A Boy In The Water
Tom Gregory Particular Books €21
Since Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to successfully swim across the English Channel in 1875, many thousands have tried to emulate him, but only about 10% of them have succeeded. It may be a mere ‘sleeve’ of water but the combination of tides, currents and unforgiving coldness makes it one of the most treacherous places in the world to swim.
All of which only goes to make Tom Gregory’s achievement all the more remarkable. Gregory was just 11 years old when he made his recordbreaking swim in 1988. He was the youngest-ever cross-Channel swimmer, a distinction he is likely to hold in perpetuity as the minimum age for attempting the feat has since been raised to 16. His vivid recollections of the near 12-hour ordeal and the team of people who supported him spring off the page as if it all happened yesterday. At the helm was an extraordinary man called John Bullet, who tragically died only a few months after Gregory had completed his swim. Bullet was the manager of a council swimming pool in Eltham, south London, and was a self-taught coach. Over the years he inspired, nurtured and cajoled a stream of ordinary local kids with no experience into becoming world champions.
The devastation caused by Bullet’s premature death is the most poignant part of a very moving book. Gregory questions whether such a maverick would be allowed to work with children in today’s risk-averse world and the answer, I suspect, is no. No doubt Gregory’s childhood would have been less stressful had he never met Bullet – but it would have been a hell of a lot duller too.
Simon Griffith