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Raajiv Tripathi
Doha
A group of seven Qatari men will attempt to become the first amateurs from the Gulf region to cross the daunting English Channel next month.
With Ryan Bowd as the team director and head coach and Tim Tenyer as coach, Team Qatar is made up of medical, oil and gas and legal experts. Their plan is to launch the historic attempt on July 20 near Shakespeare's Cliff or Samphire Hoe between Folkestone and Dover and complete the swim of about 34 kms near Cap Griz Nez between Boulogne and Calais on July 27.
The team members are Dr Mohammed al Kuwari, Dr Faleh Mohamed Hussain Ali, Dr Jamal Rashid al Khanji, Dr Khalid Mohammed al Jalham, Dr Nasser al Mohannadi, Fahad Mohammed Buenain, and Talal Abdulaziz al Emadi.
British comedian David Williams inspired the Qatari group to take up the unique challenge and they began planning and preparations in September-October last year with an aim to enhance individual capabilities, which will be tested during the swim by all sorts of elements like strong tides, cold winds, oil slicks, jelly fish and inclement weather.
Dr Fahad said,"Whatever you do, you aim for the biggest. If you are doing mountaineering, you always dream about the Mount Everest or if you are into swimming, you go for the toughest which is the English Channel. We are full-time professionals from different backgrounds. We're all linked to adventure sports and have the common goal of doing something to inspire the community and the country."
"Williams had crossed the English Channel and raised about 1 millions pounds for the needy children. So that idea inspired Dr Falah and he discussed it with us and we decided to go ahead with it," Dr Fahad added.
Dr Jamal Rashid al Khanji said,"This is the first time that any amateur or amateur group is trying to swim the English Channel. About 40 years ago, national team from a neighbouring country had done that but no amateur like us has attempted this in the whole region. So we're quite proud about the fact that we're the first Qataris to register for crossing the English Channel. We hope that we'll be able to inspire others living here." he added.
Dr Khanji said,"We had a camp in Opatija in northern Croatia to train for an intensive cold water swim. The conditions there were quite similar to what we're going to face during our English Channel attempt."
