"latter part of the 19th century when Captain Matthew Webb made the first observed and unassisted swim across the Strait of Dover, swimming from England to France on 24–25 August 1875 in 21 hours 45 minutes. In 1927, at a time when fewer than ten swimmers (including the first woman, Gertrude Ederle in 1926) had managed to emulate the feat and many dubious claims were being made, the Channel Swimming Association (CSA) was founded to authenticate and ratify swimmers' claims to have swum the Channel and to verify crossing times. The CSA was dissolved in 1999 and was succeeded by"
"in 1923 for the longest time to make the crossing successfully. Henry Sullivan (swimmer) Henry Sullivan (born c. 1893) was an American marathon swimmer who is best known for becoming the third person and the first American to swim across the English Channel, beginning his swim on the afternoon of August 5, 1923, from Dover, England and finishing 27 hours and 25 minutes later on the evening of August 6 at Calais, France. The son of a businessman from Lowell, Massachusetts, Sullivan had been swimming since he was eight years old. He first attempted to make the crossing in 1913,"
"Edward Temme Edward Harry Temme (16 September 1904 – 26 June 1977) was an English swimmer and insurance clerk. Temme was the first man to swim across the English Channel both ways, from France to England on 5 August 1927 and from England to France on 18 August 1934. He was also a water polo player who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam and the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Temme was born in Stratford Road, Plaistow, Essex (now part of east London). He was a member of the British water polo team that finished fourth at the"
"today. Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim the English Channel (between England and France), in 1875. Using the breaststroke technique, he swam the channel in 21 hours and 45 minutes. His feat was not replicated or surpassed for the next 36 years, until T.W. Burgess made the crossing in 1911. Other European countries also established swimming federations; Germany in 1882, France in 1890 and Hungary in 1896. The first European amateur swimming competitions were in 1889 in Vienna. The world's first women's swimming championship was held in Scotland in 1892. Men's swimming became part of the first"
"Henry Sullivan (swimmer) Henry Sullivan (born c. 1893) was an American marathon swimmer who is best known for becoming the third person and the first American to swim across the English Channel, beginning his swim on the afternoon of August 5, 1923, from Dover, England and finishing 27 hours and 25 minutes later on the evening of August 6 at Calais, France. The son of a businessman from Lowell, Massachusetts, Sullivan had been swimming since he was eight years old. He first attempted to make the crossing in 1913, two years after Thomas William Burgess became the second person to"
"Matthew Webb Captain Matthew Webb (19 January 1848 – 24 July 1883) was the first recorded person to swim the English Channel for sport without the use of artificial aids. On 25 August 1875, Webb swam from Dover to Calais in less than 22 hours. Webb was born at Dawley, Telford, in Shropshire, one of twelve children of a Coalbrookdale doctor. He acquired his ability to swim in the River Severn at Coalbrookdale. In 1860, at the age of twelve, he joined the training ship HMS Conway for two years, then entered the merchant navy and served a three-year apprenticeship"
"Agnes Beckwith Agnes Alice Beckwith (24 August 1861 – 12 July 1898) was an English swimmer Beckwith was born in 1861 in Lambeth, south London. She was the daughter of Frederick Edward Beckwith, a noted swimmer who was 'professional English champion' and swimming professor at the Lambeth Baths. By the age of four or five she was performing as a swimmer in shows organised by her father, and by 1871 she and her brother Willie's swimming skills were being shown in Paris. Her father ""Professor Beckwith"" had backed Matthew Webb to be the first person to swim the English Channel."
