List of successful English Channel swimmers
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
This is a list of notable successful swims across the English Channel,{{cite web|url=http://soloswims.com/CSA-E-F.htm#1955 |title=Listing of Successful Swims |accessdate=12 August 2009 |publisher=Solo swims }} a straight-line distance of at least {{convert|18.2|nmi|mi km}}.{{cite web |title=Channel Navigation |url=https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/swim-advice/channel-navigation |website=www.channelswimmingassociation.com |publisher=Channel Swimming Association |access-date=13 June 2024 |language=en}}
File:ISS054-E-53958 (Strait of Dover).jpg
File:Ted Heaton channel swim 1910.jpg (in water) being fed by assistants during his 1910 swim]]
File:Dover, Channel Swimmer's Monument - geograph.org.uk - 2206838.jpg
First attempts
= First unaided attempt, by J. B. Johnson =
The first attempt to cross the channel with no artificial aid was made by the 23 year old J. B. Johnson on 30 August 1872.{{Cite news |date=2019-08-27 |title=English Channel: The history of swimming the Channel |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/49483420 |access-date=2024-09-06 |work=BBC Newsround |language=en-GB}} Johnson hired a brass band in Dover to promote his attempt and entertained the crowd for three hours at Dover before diving in and starting his swim.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|pp=54-55}}
Johnson swam for 45 minutes before having a quick break to down some brandy. He then continued until he had swum for 1 hour before having another break to drink more brandy. After 1 hour and 20 minutes, Johnson boarded the boat because the cold water was too much for him to manage.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=55}} Despite this, the boat continued on to Calais, where Johnson jumped off the boat and swam to shore. The crowd waiting for him believed Johnson had swum the channel, and Johnson briefly entertained this idea. However, later he said that he never intended to swim the whole channel, and that it was all a stunt for publicity.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=55}}
= First successful crossing, by Paul Boyton =
The first successful attempt was by Paul Boyton, wearing a rubber survival suit designed for passengers of sinking ships. On 28 May 1875, on his second attempt, he entered the water at Cap Gris-Nez at 03:00, accompanied by the Prince Ernest and captained by Edward Dane.{{Sfn|Dolphin|1875|pp=43-45}} By 06:00, Boyton was 5 miles from the French coast, and at 11:45, he was halfway.{{Sfn|Dolphin|1875|p=47-49}} At 18:30, Boyton was 4 miles from Dover, and by 02:30, he had landed at Fan Bay, near the Port of Dover.{{Sfn|Dolphin|1875|pp=52-55}} He completed the swim in around 23{{Fraction|1|2}} hours.{{Sfn|Dolphin|1875|p=43}} The press began to portray him as a rival of endurance swimmer Matthew Webb.
= First unaided successful crossing, by Matthew Webb =
Matthew Webb made the crossing without the aid of artificial buoyancy. His first attempt ended in failure, but on 25 August 1875, he started from Admiralty Pier in Dover and made the crossing in 21 hours and 45 minutes, despite challenging tides (which delayed him for 5 hours) and a jellyfish sting.{{cite web | author=Dante | title=ISHOF - Captain Matthew Webb (GBR) - 1965 Honor Swimmer | website=International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) | url=http://www.ishof.org/Honorees/65/65cmwebb.html | access-date=2025-06-13 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716184146/http://www.ishof.org/Honorees/65/65cmwebb.html | archive-date=16 July 2010}}
= Second unaided successful crossing, by Thomas Burgess =
80 failed attempts were made by a variety of people before Thomas William Burgess, on 6 September 1911, became the second person to make the crossing without artificial buoyancy. He crossed from Dover to Cap Gris Nez in 22 hours and 35 minutes at his 16th bid. Burgess ate a hearty meal of ham and eggs before starting his swim. He had trained for only 18 hours beforehand, and his longest practice swim was only {{convert|10|km|0}}.Staff. [http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=PBH19111011.2.81 "The Channel Swim: Burgess's Perseverance Rewarded After Fifteen failures"], Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12581, 11 October 1911, Page 8. Accessed 5 August 2010.
