Matthew Webb

First successful English Channel swim

Historical account checked

Webb completed the first successful Channel crossing with the lugger Ann and rowing boats. Dover Museum’s d11201 caption identifies George Toms as pilot; crew surnames Dodd, Bowles, Jell, Gates, Decent and Stanley; Webb’s cousin G.H. Ward; and Charles Baker as diver and pacemaker.

Elapsed swim time · 21h 45m

Duration of the complete swim

Started · Tuesday, 24 August 1875 · 12:56 · Published clock; time zone not specified

Finished · Wednesday, 25 August 1875 · 10:41 · Published clock; time zone not specified

Timing note · The Hall of Fame supplies the historical departure and arrival clocks. It does not identify their clock standard; no modern time-zone conversion has been applied.

Format · Solo · 1-way

Direction · England → France

Departure · Admiralty Pier, Dover, England

Arrival · Calais sands, France

Stroke · Principally breaststroke

Pilot / piloting team · George Toms

Escort vessel · Ann — Dover lugger

Ratification / historical recognition · Historical swim; predates modern ratifying bodies

Conditions · Strong tidal displacement; a jellyfish sting is described in the historical account.

How this record was checked

CSA record 2461 supplies the 21:45 elapsed time and England-to-France route. The Hall of Fame supplies both calendar dates and clock times. Dover Museum item d24491 identifies the pilot and lugger. This is retrospective historical documentation, not a claim of contemporary federation observation. A separate museum catalogue item, d11201, names the escort personnel and Charles Baker’s pacemaker role. This is additional catalogue detail, not independent timing evidence.

Channel Swimming Association: Matthew Webb, 1875

Checked 2026-10-30

International Swimming Hall of Fame

Checked 2026-10-30

Dover Museum archive: Matthew Webb, item d24491

Checked 2026-10-30

Dover Museum archive — Matthew Webb in mid-Channel, d11201

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Identifies Ann’s pilot, six crew surnames, cousin G.H. Ward and diver/pacemaker Charles Baker.

Limitations · Retrospective catalogue caption for a print/engraving, not a photograph or original observer log; names are preserved as catalogued.

River Thames: Blackwall to Gravesend

Open-water swimming · Solo swim

1875 · exact day not confirmed

River Thames, England

Completed the Thames swim during preparations for his Channel crossing.

Published distance · 20 miles reported by Dawley Heritage

Sources disagree

How this event was checked

Dawley Heritage places the swim in July 1875; Dover Museum independently describes its completion. Both biographies explicitly identify the Channel pioneer. Their durations differ, so no elapsed time or exact day is asserted.

Dawley Heritage — Matthew Webb biography by Malcolm Peel

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · July 1875 Thames swim and Channel identity.

Limitations · Gives a rounded five hours, inconsistent with Dover Museum’s 4:20.

Dover Museum — The Pioneers

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Completed Blackwall–Gravesend swim.

Limitations · Its 4:20 timing conflicts with the local heritage account; elapsed time withheld.

Born in Shropshire

1848

Born at Dawley Green on 19 January.

First Channel attempt

12 August 1875

An unsuccessful attempt preceded the historic crossing.

First successful crossing

24–25 August 1875

Dover to Calais in 21 hours 45 minutes.

Life and legacy

1883

Died during an attempted swim of the Niagara rapids.