Raymond Dixon (78, Great Britain, MSF bio here) and Corrie Dixon (née Ebbelaar, 76, Netherlands, MSF bio here) both completed crossings of the English Channel – in some remarkable coincidences.

Initially, the 22-year-old Corrie crossed on September 5th 1971 in 10 hours 43 minutes, breaking Greta Andersen‘s Channel record by 2 hours 57 minutes – just after breaking the one-way and two-way Windermere crossings in the Lake District. In 1972, the renowned Dutch swimmer married Raymond.13:40

The next year, 26-year-old Raymond crossed the Channel on September 5th 1973 in 10 hours 43 minutes during the 4th Arab Nations Race. Five years later, Ray crossed again in August 1978 in 10 hours 43 minutes [that won the Centenary Cup], the exact same time and the exact same date.

What are the chances that a husband and a wife would cross the English Channel in the exact same time on three different occasions over the course of 7 years under different conditions and different temperatures?

It is an almost unimaginable coincidence.

In 1973, Ray and Corrie both competed on the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation circuit. They competed in two races where they went head-to-head:

• 32 km Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean in Canada where Corrie finished in 9 hours 2 minutes and Raymond finished in 9 hours 32 minutes. They both competed again in the Traversée du lac St-Jean where Corrie in 9 hours 54 minutes with Raymond finishing in 9 hours 15 minutes.
• 16.1 km Lake Michigan Race in Chicago where Corrie finished in 4 hours 31 minutes and Raymond finished in 4 hours 26 minutes.
• 24 hours La Tuque in Canada where they were teammates and came second.

In 1974, they both competed on the professional marathon swimming circuit. They competed in two races where they went head-to-head:

• 32 km Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean in Canada where Corrie finished in 9 hours 54 minutes and Raymond finished in 9 hours 15 minutes.
• 16.1 km Laval in Canada where Corrie finished in 4 hours 20 minutes and Raymond finished in 4 hours 29 minutes.

In 1975, they both competed on the professional marathon swimming circuit, both competing:

• 56.9 km Maratón Acuatíco Río Coronda in Argentina where Corrie finished first in 8 hours 34 minutes and Raymond finished in 8 hours 53 minutes.
• 28 km Mar del Plata Marathon in Argentina were Raymond was third. He recalled, “We were looked after very well and we spent a wonderful couple of weeks in Mar Del Plata after the swims before we went home.”

In 1977, they both competed on the professional marathon swimming circuit, both competing in Chicago again:

• 16.1 km Lake Michigan Race in Chicago where Corrie finished in 4 hours 23 minutes and Raymond finished in 4 hours 6 minutes.

In 1978, they both competed on the professional marathon swimming circuit, both competing in Egypt:

• 37 km Nile River Marathon where Corrie finished in 6 hours 11 minutes and Raymond finished in 6 hours 21 minutes.

Over the course of their careers in addition to these swims, they also swam in 10 km False Bay and 10.2 km Robben Island in South Africa, 22 km IJsselmeer Zwemmarathon in the Netherlands, 19.7 km Rottnest Channel Swim in Western Australia, 36 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy, 28 km Mar del Plata Marathon in Argentina, and the 30 km Chibougamau race in Canada.

They also both participated in the Hetzel’s Texas Volunteers English Channel relay together with Tom Hetzel,  Norman Trusty, Tinga, and Dillys Benyon [shown above on right]. The sextet set the two-way (England-to-France-to-England) record of the English Channel in 17 hours 50 minutes in 1974 (8 hours 51 minutes to France and 8 hours 59 minute back to England).

While Raymond went on to become a top Channel escort pilot, Corrie coached at the Dover Lifeguard Club where she focused on domestic and international channel swimmers. She combined a rigorous pool swimming regimen with a tough open water training program that began in April in Dover. Among her coaching highlights were the following relays and individuals:

• 1981: England-France relay (average age of the team 15) crossed in a record time of 7 hours 17 minutes
• 1982: Richard Charlesworth from France to England in a record time of 8 hours 52 minutes.
• 1984: Lyndon Dunsbee from France to England in a record time of 8 hours 17 minutes.
• 1988: Richard Davey from France to England in a record time of 8 hours 5 minutes.
• Others who dominated British Long Distance Swimming Association events, setting records from Brighton  to Loch Lomond 
• 1988: Bridget Young who was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame along with Richard Davey.
• 1991: Justin Palfrey raced in the 1991 FINA World Championships 25 km and set a Windermere record from Fell Foot to Ambleside in 3 hours 48 minutes in 1997

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