Prelude in the English Channel

Prior to 1964, there were only two relay teams that successfully crossed the English Channel: the Rotherham Neptunus Swim Club that went from England to France in 11 hours 20 minutes in 1950 and the Folkestone Swim Club that went from France to England in 14 hours 57 minutes in 1954.

Then, beginning in 1964, a slew of relay teams started to join the English Channel swimming fraternity:

– City of London School for Girls in 1964 (F/E) 16 hours 20 minutes
– Denstone College in 1964 (F/E) 11 hours 27 minutes
– Spitalfields Market in 1964 (F/E) 14 hours 36 minutes
– Rochester Swim Club in 1965 (F/E) 10 hours 47 minutes
– British Petroleum Ltd Swim Club in 1965 (E/F) 13 hours 37 minutes
– Phoenicians Swim Club in 1965 (F/E) in 9 hours 58 minutes
– Middlesborough in 1965 (F/E) in 10 hours 15 minutes
– Radcliffe Swim Club in 1966 (F/E) in 9 hours 29 minutes
– Oundle School ’66 in 1966 (F/E) in 11 hours 45 minutes
– Portsmouth & Southsea LGS in 1966 (F/E) in 12 hours 6 minutes
– Girl Guide Association in 1966 (F/E) in 13 hours 10 minutes
– NW Area Sea Cadets in 1966 (F/E) in 12 hours 9 minutes
– St. Bernadetts Youth Club in 1966 (F/E) in 16 hours 16 minutes
– Tunbridge Wells Monson Swim Club in 1966 (F/E) in 9 hours 45 minutes
– St. Richards of Chichester in 1967 (F/E) in 14 hours 9 minutes
– Stoke on Trent in 1967 (F/E) in 12 hours 33 minutes
– Stoke on Trent in 1967 (E/F) in 17 hours 39 minutes
– Pirelli General/Br.Transport in 1967 (F/E) in 13 hours 57 minutes
– Tyldesley Swim Club (E/F) in 11 hours 37 minutes
– Bank of England in 1967 (F/E) in 12 hours 17 minutes
– International Relay in 1968 (E/F) in 10 hours 37 minutes
– Monson Swim Club in 1968 (E/F) in 12 hours 45 minutes
– 4th Btn. The Queens Regiment in 1968 (F/E) in 9 hours 55 minutes
– Bolton Dolphins in 1969 (E/F) in 11 hours 25 minutes
– Haagse Bluf Team in 1969 (E/F) in 9 hours 29 minutes
– Lamorbey T. & Swim Club in 1969 (F/E) in 17 hours 58 minutes

Relays Drive Solo Crossings

There are specific reasons for this relay boom in the English Channel that began in 1964 with 3 successes of 10 swimmers per team from France to England. “It was obvious to the Channel Swimming Association that relay swims were to be very much part of the future, most importantly to provide more work for the pilots – who were hardly making fortunes, and for the fact that they might encourage relay swimmers to make solo attempts and of course, unwittingly, the potential to raise millions of ££££s by being sponsored for charities,” wrote International Swimming Hall of Fame and International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame dual inductee Michael Read.

As the Channel Swimming Association rules were formalized for the 1965 season, the steppingstone for solo English Channel aspirants was established and became a memorable way to experience marathon swimming with friends and teammates as well as a much-appreciated means to generate additional income for escort pilots.

Emergence of Relay Traditions

But why did six people become the norm? Why not 2 or 3 or 4 swimmers?

Why did the one-hour rotations become the norm? Why not 30 minutes or 2 hours?

The concept of six people doing a relay had profound implications for the rest of the open water swimming relay world, both short-term and long-term. Relays from the Maui Channel to the Catalina Channel adopted the standard six-person relay concept.

Read recalls the history behind the English Channel relay rules. “Relay swimming was discussed at length by the Channel Swimming Association Committee in the early 1960′s. The discussion of relays came about due to the discussions with [Honorary Secretary] John Unicum Wood who did much to further channel swimming relationships and ideas. There were two main reasons for their instigation. Firstly, as a way of getting more people into channel swimming and, as a result, hopefully get a few solo attempts from the relay swimmers. Secondly, to generate more opportunities for the escort boatmen.”

Read recalls sitting with Wood and renowned Captain Leonard Hutchinson when the idea originally did not move forward. The idea didn’t gain much initial steam because, among other issues, relays would be too difficult to organize, but Captain Hutchinson liked the concept. It was subsequently put to the Committee. The initial rules made it the same for all swims and the six-person, one-hour formula was set. The Committee also determined that if a swimmer could not complete his/her hour or swim when it was their turn, the team was disqualified.

The rest, as evidenced by the increasing number of relay teams over the past 5 decades around the world, is history.

Channel Swimming in Japan

Channel swimming took off with the emergence of the Tsugaru Channel in northern Japan. One of the early pioneers was Masayuki Moriya who crossed the channel in 2011.

He turned his passion in the open water to a full-time business with Ocean Navi. Similar to the Channel Swimming Association, Ocean Navi not only organized, observed, and/or trained a handful of Japanese solo channel swimmers, but also more importantly, started to organize several dozens of relay crossings.

The initial exposure to swimming a relay leg led eventually to a growing number of Japanese channel and marathon swimmers.

Moriya continues to introduce Japanese swimmers to the sport via multi-person channel relays.

Success in the Sado Channel

The Sado Channel season in northern Japan is now in full swing.has started in earnest at a slightly lower latitude in Japan.

On June 18th, 12 people from Sesamincyu – many of them first-time channel swimmers – participated in a 40 km relay across the Sado Channel in northwestern Japan. The team started at Akadomari Port on Sado Island 44 minutes after midnight. The team finished at Teradomari Port in Nagaoka City in Niigata Prefecture on the mainland of Honshu at 3:48 pm, 15 hours 4 minutes after starting.

The members are all part of Ocean Navi: Kenji Iwama, Chie Otaka, Takenori Odashima, Noriyuki Takeda, Minako Kawai, Irisawa Takumi, Yuji Yoshitake, Yumi Shaui, Hidetoshi Fujimoto, Hiroko Monma, Ami Morioka, and Masayuki Moriya as observer.

Moriya reported, “The Sea of Japan was calm throughout, with almost no wind, making for a pleasant swim in the calm waters that were 18°C ​​at the start and 24.5°C at the finish. Everyone wore wetsuits, and took their leg every five minutes in th relay. For many of the participants, this was their first attempt at crossing the strait, but they came together as a team and swam to the end in a warm atmosphere, encouraging each other and receiving endless cheers of support. This challenge went beyond simply crossing the strait; it was a special day where we could feel the teamwork and bonds between the swimmers. It was fantastic that enabled us to experience the charm of the open water.”

For more information, visit www.ocean-navi.com. To watch clips from the relay, visit here.

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