David Walliams joined Olympic hero
James Cracknell
on a 14-mile swim for Sport Relief
Olympic
hero James Cracknell successfully rowed from England to France and
cycled 1,000 miles to the tip of Spain.
Then James and David swam 14-miles across the Strait Of Gibraltar to Morocco
and raised an astonishing £341,451
[Please note, this page is not affiliated with the
official site, we are just keeping track of James and of
course, David.]
James Cracknell was joined by David
Walliams on the final leg of his incredible Cross-Continent
Challenge as the Olympic gold-medallist bravely attempted to
travel from the UK to Africa using his body strength alone.
David famously
swam the English
Channel in just ten and a half hours for Sport Relief in 2006
and he's now putting all he learnt to the test again to support Cracknell in this extreme endurance challenge.
Both boys battled freezing weather conditions for their first
open-water training session recently at Dorney Lake in Windsor
when they were shown no mercy by training Professor Greg Whyte.
Talking of the experience, James said, "We hyperventilated when
we first got in the water because it was so cold and after that
your whole body just goes numb.
"I'm going to need all the help I can get for this challenge and
David is a real pro so having him there on the day will be a
massive boost."
Before linking up with Walliams to swim a gruelling 14 miles
across the treacherous Strait of Gibraltar, Cracknell will have
already rowed the English Channel and cycled more than 1,395
miles through France and Spain in this epic trip - while only
stopping for short enforced breaks.
David Walliams had an icy dip with Olympic champion James Cracknell
yesterday in preparation for their 1,400-mile Sports Relief challenge at
Dorney Lake in Windsor, Berks. Cracknell said: "He's a real pro."
View source.
24/02/2008 - Track the progress of James' Challenge
"Every couple of minutes, we receive information from James' Nokia N82 about
his position, which means you can watch his progress in real time on the
website."
Keep track of the progress here.
26/02/2008 - Walliams on Virgin Radio
Listen here to David being interviewed on Virgin Radio about the
upcoming Sport Relief challenge. Everything kicks off from this
Thursday! David says "the swim from Gibraltar to Morocco is shorter
than when he swam the English Channel but the seas are rougher, colder and
much more life in the sea (sharks!)"
27/02/2008 - And he's off!
James' amazing attempt to set a world record is now underway! James left
Dover at around 11am on the 27th February and if conditions are good, he
should reach Morocco around the 5th March.
Watch progress...
28/02/2008 - Walliams reveals shark fear
When Little Britain star David Walliams swims the Straits of Gibraltar next
month, it's not the freezing water that will give him goosebumps - but his
fear of sharks. Petrified of the predators lurking beneath the waves of his
12-mile charity swim with Olympic rower James Cracknell, the 36-year-old
comedian is worried that he'll be a man-eater's catch of the day. "They'd be
more likely to eat me because I'm fatter than James.
He probably wouldn't be very tasty because he's lean and muscly but with me
there's more fat to chew on. "Mind you, if there's a shark attack, it would
make good TV."
View source.
29/02/2008 - Guess who's flashing their Speedos?
Heat World have a video of David in the middle of a city centre, in a
dressing gown...
Watch video.
01/03/2008 - The laydee is for turning serious
David Walliams surprised everyone – particularly himself – when he achieved
one of the 50 fastest times for swimming the English Channel last summer and
raised £1m for charity. Now he is preparing to join rower James Cracknell on
the final leg of the Olympic gold medallist’s epic attempt to row, cycle and
swim from Britain to Africa in seven days in aid of Sport Relief: “I’m
jumping in at the end to get some of the glory,” he says.
Read full article here...
02/03/2008 - Cold Crawling: Walliams in new swimming quest
Having battled his way through jellyfish, seaweed and sewage to conquer the
English Channel in 2006, comedian David Walliams is preparing for a fresh
challenge: swimming the Strait of Gibraltar alongside Olympic rower James
Cracknell later this week.
Cracknell is currently midway through an attempt to reach north Africa in
seven days by rowing, cycling and swimming. He is pedalling furiously down
through France and Spain to raise money for Sport Relief, having set off
from Dover last Wednesday. Walliams is awaiting a call to join him as he
nears the end of his 1,400-mile bike-ride. They will both then swim the
final leg to Africa, with Walliams acting as friend and coach.
