For most acting stars, learning horse riding, fencing or a new accent for a film role is probably as tough as it gets.
But for actress Kirsten Callaghan, playing the first British woman to swim the English Channel, left her traumatised after she had to learn how to swim long distances in icy cold water, combating seasickness, seaweed and eels.
The newcomer, 32, underwent three months of gruelling stamina training off of Brighton Pier and pushed her body to the limit to play Mercedes Gleitze in forthcoming film Vindication Swim.
She spent the next two years shooting in East Sussex’s freezing waters without a body double or any camera trickery, the physicality of which she found ‘tough.’
Trained at Rose Bruford College, Ms Callaghan was a relative unknown with a string of theatre credits to her name when she was cast as Ms Gleitze, who made history in 1927 when her eighth attempt at swimming the Channel finally paid off.
Kirsten Callaghan, playing the first British woman to swim the English Channel, was left traumatised after she had to learn how to swim long distances in icy cold water, combating seasickness, seaweed and eels. Ms Callaghan is pictured in a photocall for Vindication Swim
Ms Callaghan, 32, underwent three months of gruelling stamina training off of Brighton Pier and pushed her body to the limit to play Mercedes Gleitze (pictured) in forthcoming film Vindication Swim
In his bid for authenticity, writer and director Elliott Hasler, sought to cast an actress who bore a resemblance to Ms Gleitze, was Brighton-born as she was, and was already a strong swimmer.
Ms Callaghan – who lives in Hove with her French bulldog Reuben – fit the bill and went on to become a producer for the film alongside Ronnie Wood’s wife Sally, as well as writing its theme song.
‘It was tough, I suffered severe cramps on the very cold days, there was a moment when I was nearly pulled down by a huge mound of seaweed two miles out,’ she said.
‘The boatmen got severe seasickness and when I found it tough I would say to myself, ‘What would Mercedes do?’ and it would always be, ‘She’d carry on,’ because she was so calm, so pragmatic.’
‘Even though I am clearly traumatised by the cold, cramp and seasickness (thank you Mercedes), I am endlessly grateful to have played such an extraordinary woman,’ the actress wrote on her Instagram account.
Despite being a strong swimmer, Ms Callaghan quickly realised that open water swimming was an entirely different beast and forced herself to endure cold showers in order to prepare.
‘I’ve always been a strong swimmer but open water swimming was a new challenge for me and I took cold showers to adapt to the low temperatures,’ she told Sussex Life.
Ms Callaghan, pictured at the Vindication Swim premiere last week, spent the next two years shooting in East Sussex’s freezing waters without a body double or any camera trickery, the physicality of which she found ‘tough
Victoria Summer (left) and Kirsten Callaghan (right) film Vindication Swim on April 7, 2021 in Brighton. Ms Callaghan, who stars opposite Ms Summer as her rival, said she enjoyed starring in a period piece that didn’t involve a love story with a man
Victoria Summer and David Aitchison film scenes for Vindication Swim on the beach in Brighton on April 6, 2021
‘My swimming coach worked on my technique in the pool and then we would swim around Brighton Palace Pier to build my stamina, which enabled me to swim for long periods of time on camera.’
She added: ‘During filming I experienced extreme weather changes, sea-life and icy temperatures.
‘There have been a couple of moments where I’ve suffered painful cramps and the dreaded claw – when your hands involuntarily curl inwards from the cold – but that has all been part of the process.’
The film, released next Friday, tells the rousing story of the forgotten sporting heroine’s record-breaking swim that saw her emerge, barely conscious, from the water at St Margaret’s Bay, near Dover, on October 8, 1927.
Just 27 at the time, the young typist had been accompanied by just one rowing boat for the journey and was nearly run down by a steamer mid-swim.
But, the real drama started when another woman, Dorothy Cochrane Logan, came forward four days later, claiming to have completed the swim first.
While she was later revealed to be a hoaxer, Ms Gleitze’s victory had been undermined by the claim and she embarked on a ‘vindication swim’ to prove herself.
The water was too cold for her to complete the swim, but she convinced her doubters that her original record should stand and she became a national celebrity.
A committed philanthropist, who donated much of her earnings to a homeless shelter, she died in relative obscurity having distanced herself from her achievements.
Sally Wood, Victoria Summer, Kirsten Callaghan and Ronnie Wood at the Vindication Swim film premiere in London last week
‘I spent a lot of time with her but she never spoke to me about swimming,’ said her grandson Andrew Pember.
‘She never spoke to me about swimming at all, in fact she lied about the fact that she was a swimmer to the neighbours that she lived with.’
He added: ‘It was laughable because it was obvious who she was but she denied who she was because she didn’t want that life anymore.’
Ms Callaghan, who stars opposite Victoria Summer as her rival, said she enjoyed starring in a period piece that didn’t involve a love story with a man.
‘Usually there is a love story involving a man in a period drama, however in Vindication Swim the love story is between Glietze and the sea,’ she said.