Yellow Springs woman aims to swim English Channel, be 2nd Ohio woman to complete challenge

On this afternoon, I caught up with Yellow Springs resident Amy Wamsley during a practice swim at Antioch College. She glides effortlessly through the water.

"I'm an athlete. This has become a way of life for me, and I think that's when you become an athlete," Wamsley said.

Now the way of life for Wamsley includes tracking her food intake, vitamins and fluids. She collaborates with a therapeutic body works expert, and incorporates meditation, a strict sleep schedule, yoga and weights. She recuperates in an infra-red sauna, gets IV drips to combat cramping and dehydration. And of course, 5-to-6 days a week, Wamsley spends up to 8 hours swimming.

"My coach constantly is like, okay, it’s a good day for a
10K or we're going to do a three hour swim, and then you have to incorporate 20 minutes sprints inside this swim," recounts Wamsley.

On average, the 49-year-old burns around 3,000 calories per swim. But early in her training, she was only consuming about 1,200 calories a day. Her body revolted. She gained weight, was tired and struggled with severe cramps.

"When we don't have a lot of the nutrients we need before we exercise, we don't have the food in our stomach, our system automatically goes to whatever is easiest to burn is muscle," explained Wamsley. "Muscle helps reduce fat. So the minute I started to consume way more calories. I actually started thinning out and I wasn't tired during my swim."

Goal from an early age

The idea to swim the English Channel has been growing inside of her since she was 12-years-old. Planted by a magazine article she read while waiting for her mother in a doctor’s waiting room.

She was fascinated.

"Different things that they would eat along the journey. how the boat would follow them and they would get across," remembered Wamsley. "I thought to myself, I can do this. I'm gonna do this before I'm 50."

She turns 50 on June 13, 2025.

For about ten years, Wamsley’s been preparing for her ultimate swim journey. Tackling waves between Alcatraz Island and San Francisco, navigating her body around Catalina Island off the California coast, racking up miles off the Miami, Florida, coast, as well as gliding through Lakes Michigan and Erie plus treading down numerous area creeks.

Although she admits life has sometimes been a distraction, a dismissive comment rekindled her desire to swim the English Channel.

"Someone said I wasn't a swimmer, because I didn't look like Katie Ledecky. That upset me. And I said, no, that's an Olympian. That's very different than what I am," recalled Wamsley. "It was basically because of how I looked, I'm an overweight 49-year-old female. Probably since fifth grade, I have struggled with my weight."

Amy believes her weight may actually help protect her from the channel’s cold water. This time of year, it averages about 55 degrees.

"Fat is insulation. You see these really amazingly muscular people but they don’t have a lot of fat and they struggle in cold water because they don’t have insulation," Wamsley said. "So I’ve got a little more cushion before the cold gets to my bones."

The challenge ahead

Her gear is simple. A swimsuit, a cap, ear plugs, and goggles, adhering to what swimmers in the 1800s wore.

Wamsley is registered with Channel Swimming Association, an official group that authenticates those who swim the English Channel and verifies their time. She’ll launch off the coast of Dover England and for the next 20.5 miles, she’ll freestyle to the coast of France. A guide boat will follow.

Along with the pilot and swim official will be Wamsley’s team keeping a protective watch. One person will monitor her physical health, another her breathing and mental awareness and the last is a feeder who manages what she eats.

The average solo swim time across the English Channel is under 14 hours.

Wamsley’ll carry several water bottles under her suit to stay hydrated and her feeder will toss out food containers tied to a rope. Some will have a protein/vitamin rich liquid, some will have apple sauce and anti-nausea medicine to combat her motion sickness, others will have electrolytes to counter cramps, while others will have protein bar bites.

"The idea is that you only want to stop for 30-seconds and as crude as it sounds, you literally have to learn how to keep swimming and relieve yourself at the exact same time," said Wamsley. "If you think about currents, the longer you stop that current will push you further back and depending on how fast that current is you may never reach France."

And when she's tired.

"I rest while swimming. I rest the muscles in my arm until my left hand starts to come over and it's time to pull with my right. Then I'll tell my left arm to rest," explained Wamsley. "I do the same thing with my legs. Rest. Rest, and I get a beat."

The English Channel is a busy shipping area with giant barges. Amy will have to power through fiercely choppy water and their fumes. She’ll also face stinging jellyfish and possibly pirates.

Swimming for a cause

Swimming in open water has also transformed Amy into a water conservation advocate. She’s founded Amy’s Swimventure, a nonprofit project focused on water conservation and environmental well-being.

"We do have 16 scenic rivers. My goal is to connect people to the conservation organizations that are doing the right thing and restoring our surface water, our waterways that are trying to bring us clean water," said Wamsley. "Water is one of our absolute greatest resources. It's one of the most beautiful resources. And it's one where we can have so much fun in the water if we respect it." 

This project also promotes empowering women to overcome societal pressures regarding body image and aging.

'I will just be a goldfish'

Wamsley is now in Dover, England, training and waiting. Between May 30-June 10, 2025, officials will tell her the day of her solo swim. She and her team will then have about 12 hours to get in the water. Wamsley says conquering this challenge is all mental.

"I will just be a goldfish. Every two miles, I will just pretend like I'm starting over and I will just go again for two miles and I'll just keep going and going and going until I get to France," Wamsley smiled as she reumed swimming laps. 

Once Wamsley reaches Cap Gris-Nez France, her picture will be taken and the swim official will confirm her time. Then she’ll board a larger boat that will take Wamsley back to Dover England where she'll recover.