Day 8- Reflection, Elation

Faith
WE DID IT
This is a mixture of both today's and yesterday's blogs. So, yesterday, we all finished swimming The English Channel!!!!!!!!!!! My team, Zombie A, finished it in 13 hours and 8 minutes. I was, and am, very proud of both Zombie teams, considering we have been training for about two years now. As Kaylee always says, "A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory." Despite the jellyfish, the temperature, and the conditions, we all finished! Cheryl did AMAZING, I heard, and I was so thankful to have Mike and Dan on my boat. When it was time for me to go in for my second leg, I was told that we were past the 'Jelly Zone.' However, about forty minutes into my swim, I saw a big jelly fish underneath me. I started to hyperventilate, and then I hit a school of jellies! I started to think of John, and his talks about fear and how I need to stay in the present. I need to end this, but I am soooooo proud of myself, Cheryl, and my teammates! I am so thankful for Mike, Dan, my parents, and my supporters, here and at home! WE DID IT!

Parth
The ZING of the Century
I have recently had the great luck to take part in an incredible event, the Arch Academy Zombie English Channel Swim.  I feel privileged to be able to help a number of incredible people on their journey across the English Channel, and to have been able to swim with them.  I feel as though this incredible swim will linger on in the memories of the later generations of Arch students, if no one else.  We have done the incredible, what some people said was impossible.  To those haters out there, I would like to say ZING, and I believe that you may have to revise your opinion that these students and their coaches are screw-ups and failures.  We are incredible people, and we have crossed the English Channel!!!!!!  I believe that a quote that Kaylee always repeats, "A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory", is quite apt to describe the mentality of the Zombie swimmers and their Coaches, Cheryl and Dan.  Yesterday, we made history, and we are proud of it.  Today, the scars of our battle show, and we wear them as proud badges of our steadfast determination, never giving up, never giving in, and always having faith in ourselves.  GO ZOMBIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zach
Disabled children swim the ENGLISH CHANNEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just yesterday, both team A and B were on boats that traveled many miles. With this involved swimming. The great, legendary news is both teams made it and we beat the Australians by an hour. Now, about my swim, I did really well. A quick summary of both of the times I got in is explained in this one simple sentence, "I HAULED ASS". For the time, it was really cold but I managed to pull through. Same goes for the other swim. I also only shivered for about a little under an hour and I had a blast. The next day which is today, we simply did our ceremony and collected all the "medals", really I only got one but it is still means something. Before this, we went to this really old pub and signed both team A and B's names. We also left our signature anarchy sign to show who we really are. Tomorrow will also be another great adventure, which is a trip to Canterbury and a ghost thingy. Wo000000000000000000000000000000o-HOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

CJ
D-Day
Zombie B is the best. Why do you ask? Because of the B. The day began at 2 or 3 I forgot time specifics, but then we arrived at the dock where we met or captain and began the swim. A culmination of years of training lead up to these 13 hours. There were many ups and acts of anarchy. The experience was something unforgettable. and because John is awesome, I got to finish the swim with Matt. Today, we signed our names in the White Horse pub and were awarded our medals. At this point I never wanna see Dover again because there is literally nothing to do here. So...yeah. We're going to Canterbury tomorrow. Also Zombie B was the fastest (beating several teams who all had head starts,) and we got a trophy. 0

Matt
Swimming. Eating. Sleeping. Motivating People
I was on a boat yesterday and literally all I did the whole time was do that. So I'm sure you have heard enough about on the boat. I have the amazing opportunity to tell you what it was like on the shores of Calais, France. The pirate pilot followed me on a dingy because it was too shallow for the big boat. I was kind of sad that Betzi couldn't have the satisfaction of touching that beautiful sandy French beach, due to the fact that she had to swim three full hours, but that's okay. I am happy that I was able to finish it and get rocks for all the people I could get rocks for. I will never forget the excitement I felt when I touched that beach. I don't think the French people that were staring at me will ever forget the kid in the speedo yelling profanities at France. I got rocks for everyone and I was thinking of everyone when I touched that beach. Today was a lot of relaxing and doing nothing. Thank You for sending me and I don't know if I am going to make any videos any more. Thank You for watching. Thank You John. Thank You Mike. Thank You Cheryl. Thank You to my parents. Good night Cheryl told me I have to go.