= Other early crossings =
Henry Sullivan was successful at his seventh attempt, becoming the third person, and the first American, to make the crossing. He entered the water in Dover at 4:20 on Sunday afternoon, 5 August 1923. Choppy waters and capricious tides forced him to swim an estimated {{convert|90|km}}. He reached shore at Calais at 8:05 pm on 6 August, finishing in 27 hours and 45 minutes.{{cite web | title=Henry Sullivan Crossed Channel - United States Swimmer Swam From England to France in 27 Hours 25 Minutes - Seventh Attempt - Third to Accomplish Feat - Capt. Webb and Burgess Other Two | website=The Montreal Gazette (Google News Archive Search) | date=1923-08-07 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SWktAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PYoFAAAAIBAJ&dq=henry-sullivan%20english-channel&pg=6716%2C756686 | access-date=2025-06-13}} Two other swimmers completed the swim that same summer. Enrique Tirabocchi, from Argentina, completed the swim on 13 August, finishing in a record time of 16 hours and 33 minutes and the first person to swim the route starting from France.{{cite web | title=Cuts Webb's Time in Channel Swim; Tirabocchi of Argentina Is the First to Succeed Over the Calais-to-Dover Route. 16 HOURS 33 MINS. IN WATER Second Winner of £1,000 Prize Is Exhausted at Finish -- Toth Quits Near Goal. Cuts Webb's Time in Channel Swim | website=The New York Times | date=1923-08-13 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/08/13/archives/cuts-webbs-time-in-channel-swim-tirabocchi-of-argentina-is-the.html | access-date=2025-06-13}} American Charles Toth of Boston completed the swim on 9 September 1923, in 16 hours and 40 minutes, two days after the expiration of a £1,000 prize offered by the Daily Sketch for anyone who completed the swim, a prize that both Sullivan and Tirabocchi received from a representative of the Daily Sketch waiting on the shore with a cheque in hand.{{cite web | title=Toth Swims Channel; Misses £1,000 Prize; Boston's Man's Feat Just Two Days Too Late For Reward. | website=The New York Times | date=1923-09-10 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/09/10/archives/toth-swims-channel-misses-u1000-prize-bostons-mans-feat-just-two.html | access-date=2025-06-13}}{{cite web |title=Toth, Charles |url=https://www.channelswimmingdover.org.uk/content/swimmer/toth-charles |website=Channel Swimming Dover |access-date=12 June 2024 |language=en}}
= First crossings by women =
American Gertrude Ederle's successful cross-channel swim began at Gris Nez in France at 07:05 am on 6 August 1926. Her trainer was Burgess.{{Cite news|first= Paul|last= Gallico|title=First Queen of Channel Swimmers |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/465897152.html?dids=465897152:465897152&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+19%2C+1964&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=GERTRUDE+EDERLE%3A+First+Queen+of+Channel+Swimmers&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021221407/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/465897152.html?dids=465897152:465897152&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+19,+1964&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=GERTRUDE+EDERLE:+First+Queen+of+Channel+Swimmers&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 October 2012 |quote=The coach who joined the party abroad was none other than that Thomas Burgess who, 15 years before, had been the second to make the Channel crossing |work=Los Angeles Times |date=19 January 1964 |accessdate=12 August 2009 }} She came ashore at Kingsdown, Kent, England, in a total time of 14 hours and 39 minutes, making her the first woman to complete the crossing and setting the record for the fastest time, breaking the previous mark set by Tirabocchi by almost two hours. A reporter from The New York Times, who had accompanied Ederle's support team on a tugboat, recounted that Ederle was confronted by a British immigration official, who recorded the biographical details of Ederle and the individuals on board the ship, none of whom had been carrying their passports. Ederle was finally allowed to come ashore, after promising that she would report to the authorities the following morning.{{cite web | first=Alec | last=Rutherford | title=Expert's Story of Swim. | website=The New York Times | date=1926-08-07 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/08/07/archives/experts-story-of-swim.html | access-date=2025-06-13}}
