If you have the capacity, don't wait for the future

One year, when I was about fifty-four years old, I went with Guru on a Peace Concert trip to Germany, and at one of the evening functions, I came in right at the end of the function when prasad was being given by Guru.

I was not aware of any previous conversations with Guru in the room, so when I went up to take prasad, I didn’t know what Guru meant when he said to me, “What about you, Vince?" And I said, “What about me, what, Guru?" And Guru said, “What about you swimming the Channel?" And I replied, “Maybe in some other incarnation, Guru." Guru simply said, “When you have the capacity, don’t wait for the future."

That was all I needed to hear from my Master, as he knew my capacity and destiny better than I did. So began my Channel swimming experience, which ranks right up there as one of the most significant and beautiful happenings of my life with Guru.

Three Years of Pure Joy

One of the most special times of my life was spent in training to swim the Channel. I loved the challenge and the discipline of the daily three-hour swims in a pool, which increased to seven to ten hours closer to the event. I enjoyed the advice and inspiration of my swim coach, Trevor Tiffany, and the other disciples who were also Channel swimmers. I loved the meditative rhythm of being in the water for so long. It was such an opportunity to really get into a “zone" in which you could go far beyond the mind and become one with the endless flow of the universe. This is really true of any ultra-distance sport. Chanting while swimming was a great help!

Guru’s song I Must Never Give Up applies to my Channel experiences, as the saga continued for three wonderful years, which I thoroughly enjoyed! After the first year of training, I lasted only five hours in the 57-degree water. I was really too thin at 6’ 3" and 165 pounds to bear the cold, and as a result I got hypothermia. When you swim the Channel you are only allowed to grease yourself with a layer of lanolin and paraffin to protect you from the cold, as no wetsuits are allowed.

The next year of training included the challenge of gaining 30 pounds or so – no mean feat when you are exercising as much as I was. Thanks to an insane dietary regimen that included pouring whipping cream on cereal and eating myself “under the table," I made it to 195 pounds and headed to Dover for my second attempt. This second time, while training in the Dover waters, I tripped on rocks while entering, and broke a rib. If something is not meant to be, it just doesn’t happen!

In the third year of training my long swims took place in a lake at our cottage. The cottagers said they didn’t need an alarm clock because they could hear the slap of my arms hitting the quiet morning waters at about 5:30 a.m. They loved me, at that early hour, I’m sure! Sometimes the loons joined me in my swim. What a beautiful, sweet experience it was!

Finally, after year three of perfecting my training regime and enjoying the physical and spiritual discipline, I did it! I really did it! The Supreme swam in and through me for 15 hours and 50 minutes from the shores of Dover to Calais, France. I chanted the whole way. I drank a concoction of maple syrup, aspirin, and other secret ingredients that even I cannot remember! My boat pilot, who accompanied me for all of my swims, was Dave White. I am eternally grateful for his professional navigation and for his friendship and that of his wife, who was the official Channel Swimming Association observer. I was especially grateful when I learned that the reason the whole crew at one point was standing on the side of the boat with poles raised was to fight off the large fish, “rays" that were once seen following me!

The final feat of self-transcendence was that when I finally reached the shores of Calais, elated but exhausted fifteen and some hours later, it was too rough and too shallow for the boat to pick me up. I had to put one hand in front of the other and swim back to the boat. That was the longest 1 km that I ever swam in my life!

Thank you, Guru, for swimming in and through me and allowing me the honor of being the oldest known Canadian to swim the English Channel – a record that has held for 20 years. Guru knew that swimming the Channel would be one of the highlights of my entire life.