150 Years of Swimming the Channel

People have been drawn to the challenge of swimming the English Channel since the first recorded attempt. In this book, venerated sports writer, author and Channel swimmer John Goodbody celebrates the 150th anniversary of Captain Matthew Webb’s first successful crossing in 1875 by telling his story and those of many of the outstanding men and women who have achieved the feat since, as well as those intrepid individuals who failed – or even died trying. Compiled with research from publications, academic journals, newspaper archives and extensive interviews, these stories tell of the heroic feats, the triumphs, the failures, the deaths and the frequent controversies as men and women have battled across the Strait, defying rough seas, storms, jellyfish and treacherous currents.

John Goodbody worked for The Times and The Sunday Times from 1985 to 2019, receiving awards in every decade. These included Sports Reporter of The Year in 2001, winning the Sports Story of The Year in 2002 and being a member of The Sunday Times Sports Team of the Year in 2012. He has reported fourteen Summer Olympic Games. In 1991, aged 48, he became the oldest Briton for eighteen years to swim the Channel and, in 2023, he celebrated his 80th birthday by completing the annual race across the Bosphorus