"Florence Chadwick Florence May Chadwick (November 9, 1918 – March 15, 1995) was an American swimmer known for long-distance open water swimming. She was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, setting a time record each time. She was also the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Bosporus (one way), and the Dardanelles (round trip). She was born in San Diego on November 8, 1918. Her parents were Richard Chadwick, a police officer, and Mary Lacko, a homemaker who later operated a San Diego restaurant. Chadwick grew up in the"
"Kevin Murphy (swimmer) Kevin Murphy (born 1949) has swum the English Channel 34 times, more than any other man in history. The overall title of greatest number of successful English Channel swims is held by Alison Streeter with 43 to her name. Murphy's total of 34 includes three double-channel swims. He also holds the record for the earliest Channel crossing of the year, set on 29 May 1990. In 1964, aged just 15, he completed his first long distance swim - 6 hours 29 minutes for the 10 miles of Windermere. In 1968, he completed his first Channel swim -"
"Tom Blower Tom Blower (1914–1955) was a British man who on 27–28 July 1947 became the first to successfully swim the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, completing the feat in 15 hours and 26 minutes. In spite of multiple attempts by others, the North Channel would not be successfully crossed by a swimmer again until 12 September 1970, when it was accomplished by Kevin Murphy. Blower also swam the English Channel several times, with a personal best speed of 13 hours and 29 minutes in 1937 that set a new record, shaving the previous best by 23 minutes. Born"
"Enrique Tirabocchi Enrique Tirabocchi (variously spelled as Enrico Tiraboschi) was an Argentinian marathon swimmer who in August 1926 became the fourth person to successfully swim across the English Channel. He was the first person to swim from France to England and finished the swim in 16 hours and 33 minutes, beating the record set by Matthew Webb when he was the first to make the crossing more than 50 years earlier. In a February 1920 attempt to swim from Colonia, Uruguay across the River Plate to Buenos Aires, Tirabocchi set a record by being in the water for 24 hours"
"22 h 16 mins. His total number of successful English Channel swims stands at 11, spanning a period from 1969 to 1981. Erikson died of an infection on July 28, 2014 in Boca Raton. He was 59. Jon Erikson Jon Erikson (1954 – July 28, 2014) was an American long distance swimmer who was the first of only four people to have ever completed a three way swim of the English Channel. A physical education teacher at the time, he completed the swim in a time of 38 h 27 mins in 1981. The only other individuals to have completed"
"was the first man to swim the English Channel (between England and France), in 1875. He used breaststroke, swimming in 21 hours and 45 minutes. His feat was not replicated or surpassed for the next 36 years, until Bill Burgess made the crossing in 1911. Other European countries also established swimming federations; Germany in 1882, France in 1890 and Hungary in 1896. The first European amateur swimming competitions were in 1889 in Vienna. The world's first women's swimming championship was held in Scotland in 1892. Nancy Edberg popularized women's swimming in Stockholm from 1847. She made swimming lessons accessible for"
"at the age of 97 on 21 February 2008 at Warrington Hospital. Sunny Lowry Ethel ""Sunny"" Lowry MBE (2 January 1911, in Longsight, Manchester, Lancashire – 21 February 2008) was the first British woman to swim the English Channel. (An earlier claim was successfully made by Mercedes Gleitze). Lowry, a student at Manchester High School for Girls and a keen swimmer from a young age, joined the Victoria Ladies Swimming Club of Victoria Baths, Longsight, Manchester. At that time (c. 1920) Victoria Baths only offered single-sex swimming sessions and therefore Sunny was unable to compete against the men. She was"
"Sunny Lowry Ethel ""Sunny"" Lowry MBE (2 January 1911, in Longsight, Manchester, Lancashire – 21 February 2008) was the first British woman to swim the English Channel. (An earlier claim was successfully made by Mercedes Gleitze). Lowry, a student at Manchester High School for Girls and a keen swimmer from a young age, joined the Victoria Ladies Swimming Club of Victoria Baths, Longsight, Manchester. At that time (c. 1920) Victoria Baths only offered single-sex swimming sessions and therefore Sunny was unable to compete against the men. She was developing an aptitude for long-distance swimming and used to train with her"
"Bill Burgess Thomas William Burgess (15 June 1872 – 2 July 1950) was the second person to successfully complete a swim of the English Channel after Matthew Webb. He performed the feat on 6 September 1911, on his 16th attempt. British by nationality, Burgess spent most of his life in France, and won a bronze medal with the French water polo team at the 1900 Olympics. Burgess was born at 7 Lyndhurst Place, Rotherham, to Alfred Burgess, a blacksmith from Youlgreave, Derbyshire, and Camilla Anna Peat, a cook from Harthill, South Yorkshire. He had a younger sister, Winifred Edith Burgess,"