L. Walter Lissberger financed the $3,000 in expenses that Amelia Gade Corson and her husband incurred in preparing for the Channel swim. Lissberger made a wager with Lloyd's of London betting that she would succeed in crossing the Channel, and received a payout of $100,000 at odds of 20–1 when she completed her swim.{{cite web | title=Mrs. Corson Self-Trained.; She Has Swum Around Manhattan and From Albany to New York. | website=The New York Times | date=1926-08-29 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/08/29/archives/mrs-corson-selftrained-she-has-swum-around-manhattan-and-from.html | access-date=2025-06-13}} She was one of three swimmers who were trying to make the swim across the Channel at the same time starting at 11:32 at night on 28 August 1926, leaving from Cape Gris Nez. The two men with her failed, Egyptian swimmer Ishak Helmy dropping out after three hours and an English swimmer failing one mile (1.6 km) from Dover's Shakespeare Cliffs.{{cite web | title=Mrs. Carson Starts to Swim Channel; Woman Who Made Albany to New York Record Reported Making Excellent Progress. | website=The New York Times | date=1926-08-28 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/08/28/archives/mrs-carson-starts-to-swim-channel-woman-who-made-albany-to-new-york.html | access-date=2025-06-13}}> With her husband rowing alongside in a dory and providing her with hot chocolate, sugar lumps and crackers, she completed the swim in a time of 15 hours and 29 minutes, one hour longer than the record set by Gertrude Ederle three weeks earlier.{{cite web | title=Sport: First Mother | website=time.com | date=1926-09-06 | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,722456,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131214252/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,722456,00.html | archive-date=2011-01-31 | url-status=dead | access-date=2025-06-13}}
Jackie Cobell had intended to make the crossing by a more direct route in July 2010, but inadvertently set the record for the slowest solo swim, when strong currents forced her to swim a total of {{convert|105|km}} in 28 hours and 44 minutes.{{cite web | title=Channel swimmer sets slowest record | website=BBC News | date=2010-07-27 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-10782301 | access-date=2025-06-13}}
First swims
National firsts
Other notable crossings
| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;text-align:left"
! Direction ! Country of origin ! width="150" |Swimmer ! Year ! Time ! class="unsortable" |Notes |
| England to France
|{{flagu|United States}} |1953 |14:42 |First woman to swim the English Channel in both directions (on separate occasions). |
| England to France
|{{flagu|United Kingdom}} |1955 |14:06 |First vegetarian swimmer to cross the English Channel.{{cn|date=June 2024}} |
| England to France to England
|{{flagu|Argentina}} |1961 |43:10 |First person to swim the channel both ways non-stop.{{cn|date=January 2025}} |
| France to England
|{{flagu|United Kingdom}} |1961 |15:08 |At the time, the youngest person to swim the Channel (aged 17).{{cite web |title=Channel Swimming - Successful Swim by Margaret White (1961) |url=http://www.dover.uk.com/channelswimming/swims/1961/9/2/1499/Margaret+White/ |website=dover.uk.com |access-date=21 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107080220/http://www.dover.uk.com/channelswimming/swims/1961/9/2/1499/Margaret+White/ |archive-date=7 January 2016 |url-status=dead}} |
| England to France to England
|{{flagu|Canada}} |1977 |19:55 |First woman and youngest swimmer (at the time) to swim the channel both ways non-stop, breaking Jon Erikson's record of 30 hours and setting a new world record. Her one way crossing in 1975 set the record of 9 hours and 46 minutes (a record that stood until 1988).{{Cite web |title=Cindy Nicholas |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/cynthia-nicholas |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}} She holds the record for the most two-way crossings with a total of five.{{Cite web |title=Cindy Nicholas |url=https://ishof.org/honoree/honoree-cindy-nicholas/ |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) |language=en-US}} |
| England to France
|{{flagu|United States}} |1981 |12:30 |First black swimmer to cross the Channel.{{cn|date=January 2025}} |
| England to France to England to France
|{{flagu|United States}} |1981 |38:27 |First person to swim the channel three ways.{{cite web |title=Jon Erikson 1981 |url=https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/swim/2430/jon-erikson |website=www.channelswimmingassociation.com |publisher=Channel Swimming Association |access-date=5 January 2025 |language=en}} |
| England to France
|{{flagu|Australia}} |1998 |12:55 |First paraplegic to swim the Channel.{{cite news |date=1 September 1998 |title=Briefs |newspaper=The Age |page=7}} |
| England to France
|{{flagu|Bulgaria}} |2007 |6:57 |First swimmer to cross the English Channel under 7 hours.{{cn|date=January 2025}} |
