Courtesy of Julian Critchlow, English Channel.
Out of curiosity, we wondered what the gradual progression of the English Channel crossing records were since 1875. Based on Julian Critchlow‘s database, we found out these nuggets of history of swims from France to England and from England to France:
France to England Solo Crossing – World Record Progression:
1923: Enrico Tiraboschi (Italy) 16 hours 33 minutes on August 11th 1923 (breaststroke)
1926: Gertrude Ederle (USA) 14 hours 39 minutes on August 6th 1926
1926: Arnst Vierkotter (Germany) 12 hours 38 minutes on August 30th 1926
1926: Georges Michel (France) 11 hours 5 minutes on September 9th 1926
1950: Hassan Abdel Rehim (Egypt) 10 hours 50 minutes on August 22nd 1950
1961: Brojen Das (Pakistan) 10 hours 35 minutes on September 21st 1961
1964: Barry Watson (UK) 9 hours 35 minutes on August 16th 1964
1982: Richard Charlesworth (UK) 8 hours 52 minutes on July 15th 1982
1984: Lyndon Dunsbee (UK) 8 hours 34 minutes on July 7th 1984
1985: Eric Johnson (USA) 8 hours 20 minutes on August 13th 1985
1987: Philip Rush (New Zealand) 8 hours 15 minutes on August 16th 1987
1988: Richard Davey 8 hours 5 minutes on September 8th 1988
England to France Solo Crossing – World Record Progression:
1875: Matthew Webb (UK) 21 hours 45 minutes on August 24th 1875
1934: Edward Temme (UK) 15 hours 34 minutes on August 19th 1934
1948: Thomas Blower (UK) 15 hours 31 minutes on August 29th 1948
1953: Abdel Latif Abou Heif (Egypt) 13 hours 45 minutes August 2nd 1953
1957: Commander Gerald Forsberg, OBE RN (UK) 13 hours 33 minutes August 21st 1957
1959: Abilio Couto (Brazil) 12 hours 49 minutes on September 11th 1959
1960: Helge Jensen (Denmark) 10 hours 23 minutes on August 31st 1960
1972: Lynne Cox (USA) 9 hours 57 minutes on July 20th 1972
1972: Richard Davis Hart (USA) 9 hours 44 minutes August 20th 1972
1973: Lynne Cox (USA) 9 hours 36 minutes on August 10th 1973
1976: Tina Bischoff (USA) 9 hours 3 minutes on August 5th 1976
1976: Wendy Brook (UK) 8 hours 56 minutes on August 31st 1976
1977: Nasser Elshazly (Egypt) 8 hours 45 minutes on August 21st 1977
1978: Penny Lee Dean, PhD (USA) 7 hours 40 minutes on July 29th 1978
1994: Chad Hundeby (USA) 7 hours 17 minutes September 27th 1994
2005: Christof Wandratsch (Germany) 7 hours 3 minutes on August 1st 2005
2007: Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria) 6 hours 57 minutes on August 24th 2007
2012: Trent Grimsey (Australia) 6 hours 55 minutes on September 8th 2012
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