Lauren

The English Channel Conquerors 

We did it. We swam the English Channel. Can you guys believe it? I still can’t and I was actually there to witness the last swimmer touch land. Getting on the boat at 4:30 AM was the scariest feeling I have felt. There were knots in my stomach. Thankfully, later on in the swim, I became more and more confident that we would succeed, and we did! We did it. We swam it. I didn’t get sea sick or throw up at all which surprised me because I get really sea sick on boats. If you saw me on Catalina, then you would know that I get REALLY sea sick. But this isn’t anything like Catalina. This is the English Channel. The big E.C. I cannot get over the fact that we did it. Also, our two Zombie relays were 4 minutes apart in time and Zombie B was the fastest out of all the relays. (Including the Australians) Way to go, Zombie B! I have never been more proud of myself and my teammates as much as I am now. We’ve conquered the fear, the cold, and we killed it during the big English Channel swim. Oh my god. We actually did it! Today was pretty relaxed because we slept after a day of being on the boat and swimming in the ocean. We wrote our names on the famous wall where all swimmers who swam the English Channel do the same. Then, we were presented a medal and, let me tell you, these medals weigh about a pound. But overall, as a team, we did it. I feel on top of the world, as if I can conquer anything. We did it in 13 hours and 8 minutes.

Maddy

Longest Hour of Your Life

The day started at 3:00am and Betzi was the first in the bone chilling water at 5:17. I was third in the lineup which meant that I would be in the water at 7:17. This was the scariest, coldest, most honorable thing I’ve ever done and probably ever will do. I must say, I have never taken witness to an hour as long as those hours I spent in the water. However, every minute in that water was a blessing and every stroke took us a little closer. Program can teach you to tame your addictions, but it can also get you across the English Channel. I chanted “This Too Shall Pass”, “One Stroke at a Time”, “By the Grace of God”. It wasn’t comfortable, nice, easy, warm, fast, or enjoyable. However, the kids that were high school drop outs, at risk, rude, sad, depressed, addicted, and were looked at as failures did something not a lot of people would ever think to do. (and we did it faster than all 9 relays.) This swim symbolizes the fear in our lives and when we finished, it symbolized our ability to conquer anything that’s thrown our way. Now, we sit in the Dover Marina Hotel with gold medals around our necks and resting on our cores, knowing we’ve done it. We conquered another monster in our way.

Kaylee

“A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.”

We woke up at 3 am and got all of our stuff together so we could walk over to the dock. The boat ride to the white cliffs at 4:30(ish) am was such an incredible way to wake up. The sunrise was gorgeous. Thankfully no one on our boat got sea sick. We were able to swim on a very beautiful day. Although the day was beautiful, the water was COLD COLD COLD!!!! It was such an intense experience. Betzi swam first for an hour, then Matt to Maddy, and then I was up. Once I jumped in the water, it was hard not to scream, in fact I’m sure I did lol. The hour felt very long and I had to constantly keep distracting myself from the fact that I was freezing my butt off. After me, Noah and Cheryl went. We all cheered on the side of the boat as each swimmer was in the water. John was SUPER SUPER helpful by getting us all out of the water and making sure we were warm, dressed, and taken care of. Getting in the second time was probably the hardest. I thought I had swam for 30 minutes, just to look at my watch and see that it had just been 10. I just had to keep swimming, and that we all did. We all swam like there was no tomorrow. As I was in the water, I kept telling myself “This is temporary, and a moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.” The struggle to get warm was real and people who usually weren’t cold were FREEZING. Once we finished we all had smiles tattooed to our faces and were so STOKED!! WE DID IT!! WE ACTUALLY DID IT!!!! The pain and everything was SO WORTH IT because WE DID IT!!! I am so thankful for EVERYONE who made this possible!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Such an amazing experience that not a lot get to do (or even would do if they had the choice.) Today we received our medals and Zombie B received our trophy for having the fastest time. We came here to do one thing, and that we did. :)

Paul

Salted Pretzels

Yesterday, we swam more than we usually do.

