Harrison Haines (@hhaines44, University of Florida bio here) has been a great backstroker all his aquatic life: as an age group swimmer, as a high school swimmer in Massachusetts, as a college swimmer at the University of Florida, and now as an English Channel swimmer.
This week, he set a backstroke course record across the English Channel, swimming in 10 hours 41 minutes that broke the existing record of Nik Haynes previously set in August 2020 [see video below]. He was escorted by Reg Brickell and Ray Brickell.
Backstroke crossings require a bit more coordination and planning than a normal freestyle crossing. One issue is feedings. Haines explains about how he handled the feedings, “Quite well, it’s enormously advantageous to partner with someone like Tim Denyer. I had the absolute privilege to go out and train with him and his team in Croatia, so we’d been through the process and tested to make sure I knew what worked at what didn’t. I had also played around with putting antacid tablets in the feeds during some of my open water races leading up to the Channel and it worked quite well.
I didn’t plan out my morning of breakfast well enough though, and ended up throwing up everything I had in my stomach at hour [2.5]. That said, having Tim on board was a life saver and we made the adjustments we needed to and just kept pushing onward.
The finish – whether backstroke or freestyle – are also a joy to experience. He said, “I hit France, took in the wave of pride that washed over me and then almost asked Tim if he wanted to race back to the boat. Getting back on the boat and have my wife, my parents, and friend with me was amazing too—was the perfect support network to come back and celebrate with.
But swimming straight is alway a challenge, and even more so swimming backstroke. The former age group and collegiate Gaor explained, “That’s purely credit to the captains escorted by Reg and Ray Brickell— they sure know how to navigate those waters. At some point Tim tried to explain to me that despite France looking very close, we’d need to pass to the south and loop in. I hadn’t even turned around and looked at that point (given I was swimming backstroke), and even if had, there wasn’t much I could do except trust them and keep swimming. Plus it’s really easy to trust your coach and captains when they’re the best in the sport.
“I mostly swam with my eyes half closed, probably looked up every 6 – 10 strokes to spot and then back to a neutral head position. That said, it was quite easy to see in my peripheral.“
Fortunately, the conditions were pretty good, “We were hoping for glass, but got a light swell. Some small parts at the end of the ebb were a little choppy, but all in all we got super lucky, and I had a very fast day.
[But], my head went under almost every stroke, but it’s natural at this point with the training to anticipate the timing and I would breathe out instinctively as the water washed over me. During some of the choppier parts I got surprised with some water in my mouth that made me choke, but it only happened a handful of times.”
Journey to France
Eventually, he came across Coach Denyer of Red Top Swim Club. “I swam at the University of Florida, and did an English channel relay in 2023 with some of my teammates from there, including Dan Wallace. Via Dan, I met Andy Donaldson, another open water swimmer. When I started looking into doing a solo, Andy was one of the first guys I talked to and he pretty much said don’t do anything else before you talk to Tim. Dan said the same thing, so it was pretty obvious what I needed to do. I had no idea at the time that he was the world’s preeminent open water swimming coach, but there was so much serendipity in this swim, I just put that in the basket of “meant to be”.
I took a week of vacation with my wife and we flew out to Croatia to do one of Tim’s open water swim camps. There are some seriously fast swimmers at those camps, and the amount of knowledge and confidence I got from practicing in the cold, open ocean for 3+ hours a day cannot be overstated. It was absolutely critical in my success, and cannot say enough good things about the experience.“
Haines was born in Adelaide, Australia and moved to the Boston area when he was 8. He started swimming for Bernal’s Gators Swim Club right after he moved and ended up breaking Olympic silver medalist Bobby Hackett’s age group team records – showing great promise early.
But he had an underwhelming college swimming career between a broken arm freshman year and some serious illness my last year. It was a hard split with the sport. But inspiration comes from unexpected places in the open water world sometimes. He remembers, “I was watching some of my former Univeristy of Florida teammates crush it in Paris at the 2024 Olympic Games and their performances gave me a real itch to get back into competing.
I set a long term goal of making the USA Olympic Trials again backstroke in LA2028, and started planning backwards from there.
Building back an aerobic base takes the longest, so that was the priority for year one. I had also really enjoyed the English Channel relay we did in 2023– while most of the other guys on the boat were dreading getting back in for their second hour, I was eager for more. Through that experience I knew I wanted to do a solo, and so in August 2024, I started planning out what a backstroke crossing would look like.“
2023 English Channel Charity Relay
Haines explains his English Channel relay effort, “In June of 2023, I was a member of an English Channel relay team that raised over £200,000 for charity. As part of that effort, I was fortunate enough to meet with the Solidarite Ukraine (a French NGO) team in France. At the the beginning of the war, the organization had been critical in funding and organizing busses of refugees from the front line in Ukraine to France, and working to get their families assimilated; teaching the families French, getting the kids in schools, and the parents jobs. You can read more about what they’ve been doing here: https://solidariteukraine.org.
Over the last two years, while the news cycle has moved on, the situation in Ukraine has only worsened. Solidarite Ukraine has continued to provide both aid to refugees, along with front line relief to families that remain in Ukraine. Since 2022, the organization has organized over 40x 22-tonne trucks of humanitarian relief including medical and school supplies to the most vulnerable towns in the country.
I partnered with RememberUS (a US NGO for the ease of US donors), with 100% of funds to be remitted to Solidarite Ukraine, so they can continue providing the critical relief. Each 22-tonne truck costs c. €3,500, and every contribution, big or small, makes a real impact in saving lives. Even just a few dollars can help move this mission forward and reach those who need it most.“
His fundraising page to support Ukrainian Aid is here.
English Channel Backstrokers in History
- Harrison Haines, USA: 10 hours 41 minutes in July 2025
- Nik Haynes, Great Britain, see documentary below: 12 hours 52 minutes in August 2020
- Raquel Márquez Colín, Mexico: 16 hours 8 minutes in August 2007
- Tina Neill, USA, MSF bio here: 13 hours 22 minutes in August 2005
- Haydn Welch, Great Britain, MSF bio here: 17 hours 2 minutes in September 1993
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What about Raquel Marquez Colin swim in 2007?
Oh, yes. My sincere apologies for missing Raquel! She completed a crossing of the English Channel in 16 hours 8 minutes on 1 August 2007 swimming backstroke, and two years an one day later, she completed a freestyle crossing of the English Channel in 12 hours 8 minutes.