Case study: Team Qatar Channel swim
First Channel Swim attempt by Qatari athletes
Completed in a time of 16hrs 34 mins
RnR coach, Ryan Bowd, led the team as performance director
Athletes ranged from 34 – 52 years of age
The challenge took nine months of preparation and training
In late 2017, RnR coach, Ryan Bowd, was approached for advice on how a team of Qatari athletes could aim for a place in history by attempting to swim across the English Channel. It would be the first ever attempt by Qatari swimmers to cross the hazardous waterway that was only conquered by fewer than 1,500 individual swimmers and 800 relay teams during the previous 143 years.
After initial consultations with seven swimmers, including Dr. Mohammed Al Kuwari, Dr. Faleh Mohamed Ali, Dr. Jamal Rashid Al Khanji, Dr. Khalid Al Jalham, Prof. Nasser Al Mohannadi, Fahad Al Buenain and Talal Al Emadi, Team Qatari Channel Swim was formed.
The Channel Swimming Association (CSA) rules are very clear so it was vital that each member of the team was fully prepared.
With the event planned for the end of July 2018, Ryan began working with the team in January of that year to prepare them for one of the toughest physical challenges in the world. As team performance director, Ryan organised intensive training camps in Qatar, Croatia and UK and enlisted the support of specialist channel swim coach, Tim Denyer.
Training included preparing the athletes for swimming in much colder water than they are familiar, for at least an hour at a time. Swim training was only part of the support provided by Ryan and Tim, with mental preparation and nutrition practice equally important.
On 28th July 2018, Team Qatar swam about 48kms in crossing the Channel in a time of 16 hours and 34 minutes. Each member swam for an hour in strict rotational order, to go into the history books as the first ever athletes from Qatar to take on this challenge, known as the Everest of open water swimming.
When 52-year-old Dr. Faleh Ali, founded the team few months before, he wanted to encourage the Qatari community to make practising sport an integral part of their lives and to lead healthy lifestyles, by proving that age is never a limit and that a balance between family, career and exercising is possible.
It is this philosophy that sets Ryan apart from other coaches as he develops training programmes around his athletes’ lifestyle.
Ryan says: “It was an honour and privilege to watch the last swimmer of Team Qatar Channel Swim reach the shore of Wissant in France. For seven amateur athletes, who have full time jobs with families and commitments, to put in the effort they did during the last nine months, to show this true dedication, to be able to grow both physically and mentally, to be able to push themselves to limits they never thought possible, is truly inspirational. I hope we have shown the people of Qatar, that they can dream bigger than reality and push themselves to achieve phenomenal things.”
Prof. Nasser Al Mohannadi: “I am really honoured to be part of this inspiring team. This challenge taught me that everything is possible. The main lesson that I have learned is that any challenge is like a project, having the right team and the right tools, producing the required effort in a specific order, help you reach your target and achieve great goals.”