List of successful English Channel swimmers

This is a list of notable successful swims across the English Channel,[1] a straight-line distance of at least 18.2 nautical miles (20.9 mi; 33.7 km).

[5] The first successful attempt was by Paul Boyton, wearing a rubber survival suit designed for passengers of sinking ships.

[10] 80 failed attempts were made by a variety of people before Thomas William Burgess, on 6 September 1911, became the second person to make the crossing.

[13] American Charles Toth of Boston completed the swim on 9 September 1923, in 16 hours and 40 minutes, two days after the expiration of a £1,000 prize offered by the Daily Sketch for anyone who completed the swim, a prize that both Sullivan and Tirabocchi received from a representative of the Daily Sketch waiting on the shore with a cheque in hand.

[14][15] American Gertrude Ederle's successful cross-channel swim began at Gris Nez in France at 07:05 am on 6 August 1926.

[17] L. Walter Lissberger financed the $3,000 in expenses that Amelia Gade Corson and her husband incurred in preparing for the Channel swim.

Lissberger made a wager with Lloyd's of London betting that she would succeed in crossing the Channel, and received a payout of $100,000 at odds of 20–1 when she completed her swim.

[18] She was one of three swimmers who were trying to make the swim across the Channel at the same time starting at 11:32 at night on 28 August 1926, leaving from Cape Gris Nez.