"Beckwith organised a spectacle by showing Webb swimming miles in the River Thames. Webb completed ‘nearly six miles’, but the poor public interest meant that her father lost money. Her father lost his protege to another. In August 1875 Matthew Webb became the first man recorded to have swum the English Channel. Professor Beckwith and Agnes built on the public interest by swimming five miles down the Thames. On 1 September 1875, at the age of fourteen, she made swimming history by diving off a boat at London Bridge and swimming five miles to Greenwich. The journey took her one-hour"
"her. <br> <br> Gertrude Ederle Gertrude Caroline Ederle (October 23, 1905 – November 30, 2003) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Among other nicknames, the press sometimes called her ""Queen of the Waves."" Gertrude Ederle was born on October 23, 1905 in Manhattan, New York City. She was the third of six children and the daughter of German immigrants, Gertrude Anna Haberstroh and Henry Ederle. According to a biography of Ederle, ""America's Girl"", her father ran a"
"the Military Medal in 1917. He married Catherine Stewart in 1924 and they had 3 children; he died in 1983. Ned Barnie Ned Barnie was the first Scot and oldest person ever to swim the English Channel in 1950, a record unequalled for 28 years. Born William Edward Barnie in 1896 in Portobello, Edinburgh, he gained a chemistry degree and taught at St Anthony`s School in Lochend Road between 1969 and 1971. He also taught at both Darroch and David Kilpatrick's Schools. His was widely known for his swimming exploits which are celebrated by the Channel Swimming Association. In 1932"
"had been set by Thomas Webb in 1875 when he made the first successful Channel swim, and was more than nine hours faster than the time set by American Henry Sullivan who had made the England-to-France crossing earlier that week. ""The Times"" describe Tirabocchi's path as approximating the shape of the letter ""N"" while the additional tides faced by Sullivan days earlier had forced him in the track of a ""W"" with an extra stroke. American Charles Toth had made an attempt to cross the Channel at the same time in the opposite direction, but was forced to abandon his"
"Kent in 2012. Joe Smith (swimmer) Joseph ""Joe"" Smith is the oldest British citizen to swim the English Channel. He was born in Rochdale, Lancashire in 1933, the 8th out of 9 children. After unsuccessful attempts in 1961 and 1962, he finally achieved a crossing in September 1999 in a time of 14 hours 9 minutes at the age of 65. Cyril Smith, MP for Rochdale at the time, took a huge interest in the event and funded part of it. Married to Marlene, his biggest fan! Now lives in Deal, Kent and still swims daily. He carried the Olympic"
"comparing finish times from performances undertaken on different days meaningless. One of the earliest marathon swims was accomplished in 1875 by Captain Matthew Webb, when he became the first person to swim across the English Channel. Similarly, perhaps the most famous marathon swim of all-time was accomplished in 1926 by Gertrude Ederle, when she became, at 19 years of age, the first woman to swim across the English Channel. In doing so, she demolished the existing world record for the crossing, by employing the crawl stroke technique. The Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming includes three of the most well-known"
"the Australian Trent Grimsey on 8 September 2012, in 6 hours 55 minutes, beating the previous record set in 2007 by Bulgarian swimmer Petar Stoychev. There may have been some unreported swims of the Channel, by people intent on entering Britain in circumvention of immigration controls. A failed attempt to cross the Channel by two Syrian refugees in October 2014 only came to light when their bodies were later discovered on the shores of the North Sea in Norway and the Netherlands. On 16 September 1965, two Amphicars crossed from Dover to Calais. English Channel The English Channel (, ""The"
"Gertrude Ederle Gertrude Caroline Ederle (October 23, 1905 – November 30, 2003) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Among other nicknames, the press sometimes called her ""Queen of the Waves."" Gertrude Ederle was born on October 23, 1905 in Manhattan, New York City. She was the third of six children and the daughter of German immigrants, Gertrude Anna Haberstroh and Henry Ederle. According to a biography of Ederle, ""America's Girl"", her father ran a butcher shop on"
