In this YouTube interview, host Sarah Archer talks with Nick, a late‑starter swimmer who conquered the English Channel despite a deep‑water phobia, a dislike of cold, and limited swimming experience. Nick recounts how the mantra “why not me?” sparked his decision, and how he taught himself front crawl at 37 before attempting the swim. He describes his first 2017 attempt: 14.5 hours in rough, dark, cold water, a leaking goggle, a two‑hour stall in a current, and moments of self‑doubt where he considered quitting. A supportive crew member urged him to adopt the mantra “head down, keep going,” which became a lasting personal motto. Nick reflects on how the experience taught him the importance of the right environment, disciplined preparation, and simple, powerful mental cues that can be applied to broader life challenges.
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I didn't actually realise this until I did a little bit of sort of background, was you did a Channel swim. And I didn't realise that you had a fear of deep water. So, what on earth made you decide to take on that challenge? And what did it unlock for you when you did it, I guess, is the first question.
Oh, lots of things. A fear of deep water, hate the cold. I'm not a good swimmer at all. Taught myself to front crawl at the age of 37, which was, you know, not that far ago when I actually did the Channel. Never been in open water either before. So it was a completely different animal that I was about to just dive into. But I think for me, it was the phrase that I always use, which is, why not me? Other people have done it. Not many people because interestingly, more people reach the summit of Everest than have actually swum the English Channel. But I could see other people doing it and I was thinking, well, why not me? Now, there were a multitude of reasons why not, because I'm a technically terrible swimmer and a lot of these people have been swimming since they were knee-high. But I thought, why can't I? And what I learned was that if I put myself in the right environment and surround myself by the right people, and I'm prepared to be disciplined and consistent, But I can do it.
What was crossing your mind as you were standing there in the pitch black at the edge of the water? We did, was there any, did you have any doubt? Did you, did you second guess yourself at all?
Oh, massively. First attempt, it was like, Nick, what are you doing? What, what are you doing? I, I, I was in my late 40s. I think I was 47 at the time. I thought, what are you doing? This is just crazy. You know, You know, just, just walk away. You don't need to do this. And I had no idea, Sarah, what I was letting myself in for.
Oh my goodness. But you got in the water anyway. I jumped in the deep end. Did you say your thing at that point? Well, why not? Did you add that mantra in or was that like out of your head at that point?
I think I was cursing myself too much at the time, to be honest with you. There was no logic coming through my head.
Excellent. So you got in the water, this first attempt, 2017. What happened?
It was rough. The sea was very, very rough. It was hard. It was swimming through the night. And as I say in my TED Talk, and it's very, very true, I had the soundtrack to Jaws playing round and round in my head. I didn't know whether I was coming or going. One of my goggles, not one of them, my eyepiece that was leaking. So it was just awful all the way. And I just wanted to get out. I absolutely wanted to get out, and I was in a mindset that I was, for want of a better term, playing victim. So any opportunity I could speak to the crew, I was saying things like, um, it's cold, it's dark, um, I'm not feeling very well, I've got pain in my eye, I've got pain in my shoulders. And I had one very supportive member of the crew that kept on saying to me, but Nick, you knew this was going to be hard. You knew it wasn't going to be easy. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. So head down, keep going. And that was my mantra, head down, keep going. And interestingly, Sarah, from the 2017 attempt to the 2019 attempt, to the challenges that we all go through in life to this present day, I've always used that mantra. When you feel like you want to give up, and we always wanna give up, don't we, in our darkest moments, it's head down, keep going. You can do this. Things are going to change.
Oh my God. Yeah, no, that is so, I, it's so, the thing that I love about what you do, and it's very similar to Mel Robbins in a way, is you take very simple concepts, profound, but simple pattern interrupts and, and give people a way to move forward, I think, or get unstuck, uh, and so on. But so let's just go back. So 2017 in the water. Moaning like a good'un, probably in the wrong mindset from what I'm gathering from you. What happened next? Where did the— when, how far did you get?
14 and a half hours in, I could just about make the outline of France in the distance. And it's very hard because the crew could see France, but because you're low down in the water, I could just about make it out. And then I got stuck in a current for 2 hours. I hadn't moved anywhere. Oh my God. I was just splashing around in the water, feeling sorry for myself. And then there came a point that the pilot said, we need to get her out.
We, you know, we're fearful for her safety.
There's also a high risk of hypothermia in those temperatures as well. And I remember he, they all dragged me on the boat. I was in one hell of a mess. They dragged me on the boat, they wrapped me up in a sleeping bag, and then I was out cold for about an hour. But just pure exhaustion, and I think shock, because I'd never done anything like that before.
