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Freestyling FCMA conquers channel.

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PositionFirst in ... All the latest news affecting accountants in business, including regulations updates - Jim Boucher

CIMA members are known for their persistence in pursuit of a goal, but few go to the physical extremes of Jim Boucher FCMA, who on August 12 swam solo across the English Channel in 15 hours and 28 minutes. It was his second attempt, after bad weather forced him to give up on July 10.

Boucher, the Northern Ireland record-holder for the 100m and 50m breaststroke in his age group, had swum part of the Channel before in a relay team, but the full crossing proved a far more serious challenge. He began training in November 2006 and was taking dips in London's Serpentine in January before starting in the sea in May in temperatures of 11[degrees]C. "The average temperature on my two crossing attempts was about 16[degrees]C, but I can honestly say that I wasn't cold," said Boucher, who is operations director of consultancy Esys. "But the tides led me a merry dance. The shortest distance to France is 21 miles. I ended up travelling 36 or 37 miles because of the strong currents."

The Channel is world's busiest shipping lane and Boucher's safety depended on the navigational skills of the captain of his support boat. "Ferries were more of a problem than the biggest ships, which we could see coming from a long way off," he said. "But there's no way the big boys can stop. You just have to...

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