Illness Fells OWU Swimmer's Channel Attempt

By Cole Hatcher

Things didn’t go, well, swimmingly for Ohio Wesleyan University student David Gatz ’10 when he was forced to turn a planned two-man relay crossing of the English Channel into a solo swim, but Gatz (and all of Ohio Wesleyan) are proud of his attempt.

“While the result is not as enticing as the idea of reaching a French beach, all us here are proud of the effort made,” Gatz says. “There were a lot of unfortunate and unpredicted hurdles preventing our original plan. … But we continue to try and make the best of the situation.”

Gatz began his swim at about 3:30 a.m. EDT August 3 (8:30 a.m. BST/British Summer Time), but was forced to abandon the effort about four hours later after becoming ill and unable to keep down either food or water. During his time in the water, Gatz covered nearly 5.5 of the channel’s 21 miles. The swim originally was planned as a relay with fellow Ohio Wesleyan student Usman Javaid ’10, but plans changed when Javaid of Lahore, Pakistan, was denied a visa to enter the United Kingdom during the pair’s pre-approved swim window.

The young men planned the 12- to 14-hour swim as a “gesture to the world,” Javaid previously told the Columbus Dispatch, to demonstrate the power of cooperation and friendship, and to raise funds for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international medical humanitarian organization.

Gatz of Delaware, Ohio, and Javaid both are members of Ohio Wesleyan’s varsity swim team. They met as freshmen when they began to challenge each other to races. Gatz said the two chose to swim the English Channel because it represented the “Mount Everest of swimming challenges” and was a physically and mentally demanding feat that “only the best of friends would be willing to undertake together.”

After Javaid’s visa was denied, Gatz made the decision to attempt a solo channel swim to fulfill the mission of their “Channeling Peace Initiative.” Gatz hopes to participate in a separate relay swim in the English Channel while still in Europe, and Javaid, a gold medal swimmer in Pakistan, is planning his own long-distance swim there.

At Ohio Wesleyan, Javaid is pursuing a double major in economics and international relations, and Gatz is pursuing a double major in biochemistry and pre-professional medicine. Gatz also has been named a Scholar All-American by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

OWU President Rock Jones praised Gatz and Javaid for their aspiration and effort.

“I am impressed by David and Usman’s ambition, commitment, and execution,” Jones says. “They moved forward despite difficult obstacles. They remain a wonderful example of today’s youth and tomorrow’s leaders.”