Full story...
05/03/2008 - Viva Tarifa!
Today's target is Tarifa, the starting point of the swim. James says
"We're still deciding whether the swim will be tomorrow or Friday. It
depends on the conditions and how I'm feeling. It may be safer for me to
have a rest day rather than plunge straight in. One thing's for sure, I'm on
the home straight now!"
Update: Approx 6pm (GMT) and James has made it to Tarifa. The official
websites quotes James as saying in a text: We are here at Tarifa! Africa
comes next. 12 miles to go... But not yet. Weather gives us a day off
tomorrow and then the swim attempt could be on for Friday..."
"I'm going to be having a medical when I finish the cycle to check I'm in
good shape for the swim, which I will hopefully attempt on Friday dependent
on the weather. Tonight I will be having several media interviews, relaxing
and eating lots of food to provide me with energy for tomorrow... "
06/03/2008 - On your marks, get set...
It's day 9 for Cracknell's challenge and is a well-deserved rest day to give
James a chance to recover from the 1,400 mile cycle before attempting the 14
mile swim. David Walliams is with him and raring to go.
"Even though it's a rest day, it's not like I'm lying around taking it
easy! I was still up early to get some physio. Well, I say early - it was
nowhere near as early as when I was doing the cycle leg of the challenge.
I've also been doing a round of press interviews with David Walliams, who's
joining me on the swim. David's been on top form all morning. He's revealed
a fear of sharks, which wasn't something I was worrying about until he
mentioned it.
Of the challenge so far, the 14-mile swim is the section where I have the
least natural ability. To stop me getting too nervous about it, there's talk
of going to Gibraltar later depending on how many press interviews there are
left to do."
"This is it! The last day of the challenge and it's the big swim. I can't
tell you how fired up both me and David and I are. He's almost bubbling over
with excitement. Since the doctor gave me the go-ahead yesterday, it's
pretty much all we've talked about.
Until I was declared physically fit to undertake this leg of the challenge,
I didn't want to set my heart on completing the challenge today. But now
I've got medical permission to do the swim, I'm raring to go! I'd put my
wetsuit on now and dived in if I could.
Both David and I are under no illusion, the 12-mile swim is going to be
tough. It's pretty rough water out there and the water is freezing. But I
can't wait. We think its going to take us between four and six hours, which
means the end of the challenge is so close now I can almost taste it."
Time: 11.54am (GMT)
Latest text message: "We have 4 pilot whales swimming around James and David
right at this moment! Its beautiful!"
Yacht Trip
After completing the swim, Walliams and Cracknell will be picked up by
Dragon's Den millionaire Theo Paphitis on his yacht before being flown
back to the UK.
View source.
THEY'VE DONE IT!
Time: 2:11pm (GMT)
Time taken to swim: 4.5 hours.
James has proven how close Africa is, using his own body
strength to arrive in just 10 days! He's capsized, suffered from saddle
sores and braved shark infested waters.
I've done it! I've actually managed to travel 1,460 miles
under my own power alone in only 10 days. And it's been an incredible
experience.
The swim went much better than either David and I anticipated. It even gave
me one of the best moments of the challenge so far when four pilot whales
swam around us. An absolutely amazing sight. I'm so lucky to get the
opportunity to do these things.
I've got to thank the support crew for making sure we safely navigated the
shipping lanes. The Strait of Gibraltar is far from quiet and it could have
got quite hairy with some of the large ships and tankers that use this
stretch of water.
It took us just 5hrs to swim the 12 miles. Both David and I could feel the
support behind us all the way and it's thanks to everyone who's donated
money to Sport Relief that we managed to complete the swim in such a good
time.
Words can't express how satisfied, pleased, overwhelmed and exhausted I am
now that the challenge is over. I'm so happy to have helped raise so much
money for such a good cause. And of course, I'm over the moon to have set a
brand new World Record. I've managed to burn an incredible 60,000 calories
and slept for just 50 hours in the last 10 days. I've also spent more than
108 hours in the saddle. So I'm hoping this is going to be a tough one to
beat and I get to hang on to my World Record for a while!
Well done James for completing the challenge in 10 days and of
course David for helping him finish the challenge in style!
