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GERGermanySport:SwimmingChristof “Wandi” Wandratsch built his Channel career on years of international marathon racing. Born in Nuremberg on 20 December 1966, he began swimming as a child, progressed through club competition and later combined his sport with work as a teacher. His first open-sea distance race, a 10-kilometre event near Palermo in 1984, brought an immediate victory.
European championship success followed in 1991 and 1995. He also competed across the professional marathon circuit, winning races in Europe, South America and Asia. His versatility included the Lake Zurich marathon and the much longer Around Atlantic City race, which he won in 1997.
On 20 August 2003 he entered the Channel at Dover at 05:30 local time. His England-to-France swim took seven hours twenty minutes, putting him close to the existing world best. Filmmaker Jörg Adolph followed this period of his career for Kanalschwimmer, alongside two other swimmers attempting the crossing.
Wandratsch returned in 2005 and established a new Channel speed record, listed by the federation as 7:03:52. That record stood until 2007. His ambitions subsequently extended to Lake Constance and ice swimming. Inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2004, he remains associated with a breadth of distance events spanning racing, channel crossings and cold water.
The recorded nationality is Germany.
Former Channel speed record holder · European marathon swimming champion
Also recorded as Wandi Wandratsch.
Crossing details, recordings & verificationSolo swim
Wednesday, 20 August 2003 (start)
England → France
Elapsed time · 7h 20m
Start clock · 05:30 · Time zone not specified
Finish clock · Clock time not confirmed
Ratifying body's record checked · See the crossing record for qualifications and supporting evidence.
Solo swim
Monday, 1 August 2005 (recorded swim date)
England → France
Elapsed time · 7h 3m 52s
Start clock · Clock time not confirmed
Finish clock · Clock time not confirmed
Sources disagree · See the crossing record for qualifications and supporting evidence.
Open-water swimming · Solo swim
Monday, 22 July 2013 (event date)
Bodman, Germany → Bregenz, Austria
Completed Bodman–Bregenz; the organiser lists this as its first north-to-south full-length solo crossing.
Elapsed time · 20h 41m 15s
Published distance · 66.670 km (organiser-listed)
Published account checked · Details and qualifications are in the career evidence.
Open-water swimming · Solo swim
2007 · exact day not confirmed
Strait of Gibraltar
Completed a Strait of Gibraltar crossing.
Elapsed time · 2h 51m
Published distance · Approximately 16 km
Published account checked · Details and qualifications are in the career evidence.
1984
Won a 10-kilometre race near Palermo.
1991
Won the European 25-kilometre championship at Terracina.
1997
Added the American marathon event to his international racing victories.
20 August 2003
Completed England to France in 7:20 after a 05:30 local departure.
2004
Joined the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame; Kanalschwimmer was released that year.
1 August 2005
Completed England to France in the federation-listed 7:03:52.
2006
Completed a 63-kilometre Bodensee swim in 23:41.
Achievements update from recorded results. A tick means the supporting results are verified.
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First recorded finish
1 more finish needed
0 of 1 recorded
Selected swimming performances appear in the English Channel record above.
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