I found it fun to utilize the fine zooming capabilities of our camera to look at distant locations on the horizon. It was challenging and fun to counter the rock of the boat with the object in the reticle. Diana forgot to bring her mp3 player, which included everyone’s choices of music, and so we had to resort to Parth’s mp3 player, which included classical music, Queen, and Star Wars soundtracks. However, this had better results and was fun to listen to, and I realized that the former music actually may have stressed me out. The conditions for the swim were probably the best they could have been. The only thing I felt was missing was the theme that played at the helicopter scene at the end of Jurassic Park. It would have gone perfectly with our ride back from Calais.

Today, we rested in the morning and celebrated in the afternoon. Wesley, Parth, and I shaved our beards off. Apparently my haircut was good looking, so I think I might go for this style more often. I noticed that most of these restored old buildings include fuses along some of the wiring, which probably reveals that there isn’t a fuse box for them. I also noticed that some of the columns in our hotel have painted over hinges on the panels… I wonder if they still have stuff inside. It gets dark very late, by the way; it’s still fairly bright out at 9:30.

Diana

So Much FUN!!

I woke up at 3:00 am to the phone wake up call. I grabbed my bags and went downstairs and was with the other teammates. We were at the dock waiting for a few minutes for the captain. When we got on the boat I was pulling out the speaker and iPod, however I did not have my iPod because I had forgot it charging. Parth had his iPod and we listened to classical music and some Black Eyed Peas. When I got in the first time I had to swim to shore in Dover and then swim by the boat towards France. It was cold and I was shocked. I got out and I could not stop shaking. Faith and Lauren and Mike helped me get warm. The captains loved me because I was really funny. We also had pizza which was really yummy. The second swim I was waiting for 20 minutes to be left and the captain came out and showed me the pizza over the side and I yelled cook the pizza. The second time Faith went in she was told that there were no more jelly fish and so when she saw a big jelly fish, she got scared and started crying, however she pulled through it like a champ. It was amazing to see her push through her fear and finish it; this really showed she was thinking of the team and she did amazing. I knew I had to go a third time so I told Zach to give it all you got because it will be your last swim. He did amazing and covered at least two and a half miles. When I went in the third time I swam as fast as I could and pushed it to get as close to shore as I could. When my hour was done Wesley went in and finished the race. I am very proud of Wesley and the rest of the team. Everyone did great and did it. When we came back to the hotel we ate pizza and then took a shower because I had lumps of Vaseline on my entire body except my face. Today I woke up at 9:36 with my arm hurting. I knew that I over worked it but it feels a little better. I went into town and came back to go to a meeting with medals and pictures. Dinner was not good. It was the same thing practically in a different form and a different waitress. We all went to a pub where people who swim the English Channel sign the walls, which was really cool. There was one on the wall that said, “Training sucked, Waiting sucked, Swimming sucked, but the memories were all worth it.” Thank you so much for everyone who made this possible. Thank you to all the donors, to Dan, dad and papa, Cheryl, Lisa, Heather, Lin, everyone else. YAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wesley