08/03/08 - James Cracknell cracks African epic
As if swimming from Europe to Africa were not enough to deal with yesterday,
James Cracknell also had to cope with the fact that his companion, the
comedian David Walliams, was repeatedly and violently sick halfway across
the Strait of Gibraltar.
Fans of Little Britain were instantly reminded of Maggie, the
projectile-vomiting bigot, but this time Walliams was doing it for real, all
in the name of Sport Relief.
"It was horrible, absolutely horrible," a pale-faced Walliams said later in
a surreal interview on a small, bobbing boat somewhere off the coast of
northern Morocco.
The double Olympic gold medallist had rowed across the Channel, then
pedalled through France and Spain, but needed a water-buddy to keep him
company swimming to Africa. That is where Walliams came in.
This was a brilliant, dogged, truly inspirational swim, taking just over 4½
hours, an achievement that perhaps would even have moved a few real-life
Vicky Pollards to raise an alcopop in grudging acknowledgement. Or perhaps
they would have just chortled at Walliams' sickness.
Around the halfway point, shortly after the swimmers had been visited by a
playful family of pilot whales, the rough conditions, and swallowing too
much salty water got the better of Walliams. The noise he made was
absolutely terrifying, sounding halfway between the howl from a wounded
walrus and a tanker's fog-horn. It was an extraordinary effort to carry on;
after all, he has never won any gold medals, just Baftas.
"As soon as I started throwing up, I felt so completely demoralised, and I
just wanted it to end, and that's quite a dangerous point to reach," he said
afterwards. "It was a mental challenge as much as a physical challenge, and
I totally lost it in my head. Oh God, I was thinking all sort of horrible
thoughts.
Full article...
14/03/2008 - James Cracknell Interview
In comparison to his previous epic journey in which he rowed across the
Atlantic with television presenter Ben Fogle, it was far less monotonous.
"At least with this I had views to look at," he said, "and there were some
Brits out there who came out into the streets to cheer us along. In the
Atlantic it was just like 'oh look, there's some water and more water and
more water'. In fact, in the whole of that crossing I think I saw maybe four
boats.
"On the bike there were some lonely times but it was better for my sanity as
I knew the support crew was always with me."
Cracknell's European cycle ride ended up in Tarifa where he was met by
Walliams whose pre-swim training regime appears to have been somewhat
difficult to his sidekicks having spent a night in a Soho lap-dancing club,
which was all over the Sunday tabloids.
Cracknell said: "I've not had a chance to ask him about that but it looks a
novel way of preparing. It was a bit different to my preparations." While
Walliams, who has already swum the Channel, was clearly the more
accomplished swimmer, the comedian was sick halfway through his crossing
with Cracknell being forced to keep his distance.
"He basically got sea sick so I had to steer clear of him otherwise I would
have been sick as well," he said. "It wasn't great for him as he still had
two hours left of the swim but, all credit to him, he still managed to do it
and it wasn't the easiest swim that's for sure."
In fact, just 200 people have successfully swum across the Straits of
Gibraltar, although the company of some pilot whales along the way helped
the pair get across.
Full story...
Sport Relief Show
The BBC had a huge line-up of entertainment tonight including the Gibraltar
to Morocco swimming challenge with David and James.
9.40pm - Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond welcomed James and David to the
Sport Relief studio and we got the chance to see a small documentary of the
challenge, which will soon be available here for anyone that missed it!
They both raised an astonishing
£341,451 and were awarded with medals from Dame
Kelly Holmes and Sir Steve Redgrave.
15/03/2008 - James Cracknell and David Walliams Video
If you missed last night's documentary on the challenge,
check
it out here!
David Walliams joined Olympic hero
James Cracknell
"I'm going to need all the help I can get for this challenge and
David is a real pro so having him there on the day will be a
massive boost."
David Walliams had an icy dip with Olympic champion James Cracknell
yesterday in preparation for their 1,400-mile Sports Relief challenge at
Dorney Lake in Windsor, Berks. Cracknell said: "He's a real pro."
29/02/2008 - Guess who's flashing their Speedos?
06/03/2008 - On your marks, get set...
07/03/2008 - Let the Swim begin
As if swimming from Europe to Africa were not enough to deal with yesterday,
James Cracknell also had to cope with the fact that his companion, the
comedian David Walliams, was repeatedly and violently sick halfway across
the Strait of Gibraltar.