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How Do You Prepare For Sharks?

Courtesy of Daniel Hildebrandt with Adrian Sarchet in the Molokai Channel.

Adrian Sarchet, an Advocate and a member of the Guernsey Swimming Club, talked about the issue of potential shark encounters after crossing the Molokai Channel in Hawaii on July 10th 2016.

I spent 17 hours 25 minutes thinking about if I would be ready and prepared for a shark attack during my [42 km] Molokai Channel swim. But I am afraid I didn’t come to any ground-breaking conclusions.

I mentally categorise shark attacks in the same place as lightning strikes and plane crashes. That is, this stuff happens and there’s not a damned thing you can do about it when it does).

Whilst the remnants of my Hollywood inspired youthful bravado would love to think that I could dissuade a shark with a single punch like Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, the older more practical soul who now resides in my skull knows that the chances of success are vanishingly small.

That said, if the choice is vanishingly small versus going home in a pine box … I’m going out swinging.”

Daniel Hildebrandt who served on Sarchet‘s escort team recalled, “At the end of the swim, Adrian was exhausted, but his willpower kept him going. He got out of the water at Sandy Beach on Oahu – exhausted but happy.”

Captain Mike Twigg-Smith also remembered, “Our guides helped him to find the right way through the channel at night and made sure there was no shark attack along the way.”

Sarchet’s track record in the open water:

* Round Guernsey in 2011 in 11 hours 25 minutes
* English Channel in 2012 14 hours 2 minutes
* Catalina Channel in 2013 12 hours 25 minutes
* Round Jersey in 2014 in 11 hours 30 minutes
* Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 2014 in 4 hours 2 minutes
* North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 2015 14 hours 13 minutes
* Molokai Channel from Molokai to Oahu in 2016 in 17 hours 25 minutes

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