First Australian English Channel crossing
Ratifying body's record checked
Recorded swim date · Saturday, 7 August 1965 · Start or finish date not specified by the source
Elapsed swim time · 11h 12m
Duration of the complete swim
Started · Exact start date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed
Finished · Exact finish date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed
Timing note · CS&PF prints departure 15:33:00 and arrival 02:45:00 for the year-only entry; phase dates remain unresolved. The CSA story’s departure from Dover is not interpreted as the start of the registered France-to-England swim.
Format · Solo · 1-way
Direction · France → England
Official observers · Peter Frayne (CS&PF historical record)
Ratification / historical recognition · Channel Swimming Association
How this record was checked
CSA individual record 2322 confirms a successful France-to-England solo in 11:12. The association’s commemorative account supplies 7 August 1965; CS&PF historical record 442968 names observer Peter Frayne. No original observer manuscript was inspected.
CSA: Linda McGill, 1965
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Australia; successful solo France-to-England crossing in 11:12, 1965.
Limitations · Published successful row; original observer report not inspected.
CSA: Linda McGill — first Australian swimmer
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · First Australian Channel swimmer on 7 August 1965; two further swims in 1967; 1968 MBE/IMSHOF and 2020 Australian Hall of Fame.
Limitations · The account’s embarking from Dover on 6 August does not establish a water start from England; her registered swimming route is France to England.
CS&PF historical record: Linda McGill, 1965
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · 11:12:00, reported departure 15:33:00 and arrival 02:45:00; observer Peter Frayne; CSA ratification attributed.
Limitations · Year only; clock phase dates are not explicit.
Second English Channel crossing
Ratifying body's record checked
Elapsed swim time · 13h 2m
Duration of the complete swim
Started · Exact start date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed
Finished · Saturday, 9 September 1967 · Clock time not confirmed
Timing note · Finish date is supplied by the museum; no departure date or clock was established.
Format · Solo · 1-way
Direction · France → England
Ratification / historical recognition · Channel Swimming Association
How this record was checked
CSA individual record 2337 gives the successful 13:02 France-to-England swim. Dover Museum’s profile identifies it as the earlier of her two 1967 successes, and its chronological comparison gives 9 September with an explicit finish-date policy.
CSA: Linda McGill, 1967 — 13:02
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Distinct successful France-to-England crossing in 13:02 in 1967.
Limitations · Year-only individual record; exact finish date supplied separately by Dover Museum.
Dover Museum: FAQ and 1967 chronological comparison
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · 1967 McGill successes listed on 9 and 29 September; explicit policy that successful-swim dates are finish dates.
Limitations · Dates paired with successive 1967 performances through the museum athlete biography and CSA individual rows; original newspaper sources were not separately inspected.
Dover Museum: Linda McGill profile
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Australia; three France-to-England successes: 1965 11:12, then 1967 13:02 and 9:59; Olympian and first Australian Channel swimmer.
Third crossing — women’s Channel record
Sources disagree
CSA and contemporary reports give 9h59m to the minute; exact seconds remain unresolved.
Elapsed swim time · 9h 59m
CSA 9:59 (minute precision)
Started · Exact start date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed
Finished · Friday, 29 September 1967 · Clock time not confirmed
Timing note · The contemporary newspaper confirms the existing finish date and route but provides no clocks or seconds. CS&PF reports departure 04:30:00 and arrival 14:29:00 without phase dates. Its 09:59:00 formatting does not establish whether zero seconds were actually measured; it cannot by itself settle the Women’s Register’s 9:59:57. No additional stopwatch precision is assigned.
Format · Solo · 1-way
Direction · France → England
Departure · Cap Gris-Nez
Arrival · St Margaret’s Bay
Ratification / historical recognition · Channel Swimming Association
How this record was checked
CSA individual record 2338 gives 9:59 at minute precision. Dover Museum’s chronology identifies the later 1967 completion as 29 September. Amigoe di Curaçao, 30 September 1967, page 7, independently reports a Friday finish, Cap Gris-Nez to St Margaret’s Bay, in 9h59m; TIME’s 6 October issue also reports 9h59m. Neither supplies seconds. The Australian Women’s Register gives 9:59:57; CS&PF formats 9:59:00. The displayed minute precision is retained, with exact seconds unresolved.
CSA: Linda McGill, 1967 — 9:59
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Distinct successful France-to-England crossing in 9:59, 1967.
Limitations · CSA publishes minute precision; no trailing seconds are inferred.
Dover Museum: FAQ and 1967 chronological comparison
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · 1967 McGill successes listed on 9 and 29 September; explicit policy that successful-swim dates are finish dates.
Limitations · Dates paired with successive 1967 performances through the museum athlete biography and CSA individual rows; original newspaper sources were not separately inspected.
Dover Museum: Linda McGill profile
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Australia; three France-to-England successes: 1965 11:12, then 1967 13:02 and 9:59; Olympian and first Australian Channel swimmer.
CS&PF historical record: Linda McGill, 1967 record swim
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · 9:59:00; reported departure 04:30:00 and arrival 14:29:00; CSA attributed.
Limitations · The database’s zero-second format differs from the more precise 9:59:57 in the Women’s Register. Clocks are retained as reported context, without imposing a stopwatch precision.
Australian Women’s Register: Linda McGill
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Birth 17 December 1945, Sydney; death 30 July 2025, Gold Coast; married name Linda Kruk; 1962 Commonwealth medal and Channel career.
Limitations · Provides 9:59:57 for the record crossing, while CSA only gives minutes. The greater precision is retained as an attributed alternative, not silently substituted.
IMSHOF: Linda McGill induction citation
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Australia, 1968 Honor Swimmer; three Channel crossings; 1964 Olympic participation and wider marathon career.
Limitations · Its unqualified claim that the 1967 record stood until 1975 needs directional scope: the federation-hosted chronology lists Cox’s faster overall women’s time in 1972 and Nicholas’s France-to-England women’s record in 1975. Do not repeat 1975 as the overall women’s record expiry.
Amigoe di Curaçao, 30 September 1967, page 7 — In recordtijd over het Kanaal
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Contemporary report names Linda McGill, Friday completion, 9h59m, Cap Gris-Nez departure and landing at St Margaret’s Bay.
Limitations · Original University of Florida Digital Collections scan visually inspected. Friday in the Saturday 30 September issue corroborates 29 September. Minute precision only; does not establish exact seconds, phase clocks or ratification.
TIME, 6 October 1967 — People
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Contemporary account reports McGill’s 9h59m women’s Channel record and a France-to-England swim.
Limitations · Named article body inspected. No seconds or exact crossing date. Its Olympic-ban anecdote and comparison with Ederle are not adopted as independently verified biography.
AUS