The question – and possibility – was raised that Greek swimmer Jason Zirganos was the first person to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming in the 1950s.

The International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honour Swimmer, inducted in 1971, was certainly a prolific and accomplished swimmer in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1949, he swam the English Channel for the first time. In 1950, he successfully crossed the English Channel again in the Daily Mail First International Cross English Channel Race.

In 1951 he crossed again in 14 hours 1 minute and in 1954 he crossed for the fourth time. In 1957, the Greek army major crossed the Catalina Channel in 17 hours flat. He was also a 4-time Lake Windermere swimmer and successfully swam the Bosphorus and the Nile. Although it has been reported that he twice swam around Manhattan Island in New York City, there are no public record of his swims.

Because the local press was pretty good at covering these type of feats in the 1950s, his reported swims are not acknowledged as official Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming swims.

Zirganos died in his attempt to swim the North Channel from Ireland to Scotland when he lost consciousness and died despite the efforts of a doctor who cut him open with a penknife to massage his heart.

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