"around 1800, mostly using breaststroke. A watershed event was a swimming competition in 1844 in London, notable for the participation of some Native Americans. While the British raced using breaststroke, the Native Americans swam a variant of the front crawl. The British continued to swim only breaststroke until 1873. Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim the English channel (between England and France), in 1875. He used breaststroke, swimming 21.26 miles (34.21 km) in 21 hours and 45 minutes. The 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri were the first Olympics to feature a separate breaststroke competition, over"
"Channel"". As of 2006 Murphy still worked as an ITN journalist. In 2008 he appeared on ""The Great British Body"" where he was chosen to represent the British male because of his extraordinary achievements. In 2009, Murphy was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Kevin Murphy (swimmer) Kevin Murphy (born 1949) has swum the English Channel 34 times, more than any other man in history. The overall title of greatest number of successful English Channel swims is held by Alison Streeter with 43 to her name. Murphy's total of 34 includes three double-channel swims. He also holds the"
"Jon Erikson Jon Erikson (1954 – July 28, 2014) was an American long distance swimmer who was the first of only four people to have ever completed a three way swim of the English Channel. A physical education teacher at the time, he completed the swim in a time of 38 h 27 mins in 1981. The only other individuals to have completed this feat are Philip Rush and Alison Streeter Erikson also completed a two way crossing of the English Channel in 1975 in a time of 30 h 00 mins and again in 1979 in a time of"
"successfully appealed to Benito Mussolini to retrieve the award. Tirabocchi credited American Gertrude Ederle with having made ""a marvelous swim"" in 1926, when she finished in 14 hours and 39 minutes, cutting almost two full hours off his record time, saying that her pace was not a matter of luck but was part of the ""excellent constitution... [and] great powers of resistance"" needed to complete the swim. Enrique Tirabocchi Enrique Tirabocchi (variously spelled as Enrico Tiraboschi) was an Argentinian marathon swimmer who in August 1926 became the fourth person to successfully swim across the English Channel. He was the first"
"English Channel swims - 43 crossings; men's record is 34 held by Kevin Murphy. <br> 1998 Isles of Scilly to Cornwall 1st person 28 miles 15 h 11 min Alison Streeter Alison Jane Streeter MBE (born 1964) is a British long-distance swimmer. She has swum across the English Channel 43 times, more than anyone in the world and earning her the title of Queen of the English Channel. This total includes a triple-channel swim. She also completed seven Channel crossings in one year. She set the female record for a Channel swim from France to England (8 hours 48 minutes),"
"Joe Smith (swimmer) Joseph ""Joe"" Smith is the oldest British citizen to swim the English Channel. He was born in Rochdale, Lancashire in 1933, the 8th out of 9 children. After unsuccessful attempts in 1961 and 1962, he finally achieved a crossing in September 1999 in a time of 14 hours 9 minutes at the age of 65. Cyril Smith, MP for Rochdale at the time, took a huge interest in the event and funded part of it. Married to Marlene, his biggest fan! Now lives in Deal, Kent and still swims daily. He carried the Olympic Torch through Deal,"
"1961. Brojen was detected to have cancer in June 1997. He went to Calcutta, India, for treatment, and died there on 1 June 1998. His funeral was held at Postagola cremation site in Dhaka on 3 June 1998. Brojen Das Brojen Das (9 December 1927 – 1 June 1998) was a Bengali swimmer, who was the first Asian to swim across the English Channel, and the first person to cross it six times. Brojen was born in the Kuchiamora village of Bikrampur, Bangladesh. His father was Harendra Kumar Das. He completed the matriculation exam in 1946 from KL Jubilee High"
"Mihir Sen Mihir Sen (16 November 1930 – 11 June 1997) was a famous long distance swimmer & a National Hero, considered to be one of the most prominent youth icons of his generation. He was best known for being the first Indian to conquer the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 1958 in the fourth fastest time (14 hrs & 45 mins) and the only man to earn the distinction of swimming the Oceans of the 5 continents in one calendar year (1966). This included the Palk Strait, Dardanelles, Bosphorpous, The straits of Gibraltar and the entire length"
"Ned Barnie Ned Barnie was the first Scot and oldest person ever to swim the English Channel in 1950, a record unequalled for 28 years. Born William Edward Barnie in 1896 in Portobello, Edinburgh, he gained a chemistry degree and taught at St Anthony`s School in Lochend Road between 1969 and 1971. He also taught at both Darroch and David Kilpatrick's Schools. His was widely known for his swimming exploits which are celebrated by the Channel Swimming Association. In 1932 he swam 20,000 lengths of Portobello Baths. He became President of the Scottish Swimming Association in 1946. In 1950, Barnie"