Tina Neill

Tina Neill is an American swimmer and coach whose Channel career includes freestyle and backstroke crossings. An All-America swimmer at the University of California, Davis, she later coached age-group, high-school and college swimmers. Her Macalester College profile records work with the college and its Masters programme, as well as a Davis High School team recognised as mythical national champions in 1993.

Neill completed her first Channel attempt on 26 July 2003. Swimming from Samphire Hoe to Strouanne, she took 11 hours 21 minutes, supported by coach Bob Pearson and her sister Kathy Guinn. In a later interview, she explained that her interest in open water had grown from looking at a Minnesota lake and wondering whether she could swim its length.

Having raced backstroke and individual medley in college, she chose backstroke for a second Channel swim. On 9 August 2005 she reached Wissant in 13 hours 22 minutes. Guinness recognises that performance in its female backstroke category. Contemporary claims that she was the first person to cross using backstroke overlook Haydn Welch’s 1993 swim. Neill’s account describes navigating beside the escort boat and maintaining a backward-facing position during feeds, practical adaptations that distinguished this effort from her earlier freestyle crossing.

The recorded nationality is United States.