When Nicholas Desira was a child, a large wave caught him while he was swimming and dragged him under the surface, leaving him with a lifelong fear of rough water.
But that fear was far from his mind last Sunday, when, at the age of 51, he became the second ever Maltese person to swim the English Channel.
Mr Desira, who moved to Melbourne as a child and holds dual citizenship, left Dover at 9am and made land at Wissant, France, close to 11pm after a gruelling 14-hour swim in cold, rough waters.
“All I could see were the lights in the distance, which never seem like they’re getting closer,” he told the Times of Malta.
“I only realised I was nearly there when I heard the waves crashing against the shore. Then I felt myself get picked up by the waves and the next minute I felt my hand hit the ground and I knew I’d made it.
“I just couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t expecting to be so emotional. I ran out of the water in pitch darkness and just started jumping up and down. That’s when I realised how sore my body was.”
I wasn’t expecting to be so emotional. I ran out of the water in pitch darkness and just started jumping up and down
Before Sunday, only one Maltese person – Nicky Farrugia – had swum the 34 kilometres between England and France, a distance made significantly longer by strong currents which pull swimmers kilometres from side to side as the tide ebbs and flows.
The renowned Maltese swimmer Turu Rizzo is said to have attempted the feat some 70 years ago, only to fall short.
Mr Desira trained for nearly three years before attempting the crossing, often covering more than 30 kilometres a week in all weathers to prepare himself. “You learn so much about yourself and how far you can push yourself to achieve something when you really want it,” he said.
“The real hard part is the training to get there, the commitment to train each week. Heading out there, I felt like I had done everything possible to make it happen.”
On the day, the biggest challenge he faced was the cold temperature, as well as winds that picked up dramatically halfway across, prompting others attempting to swim on the same day to throw in the towel. Having waited in Dover for five days for the right weather conditions, he swam virtually non-stop from start to finish, limiting his short meal breaks to mere seconds to ensure the tides didn’t drag him too far off course.
“A number of people say they don’t remember the swim; some people hallucinate with the cold and the exertion,” he said. “Somehow I remember every second – my mind was clear.”
Now enjoying a holiday in Amsterdam, Mr Desira’s next challenge will see him back in his country of birth as he brings a group of Australian swimmers over for the annual Malta-to-Gozo swim. According to the official record page, only 2,000 people have ever completed the challenge.