Sea Lanes, Channel Panel!

Ever thought of swimming the channel or just looking for some swimspiration? The panel will delve into topics such as mental resilience, overcoming fear, and preparing for major swimming challenges.

Hosted by Brighton local businessman Sam Thomas (County Business Club and Podcast Different Hats), the panel includes channel swimmers Jo Stokoe, Will Ellis, Hildi Mitchell, and Telle Maukonen to discuss the intricacies of channel swim training.

The panel discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A for you to ask those burning questions not covered during the talk. There is also the option to stay and enjoy dinner at Sea Lanes – the two menu options below can be sele`cted with admission `as tickets.

Boeuf Bourguignon
Slow cooked grass-fed beef stew served with creamy mashed potatoes.

Beet Bourguignon (Vegan)
Beetroot and root vegetable stew served with creamy mashed potatoes.

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Meet the Panel

William is a competitive distance masters swimmer and ranks in the top ten internationally in his event (1,500m). As a Channel Swimmer he has swam Lake Zurich (26.5km, 7hrs), Round Jersey (51km 9hrs 52mins current assisted) and The English Channel (33km,12 hours 17mins: although when he swam it the conditions made him swim 50km).

He is a proud member of the Force 6 Club, reserved for swimmers who have faced Force 6 winds on their Channel crossing. He is also the host of Open Water Swimmers Podcast and is an actor appearing most recently in Eastenders.

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Telle works for the Operations Team at SwimTrek HQ. She deals with the recruitment, training and ongoing support of their guiding team and she still get to guide and teach swimming from time to time too.

Her longest swims to date are Round Jersey Solo ~51km,tide-assisted (August 2024); North Channel Solo - 34km (July 2024); Vidosternsimmet - 21km (2019), Lake Zurich - 26km (2019), English Channel Solo - 34km (2013), and Windermere - 16km (2012).

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Hildi

After over decade of embracing the pub and sofa, Hildi returned to her childhood sport of swimming in her thirties. Not content to be average in one sport, she took up triathlon where she found her strength lay in simply never giving up. She completed six Ironman triathlons before hanging up her bike and run shoes to concentrate on long distance swimming. Not keen on rivers and lakes, she was drawn straight to the English Channel.

Prior to her solo success in 2024, she swam three successful English Channel relays and has coached other swimmers to successful relay crossings. Hildi is an ex-headteacher who now works as a lifeguard and swimming coach. She has never been happier.

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Jo

She has always loved being in and around water and cannot remember ever not being able to swim. She has never been a sporty person and for many years just enjoyed swimming lengths in my local pool to keep active.

In 2016 she accompanied a friend to the Pool to Pier course and that is where her interest in open-water swimming began. Her first big event was the Dart 10K in 2017 and at the end of that swim she felt she could have kept swimming for longer and the thought of swimming the English Channel began. She has always said she would rather swim the channel than run a marathon!

So, training began and she completed many swims including swimming back from the wind farm in 2019, Thames Marathon, Dart 10K 3 times. In 2021 she swam solo from England to France. Since then she has swum the length of Loch Ness (the 26th person in skins), completed 3 ice miles and a few other events. Weather in 2024 prevented her from swimming the North Channel so is hoping to get a chance in 2025.
Her day job is working as a consultant clinical oncologist and at the medical school. Swimming helps her switch off. She enjoys dipping and swimming in the sea at all times of the year with friends and can often be found in the pool at sealanes.

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Meet the Host

Sam is an entrepreneur that wears many different hats. The Co-Founder of County Business Clubs, a Podcast Host, Radio Show Host, Managing Director SBT and Owner of FirmBalls. Sam has been running his own businesses for more than a decade and is an entrepreneurial thinker with a strong belief that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it.

He is looking forward to talking with the amazing panel about their Why? for swimming the channel, their mindset to take on such an epic challenge, discuss the tough parts of the process from training to the actual swim, how they overcome those challenges and how they felt on completing the channel?

Host or Publisher Sea Lanes Brighton