| England to France
|{{flagu|France}} |2010 |13:28 |First quadruple amputee to swim the English Channel.{{cite news |last1=Lichfield |first1=John |title=Four amputations, 13 hours – one extraordinary swim |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/four-amputations-13-hours-ndash-one-extraordinary-swim-2083847.html |access-date=5 January 2025 |work=The Independent |date=20 September 2010}} |
| England to France to England to France to England
|{{flagu|United States}} |2019 |54:10 |First person to swim the channel four ways non-stop.{{Cite news |title=Sarah Thomas: Woman First to Swim Channel Four Times Non-stop |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-49724851 |access-date=17 September 2019 |publisher=BBC}} |
| England to France
|{{flagu|United Kingdom}} |Gillian Castle |2023 |13:53 |First person with a stoma to swim the Channel.{{Cite news |title=Alnwick woman becomes first solo English Channel stoma swimmer |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-66783980?fbclid=IwAR1nmcvE8KFL_IagnYdSeOO1R6Tp-B3vlv7EoZ9_Y7ssVlC24ApSjDJAUhs |access-date=15 September 2023 |publisher=BBC}} |
Records
= Fastest =
| class="wikitable"
!Record!!Country of origin!!Swimmer!!Time!!Date | ||||
| 6.55
|Men | {{flagu|Germany}} | Andreas Waschburger {{Cite web |date=2023-09-09 |title=Waschburger durchquert Ärmelkanal in Weltrekordzeit |url=https://www.sr.de/sr/home/sport/waschburger_weltrekord_aermelkanal_100.html |access-date=17 November 2023 |website=SR |language=de-DE}} | 06:45 | Sep. 2023 |
| Women | {{flagu|Czech Republic}} | Yvetta Hlaváčová | 07:25 | 2006 |
| Men two ways | {{flagu|New Zealand}} | Philip Rush | 16:10 | 1987 |
| Women two ways | {{flagu|Australia}} | Susie Maroney | 17:14 | 1991 |
| Men three ways | {{flagu|New Zealand}} | Philip Rush | 28:21 | 1987 |
| Women three ways | {{flagu|United Kingdom}} | Alison Streeter | 34:40 | 1990 |
| Four ways
|{{flagu|United States}} |54:10 |2019 |
= Most crossings =
| class="wikitable" |
| Record
!Country of origin !Swimmer !Crossings |
|---|
| Women
|{{flagu|Australia}} |45 |
| Men
|{{flagu|United Kingdom}} |34 |
| Women two ways
|{{flagu|Canada}} |5 |
| rowspan=2|Men two ways
|{{flagu|United Kingdom}} |rowspan=2|3 |
| {{flagu|Australia}}
|Stuart Johnson |
| rowspan=3|Women three ways
|{{flagu|United Kingdom}} |rowspan=3|1 |
| {{flagu|Australia}} |
| {{flagu|United States}} |
| rowspan="2"|Men three ways
|{{flagu|United States}} |rowspan="2"|1 |
| {{flagu|New Zealand}} |
| Four ways
|{{flagu|United States}} |1 |
= Oldest swimmer =
| class="wikitable" |
| Record
!Country of origin !Swimmer !Age !Date !Reference |
|---|
| Women
|{{flagu|United Kingdom}} |Linda Ashmore |71 years |August 21, 2018 |
| Men
|{{flagu|South Africa}} |Otto Thaning |73 years |September 6, 2014 |
= Youngest swimmer =
| class="wikitable" |
| Record
!Country of origin !Swimmer !Age !Date !Reference |
|---|
| Women
|{{flagu|United Kingdom}} |Samantha Druce |12 years, 118 days |1983 |
| Men
|{{flagu|United Kingdom}} |11 years, 330 days |1988 |
= Relay =
| class="wikitable" | ||||
| webb
!Record!!Country of origin!!Swimmers!!Time!!Date | ||||
| 2 swimmers | {{flagu|United Kingdom }} | 9:22 | 2005 | |
| 3 swimmers | {{flagu|USA}} | 9:39 | 2011 | |
| 4 swimmers | {{flagu|Brazil}} | 8:22 | 2011 |
Sources
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/crossing00kath |title=The crossing: the glorious tragedy of the first man to swim the English channel |last=Watson |first=Kathy |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |year=2001 |isbn=1-58542-109-X |location=New York |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |last=Dolphin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zEQ4Yb_O4MYC |title=The Channel Feats of Captain Webb and Captain Boyton |publisher=Dean & Son |year=1875 |location=London |language=en}}
{{Refend}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.dover.uk.com/channel-swimming/ Full list of successful English Channel swims, records, statistics and swimmer information (Dover.UK.com)]
- [https://cspf.co.uk/solo-channel-swimmers Full list of successful Solo English Channel swims, records, statistics and swimmer information (Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation)]
- [http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/swims/ List of Successful English Channel swim results, records and swimmer information (Those who have swum with the Channel Swimming Association Ltd) ]
- [https://archive.org/details/twitter-1033647740604096512 BBC Newsreel film of 18 year old Philip Mickman's 1949 record-breaking English Channel swim (France to England 23 Hours 48 Minutes)]
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Successful English Channel Swimmers}}