Julian Critchlow was elected as an Honor Administrator in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in its Class of 2021. He was honored again, receiving the Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

The Davids-Wheeler Award was established in 1970 by the New England Marathon Swimming Association to recognize the contribution of individuals and groups making major contributions to marathon swimming and to serve as a perpetual memorial to Irving Davids and Captain Roger Wheeler.

In addition to swimming solo four separate times across the English Channel, he has served as the Vice-Chairman of the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation while simultaneously working over the last two decades to create and maintain the world’s most authoritative database of solo and relay English Channel crossings.

“Julian is genius. Between the time of crossing the Channel in 2004, 2014, 2017 and 2019, he breaks down the discipline of channel swimming in innumerable interesting ways,” said Steven Munatones. “Julian is among the marathon swimming’s all-time most analytical observer and historian. He is a canny and a highly inquisitive observer of the obvious – and most interestingly, the non-obvious. He is a pundit, a deep-thinking analyst, and number cruncher of the highest order.

His information about the channel swimming world is both definitive and ever-evolving. His data collection and historical analyses of attempts – including both DNF’s and successes across the English Channel are comprehensive. His depth of curiosity is incredible; his website (Cold Water Swimming) equal parts enlightening, entertaining, and educational.

From blog posts ranging from his Random Musings and Channel Swimming Trivia to the question of Why and all kinds of Pearls of Wisdom, Critchlow covers and interprets a massive amount of information about swimming across the English Channel.  Reading information that is generated by Julian – one of the sharp minds in the global aquatics community – provides an easy-to-comprehend perspective of the sport – that is relished by those who venture beyond the shoreline – and will be for a long, long, long time.”

His introspections and reflections on all kinds of topics are posted on Cold Water Swimming. Critchlow’s database of Channel swimming is downloadable here. 

While solo crossings of the English Channel have been well-documented since 1926, it took another massive, long-term effort by Critchlow to comprehensively document the details of thousands of solo swims from 1875 to the present.

Critchlow also created a similar database for English Channel relays (2-person duo, 3-person trio, 4-person quad, 5-person quintet, 6-person sextet, etc.).

The ever-analytical Critchlow explains, “[Creating the database] was a lot harder than I thought…inevitably, it will change a lot over the coming weeks as people fill in the gaps which are more extensive on relays. I am excited about the option to look at the ‘season’ including both solos and relays together. Lots of interesting analysis to follow.”

To view the database, visit here.

Critchlow writes, “English Channel Relays are an unique team experience. The long training programme; the first cold water swims together; the two-hour qualification; and then the actual swim itself. It really brings to life the expression ‘the team is only as strong as its weakest link’…but the experience – and the team that you do it with – will live with you for a lifetime. It is for this reason that I have felt for a long time that there ought to be a single integrated database to celebrate ‘the oldest’; ‘he first sisters’; the ‘Aussie Backstrokers’, and all the charities that have benefited from English Channel Relays.

However – and it is a BIG ‘however’ – there are 6 people in a standard relay. It has taken me 16 years to get some form of ‘stability’ and ‘factual accuracy’ into the English Channel Solo Database – and, stating the obvious, a solo only has one swimmer in it! I spend endless hundreds of hours each year trawling the internet and reaching out to swimmers to confirm all the details of their swims (and in the process collecting hordes of fascinating personal stories). To attempt the same for Relays is plain suicidal.“

© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“

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