The Art of Resilience. Ross Edgley

from the swimming community and thought I might get 100 miles down the coast before my body broke or my mind gave up.

      ‘Young man, please don’t take offence,’ he said, looking up and down at my height (or lack of), ‘but based on how rough the sea gets on the south coast, I think you’ve just won me a hundred quid.’

      Barry shook his head and disagreed, putting his arm around me as he said, ‘Go on, lad. I’ll get the beers in when you’re back.’

      I laughed and gave Barry a big hug.

      Again, this is why I love Margate. I thanked them both for coming as, regardless of the bet, they both showed up to wave me goodbye. But my parting words to Barry were, ‘I prefer cider to beer, but see you in a few months.’

      It was late afternoon and the tide was beginning to turn. Once it did I would be swimming out of the harbour and heading east towards the famous white cliffs of Dover on the south coast of England, only returning to Margate after I had swum all the way around Great Britain.

      To be successful, I would have to ensure my body wouldn’t break and my mind wouldn’t quit; and to do this I knew I couldn’t defy the laws of sports science. Many of the rules that govern our psychology and physiology are infallible and as a sports scholar I knew I couldn’t ignore them.

      Instead, over the next 157 days, I had to learn how to bend them.