Channel swimmer, 44, dies after his team urge him to carry on
A CROSS- Channel swimmer who complained of feeling unwell died after his supporters urged him to carry on.
Douglas Waymark, 44, warned his team, ‘I feel bad’ 12 miles off the Dover coast as he took part in a triathlon from London to Paris.
He had already run 87 miles before attempting to swim to Calais as part of the 300-mile Enduroman ultra- challenge, which has only ever been completed by 25 people.
At 9.30pm on Monday, 14 hours into the crossing, Mr Waymark collapsed onto his support crew’s boat.
He was airlifted by a Coastguard helicopter to hospital in Ashcroft, Kent, where he died at midnight. Mr Waymark’s final moments were told in a series of harrowing live tweets which revealed he had been unable to swallow his food.
Despite raising his concerns and needing painkillers, his team revealed in one tweet – which has since been deleted – that they encouraged him to carry on, saying: ‘It will pass’. The Enduroman ‘Arch-to-Arc’ challenge – billed as a ‘ lifechanging experience’ – connects Marble Arch to the Arc de Triomphe by running, swimming and cycling.
All competitors require their own support crew, with two members allowed on the boat, and are accompanied by an event official. The final leg is a 181-mile cycle to Paris.
Mr Waymark, a web developer from Cheltenham, had previously completed ten triathlons as well as the Seven Summits challenge, which involves climbing every continent’s highest mountain, including Everest and Kilimanjaro.
Paying tribute, his sister Jo Ikel said: ‘He was doing exactly what he wanted to do and throwing everything at it. I am so proud of everything he achieved.’ Days before starting the event on Saturday night, Mr Waymark said on Facebook: ‘This will arguably be the toughest thing I have ever attempted, just 25 people have completed it and of the last six attempts, none have been successful.’
Mr Waymark paid £3,300 to enter the challenge and at 7.30am on Monday, embarked on his bid to swim the 21 miles separating Dover and Calais.
The Enduroman Events Twitter account had been following his progress from the start.
A 5.30pm post on the feed – the only tweet to have been deleted – said: “#DougWaymark couldn’t swallow the cake. Fruit tea spat out. Back on carb drink. “I feel bad,” he says. We tell him it’ll pass.’
Mr Waymark’s family described him in a statement as a ‘determined and driven man’ whose energy inspired a motto used by relatives and friends called ‘Be More Doug’.
Several attempts to contact Enduroman’s organisers were unsuccessful last night.