Marathon swimming or video games?

18-year-old Tyler Sutton chose marathon swimming over video games during the pandemic and ended up swimming the English Channel

During the pandemic lockdowns, Tyler Sutton from Southern California got into marathon swimming as an alternative to playing video games. Then, this summer, aged 18, he crossed the English Channel in a little over 13 hours. We caught up with him to find out more and to get his advice for other teenagers interested in marathon swimming.

Outdoor Swimmer: You’re relatively young for an English Channel swimmer. What inspired you to take up marathon swimming? 

Tyler: I’ve been practically living in the water since I was born. From surfing to swim team and water polo, I loved the water. During the Covid pandemic, the teams weren’t practising in person, and most lap pools were booked up. There wasn’t much to do other than playing video games. At one point my dad realised it was time for a change, so we started heading down to our local beach to swim with a group. As we swam with that group, my dad began training for swims of his own, and at the same time, I started to train for my first 10km swim. The group we swam with would swim between 3-5km three times a week, so it was good training. My dad completed a 20km swim from Anacapa Island to Oxnard and shortly after, I completed my first 10km swim from Ventura Harbor to Channel Islands Harbor. After that, I began thinking of what next, and soon I decided I wanted to try and beat my dad’s time swimming from Anacapa. Ever since, I’ve been in love with marathon swimming.

OS: What do your friends make of your hobby?  

TS: They think I’m slightly crazy. They prefer more land-based sports such as volleyball and martial arts. One of my friends played a season of high school water polo with me and understands the challenges of the ocean, but even then they think marathon swimming is on a completely different level.

OS: Do you train with a club or team? If so, how do you manage your long-distance training when most clubs are pool-focused?

TS: When I started training for my long-distance swims, I stopped water polo and school swimming, and swapped those for club swimming and weekly ocean swims. For my two channel swims, I’ve been on a swim team, Class Aquatics. I’ve been swimming on that team off and on my whole life, but more consistently in the last two years. In addition, right around my Anacapa swim, I did some stroke technique with a renowned Australian open water swimmer and world champion, Shelly Taylor Smith. Her training was the catalyst for transforming my water polo swimming into marathon swimming.  

OS: How do you balance training and studies?  

TS: I’m at the point now where most days I don’t feel the same if I don’t swim. There’s nothing better than coming home after a long day of school and swimming in the evening. After swimming I typically feel more energetic and ready for my studies. However, there are definitely days where I don’t feel like swimming and I just want to sleep, but part of marathon swimming is continuing to swim even when you’re tired. The days when I didn’t feel like swimming but still went to practice were some of the most beneficial training I’ve done because it helped me mentally push myself through tough spots on a long swim.

OS: What are your long-term swimming objectives?  

TS: I think just staying in swimming shape, and slowly increasing speed and distance for now.

OS: What advice do you have for other teenagers thinking about marathon swimming?  

TS: Do it! It’s an incredible experience. I always look at it in three parts. You have a physical component (the swimming, and the temperature), a mental component, and a weather component. The physical and mental components can be controlled and trained for, but the weather component is unpredictable. It keeps the swimming interesting: there is an element of chance which is humbling.

OS: What’s your top tip for long-distance swimming?

TS: Train on the days and in the conditions you feel least like it. Don’t overdo it, but showing up and getting in is half the battle. Bad conditions equal good training.

Tyler was raising money for the Alexa Trust UK charity supporting parents with babies in neonatal.

His fundraising page is: https://www.justgiving.com/page/tyler-alexatrust-solo#supportersList