Webb Swims the Channel: First Person to Cross
Captain Matthew Webb, a 27-year-old merchant navy officer, waded into the English Channel at Dover on August 24, 1875, and stroked toward France using breaststroke, the only viable technique for long-distance swimming at the time. Jellyfish stung him repeatedly. Strong tides pushed him off course, extending the straight-line distance of 21 miles to roughly 39 miles of actual swimming. He emerged at Calais 21 hours and 45 minutes later, the first person to swim the English Channel. Webb became an instant celebrity, endorsing products and giving swimming exhibitions. He died in 1883 attempting to swim the rapids below Niagara Falls, a stunt described by the local newspaper as "a mad and useless tempting of fate."
August 25, 1875
151 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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