Jodie Millar arrives in France with her skipper Andy King. Photo: Sarah Cassidy.
Griffith’s Jodie Millar has arrived on the French coastline with her sense of humour intact after a rapid 11-hour 27-minute charity swim from England.
Her first words on emerging from the water: “I had my boob out half the way.”
The 45-year-old swam the length of the English Channel on Thursday (17 July) to raise money for the Starlight Foundation, a charity that supports children in hospital. As at Friday morning, she had raised just over $8000.
“It was a hard slog but I was determined not to quit but I had to tell myself over and over and over probably hundreds of times not to quit. The weather just turned nasty,” she said on arrival.
Jodie’s journey from England to France. Photo: Supplied.
Ms Millar dove off from the English port town of Dover at 4:03 am on Thursday (UK time) and arrived in France at 3:30 pm that same day (12:30 am Friday morning Griffith time). Her father Charlie and crew in a support boat shadowed her and provided real-time updates all the way to a legion of fans via WhatsApp messages.
“Just saw several jellyfish float past Jodie,” supporter Sarah Cassidy messaged one hour into the journey.
“She’s accustomed to jellyfish stings, though … she’s still dodging jellyfish, swimming strong and loving the coffee.”
Jodie enjoyed a hot shower and coffee on arrival. Photo: Supplied.
Ms Cassidy, who swam the length of the Channel last week, dropped 31 feeds in the water for Jodie during the journey, with coffee and Ovaltine being a favourite.
Ms Millar thanked her supporters as soon as she arrived at Cap Gris Nez on the French coastline.
“I just had the most glorious shower after spending so long with chilled skin and didn’t want to get out,” she said.
“I have to apologise for the unintentional exposure. I had anti-chafe grease under my swimsuit which made things slide and the right boob misbehaved for most of the swim.
“I tried hitching my swimmers up but it just kept sliding. Apparently this is common for female swimmers but first time for me. Lucky I have a sense of humour and see the funny side.”
Several other swimmers did the Channel swim on the same date, with each journey tracked. Ms Millar’s time was the second fastest overall and the fastest by a female.
In the 11-plus hours she was in the water, she received more than $2000 in donations.
After completing her education in Griffith, Ms Millar moved to Sydney and worked as a police officer for 24 years. She came back to the Riverina four years ago, where she has worked as a lawyer and in social work and reignited her passion for swimming. She has raised almost $60,000 for the Starlight Foundation through a series of long distance swims over the past six years.
“I was a competitive pool swimmer when growing up in Griffith, but I didn’t swim at all from age 17 to 40. Then I took it up to get fit again and suddenly got hooked on marathon swimming,” she said.
Donations to Jodie for the Starlight Foundation can be mode through her page on the Starlight Foundation website.
