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JERJerseySport:SwimmingSally Minty-Gravett is a Jersey swimmer and teacher whose English Channel career spans six consecutive decades. Born on 16 July 1957, she began teaching swimming in 1972, according to her own aquatic CV. Her first solo crossing, on 30 August 1975, appears in the CSA register under Sally Anne Minty. The 11-hour-57-minute performance earned the award for the year’s fastest British crossing.
She returned repeatedly while building a career in swimming instruction. Her 1992 solo travelled in the reverse direction, from France to England, in 12 hours 8 minutes. In August 2016 she completed a continuous out-and-back Channel swim: 15 hours 3 minutes to France followed by 21 hours 23 minutes back, totalling 36 hours 26 minutes. Guinness recognises that achievement in its oldest-female two-way category.
A further crossing on 7 August 2022, aged sixty-five, extended her record to a sixth decade. Guinness explicitly reports CS&PF ratification of the 15-hour-30-minute swim. The federation’s compiled register lists eight individual crossings, counting both legs of the 2016 double.
Her contribution also includes teaching and club leadership. IMSHOF records twenty-seven years as president of the Jersey Long Distance Swimming Club. An Honor Swimmer since 2005, she received an MBE in 2016 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s administration award in 2023.
Channel swims in six consecutive decades · continuous double in 2016
Also recorded as Sally Anne Minty, Sally Anne Minty-Gravett.
Crossing details, recordings & verificationSolo swim
Saturday, 30 August 1975 (recorded swim date)
England → France
Elapsed time · 11h 57m
Start clock · Clock time not confirmed
Finish clock · Clock time not confirmed
Ratifying body's record checked · See the crossing record for qualifications and supporting evidence.
Solo swim
Sunday, 20 September 1992 (recorded swim date)
France → England
CSA and the athlete’s CV say 1992; IMSHOF prints 1975 for this third crossing, an apparent chronology error.
Elapsed time · 12h 8m
Start clock · Clock time not confirmed
Finish clock · Clock time not confirmed
Sources disagree · See the crossing record for qualifications and supporting evidence.
Solo swim
Monday, 29 August 2016 – Tuesday, 30 August 2016
England → France → England
Elapsed time · 36h 26m 0s
Start clock · 08:44 · Time zone not specified
Finish clock · 21:10 · Time zone not specified
Ratification reported by source · See the crossing record for qualifications and supporting evidence.
Solo swim
Sunday, 7 August 2022 (recorded swim date)
England → France
Elapsed time · 15h 30m
Start clock · Clock time not confirmed
Finish clock · Clock time not confirmed
Ratification reported by source · See the crossing record for qualifications and supporting evidence.
1972
Her CV records an ASA club instructor qualification and the start of teaching.
Saturday, 30 August 1975
11:57 England–France; the CSA lists the fastest British swimmer award.
Sunday, 20 September 1992
CSA confirms 12:08 France–England; the exact date is reported in the Guinness chronology recap.
2005
Inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
2016
The athlete CV and Guinness record identify the honour in 2016.
Tuesday, 30 August 2016
Finished the 29–30 August swim in 36:26, aged 59 years 45 days.
Sunday, 7 August 2022
A 15:30 crossing extended the sequence from the 1970s to the 2020s.
2023
Received ISHOF’s Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award.
Achievements update from recorded results. A tick means the supporting results are verified.
No eligible completed results are linked yet. Link a completed result to start the achievement collection.
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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