have a great resolve to be there at the Paralympic games in 2024 as a spectator and knowing the history of the Paralympic Games, it’s a great honour to be part of that movement,” he says.

Along the way he aims to raise $340,000 for his chosen children’s charity Great Dreams. (You might like to support him via GoFundMe.)

Gerrard is coached by Mark Brinkley, who lives at Eastbourne near the Cliffs of Dover and has swum the Channel crossing himself. He speaks frankly of the dangers that lie ahead for Gerrard on this perilous ocean swim.

“It’s one of these things where you’re not guaranteed, you don’t buy a ticket and you’re not guaranteed to finish,” Gary says.

“So mentally, I know he can do it. Speaking to everyone and everything he’s done, but there’s always challenges on the day. The weather can change, the fog can come in the boat, someone can be sick in your crew and let you down.

“So yeah, it will be tough. There’ll be the jellyfish, there’ll be boats crossing and yeah, people get stung a lot.

“And so there’s a number of variables that you got to think about, but ultimately you just got to do stroke after stroke after stroke and push yourself, and hopefully France comes to you rather than you go to France.”

While he’s aware of the challenges that lie ahead, Gerrard is undaunted.

“Look, I think there’s always going to be a risk in anything I do in particular, obviously being totally blind, but I think all you can do is control the controllables and the uncontrollables are something that you can’t necessarily worry about,” he says.

“It’s going to be almost like the Formula One pit stops where we eat, drink, whatever in that few seconds and get going again, because every second is that longer time in the water and the longer time in the water, obviously the colder you’ll become and the more difficult it becomes.”

World-renowned filmmaker Anthony Gordon is filming Gerrard’s preparations for the documentary “Changing Channels” that follows his journey.