Will Dichtel is in rarified air once again – this time for his athletic prowess.
Chemistry professor Will Dichtel enters exclusive company again – this time by swimming. One of only 1,131 individuals to have ever earned the illustrious “Genius Grant” from the MacArthur Foundation, Dichtel is now one of fewer than 2,000 humans to have completed a swim across the English Channel.
On June 25, Dichtel covered 29 miles while swimming from Dover, England, to Cap Gris-Nez in France, traversing the choppy waterway in 12 hours and 8 minutes.
“I’m proud of the swim and grateful for the support of my family, coaches, and training partners who made it possible,” says Dichtel, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
A long-held goal
A competitive swimmer in his youth, Dichtel returned to swimming for fitness and stress relief while pursuing his PhD in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in the early 2000s. At the invitation of some pool buddies, he soon after took a leap into the San Francisco Bay and immediately fell in love with open-water swimming.
“I got this feeling of peace and serenity from it,” he says.
While Dichtel first entertained the idea of swimming the English Channel as a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA around 2005, he prioritized his scientific pursuits instead. When he moved to Northwestern in 2016, however, thoughts of tackling the English Channel resurfaced as he ventured into Lake Michigan for regular swims. In 2018, he began training for the endeavor in earnest after securing a summer 2020 slot with an escort boat approved by the Channel Swim Association (CSA), the organization that observes and authenticates English Channel swims.
When the COVID-19 pandemic halted those plans just months before he was to travel to Dover, Dichtel pivoted. He stayed local and swam the entire length of Chicago, from Juneway Beach on the city’s northern edge to Calumet Beach on its southern tip – a feat only five daring athletes had ever achieved. Still, the challenge of traversing the English Channel loomed.
“I couldn’t shake it,” Dichtel says.
In 2021, Dichtel secured another English Channel slot, albeit not until June 2024.
To maintain his fitness and motivation, Dichtel continued tackling other ambitious challenges, such as swimming 20 miles from Catalina to Los Angeles in July 2022, and devoted himself to consistent training. During the summer months, he completed swims of 60-90 minutes in Lake Michigan before work in addition to multiple-hour swims on the weekends. In the winter, he turned to local pools, swimming 10-15 hours each week while incorporating strength training as well.
“I was all in,” Dichtel says, adding that not even a hand injury requiring nine stitches across his thumb just a month before the swim could derail his six-year odyssey to confront the English Channel.
Adventures at sea
Two hours after midnight on June 25, Dichtel entered the water. A support crew on the escort boat included his wife, three friends from England, two boat drivers, and an independent observer from the CSA tasked to ensure Dichtel and his crew followed all the rules for a ratified swim. For instance, Dichtel could not wear a wetsuit or have any physical contact with the boat or members of his support team.
“They’re very prescriptive about what you must do to have it count,” Dichtel says of the CSA.
Every 30 minutes, Dichtel’s crew stopped him to consume a warm beverage, an electrolyte drink, or an energy gel, seeking to get about 200 calories into his body to offset the 1,000 or so calories he burned with every hour of effort. He limited each stop to one minute, lest the channel’s swift current push him off course.
Along the way, Dichtel faced numerous challenges. He endured jellyfish stings on his wrist and face, water temperatures refusing to top 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and intensifying waves. At times, he admits, his mind veered to some strange places.
“But I always tried to return to rational thoughts,” Dichtel says. “What really brought me back into the moment was this sense of gratitude that I was actually doing this after years of thinking about the swim and actively training for it as well as about 150 friends and family following my progress in real time.”
After 12 hours, Dichtel’s S-pattern voyage in the water concluded when he reached the northern coast of France.
“It was emotional,” he recalls. “All of the feelings about this six-year journey hit me at once.”
Sport and scholarship
A long-time challenge now conquered, Dichtel will next tackle a shorter but meaningful water adventure on September 22: a two-mile race in the Chicago River to raise money for Northwestern research aimed at curing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
“Open-water swims in the Chicago River were last held more than 100 years ago, but good stewardship has led to this opportunity to highlight its improved water quality as well as Northwestern research,” Dichtel says.
After that, Dichtel will be looking for another long swim challenge.
“I really enjoy the training and the day-to-day grind, and I know there’s something else out there,” he says.
In the meantime, Dichtel says he will continue to log hours in the water and pursue his research, which, interestingly enough, centers on water purification. Specifically, his Northwestern-based lab focuses on inventing new materials that remove pollutants from water, a particularly apropos topic for a man who spends considerable time each week in the water.
“I’m very passionate about water quality and being good stewards of our natural resources,” Dichtel says. “I want to do my part to ensure technologies that will make that better.”
Yet, Dichtel finds additional synergy between his swimming endeavors and his research pursuits. Both, he says, are day-to-day activities requiring perseverance and grit to capture success as well as self-forgiveness and grace amid failure.
“Most experiments don’t turn out,” he reminds, adding that he wants to teach his students the value of grinding through problems and charging ahead regardless of the obstacles. “That’s why I think it’s important I continue to challenge myself. I never want to forget what it’s like to do hard things like what my students are doing in our research every day.”
