Bill Wilson celebrated his birthday Friday by retiring as a realty specialist with the United States Corps of Engineers after 31 years of federal service.

The Butler man hopes his best present occurs a month late.

Wilson, 55, will attempt to swim the English Channel in early September.

"My window for making the swim is Sept. 4-10,"Wilson said. "That's neap tide, a new moon, when the water is lower and less turbulent."

Wilson has spent four years and has put in 2,600 miles in the water in preparing to complete this 20.69-mile swim from Dover, England, to Calais, France.

Brent McAuliffe, 26, of Canonsburg, an assistant swim coach for the University of Pittsburgh, recently tried swimming the Channel and lasted just seven miles through bad weather and five-feet high crashing waves.

McAuliffe vomited repeatedly and had to be pulled from the water, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported. The newspaper also stated that no Pennsylvania resident has successfully swam the Channel.

"So many elements are out of your control,"Wilson said. "I have to hope no hurricanes or stormy weather come up the coast. I could dive into a school of jellyfish and that would put an end to my attempt right thefre.

"The water is unusually warm in the Channel right now. It's at 63 degrees and could be up to 65 or 66 by the time I swim. That's nice water temperature to swim in, but it invites a lot of other critters, too."

Only 778 of the approximate 7,700 attempts to swim the English Channel have been successful. With the water curret and angle of the swim factored in, completing the venture is equal to swimming 25 to 30 miles.

Wilson will have a support group on hand with him in England. His sons, Adam and Brent, will be among a five-person crew in a boat traveling alongside him. Also on hand will be his nephew, Matt Coriell, to tend to any medical needs.

Adam Wilson is a former Big East swimming champion at West Virginia University. Brent Wilson's left leg is shorter than his right and he is a recovering alcoholic.

He is also inspired by his father.

"Watching his dedication has taught me that people can achieve anything they want to do,"Brent Wilson said. "If my father can work toward swimming the English Channel, I can work toward never taking a drink again."

Wilson is entering the third and final phase of his training. The first phase involved a lot of weight-lifting to build up his body. The second required getting acclimated to distance swimming. He swam 120 total miles in July.

"Now I'm into my tapering phase,"he said. "I won't be doing much of anything for the next two weeks."

Wilson swam the Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore in June. He is headed to Boston for a 10-mile swim Aug. 18.

He and his travel party, including his wife, are leaving for England Aug. 25.

"I'll spend a week acclimating myself to the water in Dover Harbor,"Wilson said. "I'm the second person on the list for that window of Sept. 4-10, so I know I'm going to get my opportunity.

"I just hope the weather and the elements cooperate."

Brent Wilson said his father is well-prepared mentally to take his shot.

"He's not going to give up until this is accomplished,"he said.

In the meantime, Wilson's sons have placed fence posts in his yard so he can practice lifting them up and down with his legs.

"He will need strong legs to do this and he wants to work on that,"the younger Wilson said.

Wilson first entertained the idea of swimming the English Channel when he read about Michael Read, an asthmatic, completing his record-tying 32nd Channel swim in 2004 at age 63.

Wilson is an asthmatic himself.