Why a gay man is swimming 21 miles across the busiest shipping lane in the world

A gay man based in London is preparing to undertake one of the toughest swimming challenges in the world to raise money for an LGBTQ+ rights organization.

Jonny Ratcliffe, 31, is training to swim the English Channel: the stretch of water separating England from France.

The 21-mile channel is the busiest shipping lane in the world. It’s regarded as “The Everest of swimming”, because of the distance, powerful currents, jellyfish, and other dangers. Crossing it can take anywhere between 10 and 17 hours, depending on weather conditions and swimming ability.

Around 80 swimmers attempt the challenge each year, usually raising money for charitable causes. For safety reasons, swimmers are accompanied by a boat. However, they can not wear a wetsuit or have any physical contact with their accompanying vessel or any other person.

While at school Jonny was a keen swimmer. He later got back into swimming as part of a recovery from a slipped disk in 2021. The recovery training soon became training for the English Channel and for the last couple of years, he has been training with his club, Red Top Performance in London.

Mental and physical preparation

Many of us enjoy a swim… but this is something else. What sort of physical preparation goes into such a challenge? Jonny has a fundraising page and has been documenting his near-daily swimming. This often includes two hours of laps at the likes of London Fields Lido in Hackney.

Up until now, the furthest distance he has swum is 22km (13.5 miles) in May. That took him six hours.

“All channel swimmers must complete a recorded six-hour cold water swim to qualify them for the Channel,” he tells Queerty.

Jonny is aiming to undertake the challenge on September 20th, subject to weather conditions. His goal is just to complete the swim from Samphire Hoe, Dover, to Cap Gris Nez, France and is trying not to think about timing because of the unpredictable weather. However, he admits, “a swim time of ten hours would be amazing.”

A Channel swim is definitely not for beginners. Jonny has taken part in several smaller challenges and attended a cold water training camp in Croatia in May. There he covered a jaw-dropping 45 miles in five days.

Even devotees of swimming will admit that swimming lengths in a pool can become a little … well, monotonous. What’s it like to swim for hours on end? Do you enter some sort of meditative state?

“Yes, after a few hours your mind goes into a meditative state,” Jonny says. “I get a warm liquid feed every 30 minutes, so most of the time is spent thinking about the next feed!

“I prefer to think about my technique/stroke rate and how I can make myself as efficient as possible in the water. It passes the time and has a positive impact on the swim.”

Stonewall

Jonny is raising money for the British charity, Stonewall.

“Whilst we’ve witnessed a great sea change in the UK’s acceptance and support of all LGBTQ+ people, I think there is still such vital work to be done,” he says. “Particularly for young people. I’m particularly supportive of the work Stonewall does in schools, colleges and universities to make them LGBTQ inclusive which is, slowly but surely, normalizing sexuality.”

Jonny says the biggest risk factors to the swim include avoiding ships, jellyfish (of which there are apparently a high number this season), and the risk of injury. Despite this, he says he’s “hugely excited and nervous” to take on the challenge.

“I’ve been training hard for the past couple of years and I’m grateful for the support of my partner, friends, family, and Red Top Performance, and am looking forward to getting out there”

You can donate to Jonny’s JustGiving fundraiser here.