Fun, cold, cuddles

When we got on the boat, I was very excited to get in the water. After my first swim I got out freezing. I went inside the cabin of the boat, and the captain said in his English voice "cup of tea mate?" I said yes. It warmed me up. After that I ate a ham sandwich, and me and the other guys that were not swimming all cuddled on the deck just like brothers and sisters. Then I went back in the water. On my second swim I was both tired and cold but I still swam hard. When I got out I went inside, and the captain gave me a brownie. Then I took another nap with my pals again. Then Diana had to swim a third time, and then we were 15 minutes away from land, so I was the one that swam, and touched the land. When I first got on the land I could not believe what I have done.  When I got on the beach a guy came and high-fived me, and I said to him bonjour, and he said it back, and then he ask Dan to take a photo of him and me. When I got back on the boat, all of my pals all cheered for me, and hugged me. I told Faith, Diana, and Lauren that I was the one that finished the swim, and did a good job in the English Channel because of my beard, and what I told Cheryl which was since they stood up for me with CJ, it warmed my heart, and gave me warmth in the English Channel. It was so nice on the boat. None of us got sea sick, I got two cramps but that was not so bad. I liked it that me and my pals were close together on the boat just like brothers, and sisters. When we came back to Dover, I was so excited I had to call The La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, and my two surfing buddies Jeremy and Fay. Today I woke up and had breakfast. Then I went for a walk, and to say thank you to Betzi, and Diana, I bought them some candy. I got Betzi, a ring pop, and Diana a huge lollipop. Then I ate some lunch. We got our medals today. We got a group photo with the Australian team. One of the girls said to me Wesley stand by me for the picture. That felt good. Dad, I wanted to ask you if you ever get a chance please tell Jeremy that I miss him so much. Would you also tell him that I have been to scared to tell him this but I consider him my best friend. I have been getting a lot of hugs on this trip. I have more fun to come. I hope to see a bobby in London. 

Betzi
*Epoch-Making*
On June 25, 2015, two teams from The Arch Academy complete the swim across the entire English Channel, landing with just a four minute time difference between them. Zombie A finishes in 13 hours and 8 minutes, and Zombie B finishes in 13 hours and 4 minutes. I will try to express to you how proud I am of us, but, as is typically said in monumental situations such as this, I highly doubt words can ever accurately convey all that this means to me. You guys are awesome, and I love every single one of you. I sat under the deck of *Viking Princess* with Cheryl, lying on soggy clothes and energy bar wrappers, listening to the shrieks of victory from above, feeling sore and tired and cold and propping up my busted leg with some expired heat packs. I suddenly was overwhelmed with joy, happier than I have ever been in my whole life. I looked back to make sure my consciousness hadn't been switched to an entirely different person (it's been known to happen in science fiction novels) and I *did* remember what life was like five years ago- but instead of the memories being painful, they only amplified my feelings of ecstasy in the moment in light of what I have overcome. What all of us, what Cheryl and the rest of Arch, have achieved despite our challenges. My face must have made evident what I was thinking, because Cheryl lifted her head out of my wadded Milwaukee Tool jacket on the cabin bench and told me to soak it all in. She did an amazing job in the water, battling the 54-degree water and the jellyfish. Noah's legs were completely numb and stiff, but when we screamed at him to shut up and keep swimming, he powered through. Maddy was shivering and crying in her dog suit, but she got back in a second time, and still maintained her sense of humor so as to moon the
swimmers over the side of the boat. Matt went through his hours in the water with the consistency of a pendulum and turned white with cold. Kaylee was extremely positive and supportive of everyone the whole time, and somehow managed to avoid nausea on the boat and in the ocean without taking
any medicine. John and CJ helped every person get dressed and warm, made sandwiches, and were running around on deck throughout the entire 13 hours. CJ got out on the Calais shore with Matt, and the two of them looked insane as they were transported, cheering, back to the boat. Our names are in the White Horse pub on one of the door frames, and we each have a heavy gold medal. This is so surreal. I am sure that no one was thinking we would beat two Australian teams in a swim across the English Channel when we started the Zombie swim team, but then, Arch is great at the unexpected.
Thank you everyone, again- we could never have done this without you. Who's "at risk" *now*, f*ckers!!!!