Channel Swimmers
	Introduction
	The Pioneers
	Early Attempts
	Between the Wars
	1950s Heyday
	The Museum's Collection
	Records and Firsts
	Sam Rockett

Information Resources Home Page

Online Exhibition

Swimming the Channel

An online resource on the early history of swimming the English Channel

August 24th 1875 - Captain Matthew Webb dived off the end of Admiralty Pier in Dover to start what became the first successful unaided swim across the English Channel.

To mark the 125th anniversary of this event, Dover Museum is compiling an online resource - a brief history of Channel Swimming, together with details of the museum's collection relating to swimming the Channel.

Captain Matthew Webb, Swam from Dover to Calais, - August 24th 1875. Issued as a supplement to the Dover Standard.
Lithographed by Maclure and MacDonald, London (from a photograph by Lambert, Weston and Sons.)

These pages are based around the collection of Channel Swimming photographs held at Dover Museum. Many other swimmers have tried and succeeded at swimming the English Channel. This is not an exhaustive account of all attempts.

Conditions of use

The contents of this site, including all images and text, are for personal, educational, non-commercial use only. The contents of this site may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of Dover Museum.

Market Square, Dover, Kent, CT16 1PB Tel: 01304 201066 Fax: 01304 241186 E-mail: museumenquiries@dover.gov.uk