How John Royden prepared for his Signature Swim
Perseverance. That’s what got Sir John Royden in the water of Lake Geneva on the 28th of July 2021.
John is not a man that gives up. It took him three tries, but he swam the English Channel back in 1993, in 13:35 hours. Then in 2007, while training for a Mount Everest climb, he broke his knee in several places. But, 1 year later, after successful operations, he made it to the Mount Everest basecamp.
In comparison to that, the obstacles that came with the Ultimate Trophy Swim were of a different type.
John training in a pool.
When I asked why he chose Lake Geneva, John said that he always wanted to try to swim Lake Geneva. But as he got older, he sort of forgot about it. Till 2017, when he swam a longer race in Malta and felt that maybe he still had another big race in him.
But it wasn’t just the freshwater that attracted John to Lake Geneva. He also knew that becoming the next person to complete the Signature Swim would generate a lot of attention.
To give you an idea, 'The Ultimate Trophy Swim' (or Signature Swim), traverses the length of Lake Geneva from Chillon Castle in Villeneuve to Bains des Pâquis in Geneva. At approximately 70km it is twice as long as the English Channel and made up of freshwater flowing from the stunning alpine scenery that surrounds it.
This swim is the ultimate challenge and is considered by many to be one of the toughest open water swims around.
The Signature Swim takes place at Lake Geneva
John wanted to generate attention with his Signature Swim for a good cause: to raise money for the Brain Tumor Charity. About 17 years ago, his sister Emma died of brain cancer and even though there is a lot of research on cancer, brain tumours are hardly researched. In our talk, John points out that things haven’t really changed in 17 years, still, too many people aren’t being helped properly.
In April 2020, John started to take his swim training seriously. Yet, things around the globe were getting more serious as well, with the pandemic looming over everything and everyone.
This was one of the obstacles John had to overcome. For how to train when the pools are closed? When you could hardly leave the house to walk the dog?
John after training.
The solution John found shows how determined he was to swim. He took to ponds and small channels in the middle of nowhere, often tying a tether to a tree to stay in place.
On the phone, I asked John if the cold bothered him. He said that the worst wasn’t the cold, but the horrible quality of the water which was often close to sludge.
When the restrictions were lifted, John started to go to the pool for two hours a day.
On weekends he joined the Channel swimmers for their cold-water training sessions in Dover Harbour. There he found a strong support group to keep him going. He also regularly swam in Lake 86 at Cotswold Water Park on the weekends to acclimatise to cold water and the open water conditions.
“I’ve been doing consecutive 10-hour swims in the harbour on Saturdays and Sundays and the camaraderie there is just brilliant.”
It was at Lake 86 at Cotswold Water Park where he swam the Self-Assessment Swim for the Signature Swim. This swim consists of being able to swim 17 hours split over two consecutive days (10 hours on day 1, 7 hours on day 2) in open water (18C or below)
The first self-assessment swim didn’t go as planned. When we talked about it on the phone, he told me it was one of the biggest setbacks that happened during his training. Swimming in a dirty pond, not a problem. Having to deal with cold water and long hours in the pool, not a problem.
Not at one point, he thought of giving up. But failing the qualifying swim the first time around was disappointing.
One week later, John tried again and succeeded in qualifying for LGSA’s Signature Swim. To keep the training going for Lake Geneva, he frequented the Channel Swimmers in Dover Harbour as they train and prepare for their Channel Crossings. “I’ve been doing consecutive 10-hour swims in the harbour on Saturdays and Sundays and the camaraderie there is just brilliant.” John said.
That’s how John trained for the LGSA’s signature swim.
John after training on the beach at Dover.
A few days before the race I spoke to John on the phone. He had been training in the pool that morning, a kid had jumped right into his lane, but it didn’t bother him, he said.
I asked him if he was nervous, but he said he was feeling fine. As soon as he got in the water, John said, he just started swimming and kind of forgot everything around him.
John was extremely happy with the support he was receiving from everyone, from his partner Sarah (who had been at all of his training sessions), but also from the complete strangers that had sent him messages of support and had donated money to the cause.
‘Even though many new supporters soon found out that open water swimming is hardly a spectator sport…’ John told me. We had a good laugh about that.
John and his partner Sarah.
On the morning of the 28th of July, John started his swim in Lake Geneva. To follow him, I checked the tracker on LGSA’s page.
John swam through the night. But on the morning of the 29th of July, when he was over halfway and had already swum for 22 hours straight, the decision was taken to end the swim.
The fatigue and cold proved too much and he was no longer advancing efficiently through the freshwater of Lake Geneva.
And John couldn’t have been more frustrated.
In a video that has appeared on his Instagram a few hours after his Swim, John, absolutely exhausted, has thanked all the people that have supported him before and during his swim.
He also has promised that next year he will be back to swim Lake Geneva and become the next person to finish the Signature Swim of 70km.
Anyone else might have said that he was happy with the attempt and that he would try again in the future, but knowing John, he won’t give up. Next year he will be back in Lake Geneva.
If you like to see John’s story for yourself, you can find him on Facebook and Instagram.
And even though John’s attempt has ended, you can still show your support by donating to the Brain Tumour Charity.