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SWESwedenSport:SwimmingSally Viola Bauer was born in Halmstad on 29 July 1908 and grew up in Helsingborg. She began swimming with the local swimming society and later competed for Malmö. Her ability extended beyond endurance: during the 1930s she set seventeen Swedish freestyle records across distances from 200 metres to a mile and won national championship gold.
Open-water crossings became the defining achievements of her career. She swam across the Öresund in 1931, then completed the Kattegat and the Sea of Åland in 1938. The Channel had captured her imagination after Gertrude Ederle’s success. Commercial and newspaper sponsorship helped her travel to France for her own attempt.
On 27 August 1939 she left Cap Gris-Nez and reached England that evening, completing the crossing in 15 hours and 22 minutes. The achievement came only days before the Second World War. She returned to Sweden and received a public welcome, then published an account of her distance swims.
Bauer returned to the Channel for the Daily Mail race in 1951. Her working life included secretarial work, swimming instruction and national coaching. She died in Lund on 15 June 2001. Her sporting life later inspired both literary fiction and a film, extending public interest in her achievements beyond swimming.
Swedish Channel pioneer · successful crossings in 1939 and 1951
Also recorded as Sally Viola Bauer.
Crossing details, recordings & verificationSolo swim
Sunday, 27 August 1939
France → England
Elapsed time · 15h 22m
Start clock · 05:50 · Time zone not specified
Finish clock · 21:12 · Time zone not specified
Ratifying body's record checked · See the crossing record for qualifications and supporting evidence.
Solo swim
Thursday, 16 August 1951 (recorded swim date)
France → England
Elapsed time · 14h 40m
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
1938 · exact day not confirmed
Completed the crossing on her second attempt.
Elapsed time · 17h 5m
Published distance · 48 km
Historical account checked · Details and qualifications are in the career evidence.
Open-water swimming · Solo swim
1938 · exact day not confirmed
Grisslehamn → Signilskär
Completed Grisslehamn → Signilskär.
Elapsed time · 13h 6m
Published distance · 30 km
Historical account checked · Details and qualifications are in the career evidence.
1931
Helsingborg to Helsingør.
1934–1937
Seventeen Swedish freestyle records.
1938
Kattegat and Sea of Åland.
27 August 1939
France to England in 15h 22m.
1939
Published Kattegat, Ålandshav, Kanalen.
16 August 1951
Completed the Daily Mail race.
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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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