"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

                                                        Mark Twain

As I approached my 50th birthday I set a personal goal to swim the English Channel by age 55.

At 51 I began my intense training. Focus, mindset, discipline and family support were the main ingredients that would be needed to help propel me through the countless miles of swimming.

During the next 4 years (age 51 - 55), I mixed training with a number of long distance swims; Waikiki and North Shore Hawaii 2.4 mile swims, Alcatraz 1.25 mile swim, Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4 mile swim and the Boston Light 8 mile swim. I qualified for swimming the English Channel in April 2006 at Moraine State Park in Pennsylvania by swimming 6 hours in water temperatures ranging between 55-58 degrees; feeding only for 30 seconds each hour, doing so while treading water and without touching the boat.

During those years I had to circumvent a number of illnesses. To begin with I am an asthmatic with severe chronic allergic rhinitis. Over the next four years I had to deal with fractured ribs sustained while falling out of a tree, sleep apnea, iron deficiency anemia, an esophageal ulcer and a herniated disc. But swimming proved to be extremely therapeutic and appeared to keep the ailments in check.

Diane, my wife of 31 years, would constantly tell me "I can not comprehend as to why a 50 year old man would want to don a pair of skimpy Speedos and waste countless hours swimming great distances to nowhere. You're going through midlife crisis Bill." Perhaps so, but I like to think it as going on long aquatic hikes, as these long distant swims tend to soothe and clear my head in many ways.

After months of swimming 30-35 miles a week I was ready to take on the English Channel. On August 3, 2007, I turned 55 yrs. and retired from 31 years of Federal Service.

On August 18, 2007 I participated in the Boston Light 8 mile swim. It was a grueling swim in which eleven finishing swimmers, including myself, battled 3' to 4' waves and cold water temperatures. It was like swimming in a wash machine.

On September 5, 2007 I attempted the 20.69 mile English Channel swim. Unfortunately, after swimming 15 miles in ten and one half hours, and just entering French territorial waters, my right shoulder gave out and I had to terminate my swim.

But with more training and hopefully more sponsors, and an ok from my loving wife, I plan on taking on the English Channel again before I turn 60. I recently turned 56 years old and I am slowly rebounding from another shoulder injury I sustained when I flipped over a fully loaded wheel barrel I was pushing down a hill, while trying to catch up on my extensive, shelved "honey do-list."

Oh well, just another injurious obstacle of life that I will have to overcome.

A loving family, support from friends, self sacrifice and determination can make anything possible. Even beyond 50+ !!