He was around half way to France when the weather turned. The winds rose to 50km/hr, and while Brown was swimming strongly the tides and gusts were pushing him backwards. Brown was called to commence his swim in Dover at 5:30am Saturday morning, local time. It was sunny, warm and there was hardly a breath of wind. The 205-game former Hawthorn and Gold Coast player who played his last elite game in 2013, was flanked by a healthy Australian support crew including his wife, Jess, his ex-league footballer father Mal, mum Kay and sister Pip. Brown had raised more than $100,000 for disadvantaged Australian children – the money will be distributed by the Shane Warne Foundation – through his preparation for the swim. He endured five anxious days stationed in caravan park accommodation on the cliffs of Dover, England, while he waited for the green light from the highly-regarded boat captain that he handpicked.

Ironically, Brown had vowed beforehand that he would sooner be pulled out of the water unconscious than stop. Hypothermia is a common impediment to Channel swimmers and there have been numerous fatalities in crossings. More people have climbed Mt Everest than have finished the swim. For a period there was a success rate of just 10%. The figures change annually but in recent times around two thirds of those who attempt the crossing solo are successful. As Brown set off, lathered in sunscreen and sporting only red bathers, a swimming cap and goggles, his mother wept. During his promising first hours of swimming Kay Brown told Fairfax: "It was terrible down there at the docks. I just all of a sudden became very emotional. It was crazy. I guess I was a bit fearful of the swim. Hyporthermia has always been in the back of my mind and I don't think you can ever take anything too lightly. "You just never know. He could cramp, he has had a dicky shoulder that could go on him, but you know what; he will finish. There's no way he won't finish."

Brown's stated rationale for undertaking the epic exercise was straightforward: he said it was something he'd always wanted to do, and that it fit the bill for a goal orientated character. His mother sensed the swim, and all its demands in preparation, has helped fill a gap for a 31-year-old now AFL retiree. "I just think that he needed something that kept him motivated every day," Kay Brown said. Coached by seven time world marathon swimming champion Shelley Taylor-Smith, who can count a Channel crossing on her honour roll, Brown had not swum more than 2200metres in any one open water swim 18 months ago. Two hours in to the Channel swim Brown's pace was encouraging and, barring unforeseen hitches, it was estimated he'd finish around 9pm in France in the fine conditions. Brown was halted every half hour by the boat that did not leave his side, receiving hydration and carefully planned nourishment from a line thrown down to him from his six handpicked companions.

Before the swim Brown, now an AFL and VFL radio and television commentator, was mentally prepared for the exercise to take between 15-16 hours. "But it could be 14 if I have a great day, or it could be 18 if I hit a wall and the wind picks up and it's hard work. But the timing doesn't matter," he said in the days before setting off. "I think it's an advantage, the fact that I've played professional sport. I know the mind and I know the body and I know what's required." Brown had been training in Melbourne's frigid Port Phillip Bay in water around 10-11degrees. This was a huge advantage when he arrived in Dover where the water temperature was around 15 degrees. TIMELINE OF AN ENGLISH CHANNEL ATTEMPT

. Christmas, 2013: Brown shares his long held ambition of swimming English Channel with his family, a matter of weeks after his AFL contract with the Gold Coast Suns is prematurely terminated. . Mid-January, 2014: asks Shelly Taylor-Smith to coach him for 18 months . Longest swim (time) in training: 10hrs28mins . Longest swim (distance) in training: 20+kms when he completed Rottnest Island swim solo but took indirect route, extending the distance. . Last Sunday: arrives in UK

. Saturday afternoon, in Dover: commences swim 5:30am local time. Swim abandoned on captain's orders after 9:25minutes. Brown is half way to France and swimming strongly but weather conditions become extreme. SUPPORT CREW IN DOVER Boat one, which stays with swimmer entire time: captain Reg Bricknell, coach Shelley Taylor-Smith, wife Jess, sister Phillipa, cousin Blair, old school friend James, Lachie Spark friend and media. Boat two, secondary support group to see the start and finish: Mum Kay, dad Mal, ex-Hawthorn teammates Brad Sewell and Steven Greene, friend Justin Quill and media (including Fairfax Media). Samantha Lane travelled to Dover with the support of Channel Seven.