USAUnited States

Penny Lee Dean

1978 Channel speed record · 7 hours 40 minutes

Discipline: Marathon and open-water swimming
College: Pomona College, class of 1977
College distinction: Six-time All-American
1978 Channel time: 7 hours 40 minutes
Professional title: Women’s world champion, 1979
Hall of Fame: International Swimming Hall of Fame, 1996

Biography

Penny Lee Dean is an American marathon swimmer, coach and author whose career spans pool competition, ocean records and university sport. A six-time All-American at Pomona College, she graduated in 1977. Her open-water achievements included a Catalina Channel crossing in 1976 and a double crossing the following year.

On 29 July 1978, Dean completed the English Channel from England to France in 7 hours 40 minutes. The performance established an England-to-France speed record. In 1979 she became the women’s world professional marathon-swimming champion.

Dean later coached and taught at Pomona for 26 years. Her teams won 17 conference championships in women’s swimming and a national women’s water-polo title in 1993. She also coached American open-water swimmers and wrote books on marathon swimming and Catalina crossings. The International Swimming Hall of Fame inducted her in 1996.

Selected Channel swim records

1978 England-to-France record swim

Ratifying body's record checked

Elapsed swim time · 7h 40m

Duration of the complete swim

Started · Exact start date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed

Finished · Saturday, 29 July 1978 · Clock time not confirmed

Timing note · 29 July is the completed-swim date printed in the contemporary federation bulletin. The inspected sources do not supply separate start and finish clocks or establish a start date.

Format · Solo · 1-way

Direction · England → France

Ratification / historical recognition · Channel Swimming Association

How this record was checked

CSA record 2604 confirms the solo route, year and 7:40 elapsed time. Page 1 of the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation’s December 1978 bulletin independently gives 29 July 1978. This checks published records, not the original observer paperwork.

Channel Swimming Association: Penny Lee Dean, 1978

Checked 2026-10-30

World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation, Bulletin 38, December 1978, page 1; archived scan

Checked 2026-10-30

Other events & swims

Catalina Channel

Open-water swimming · Solo swim

Wednesday, 1 September 1976 (event date)

Completed mainland → Catalina Island.

Elapsed time · 7h 15m 55s

Historical account checked

How this event was checked

CCSF row 31 and individual-records table agree. ISHOF connects her Catalina career to the English Channel record-holder.

CCSF: successful Catalina Channel solo swims

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Selected named individual rows: swim date, direction and elapsed time.

Limitations · The register date is not labelled departure or arrival; original observer paperwork was not inspected. Pre-1981 swims are retrospective entries.

CCSF: individual records

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Penny Lee Dean’s 1976 one-way and 1977 two-way record rows.

Limitations · 1977 total of 20:03:01 conflicts with 20:03:17 on CCSF’s successful-swims register.

ISHOF: Penny Lee Dean

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Career identity bridge between the 1978 English Channel swim and Catalina crossings in 1976–1977.

Catalina Channel two-way

Open-water swimming · Solo swim

Sunday, 4 September 1977 (event date)

Completed Catalina Island → mainland → Catalina Island. Total time unresolved: CCSF pages publish 20:03:17 and 20:03:01.

Sources disagree

How this event was checked

The successful-swims row gives 8:33 / 20:03:17; the records page gives 20:03:01 for the same date and two-way route. No single elapsed value is selected. This is one completed double, not two independent events.

CCSF: successful Catalina Channel solo swims

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Selected named individual rows: swim date, direction and elapsed time.

Limitations · The register date is not labelled departure or arrival; original observer paperwork was not inspected. Pre-1981 swims are retrospective entries.

CCSF: individual records

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Penny Lee Dean’s 1976 one-way and 1977 two-way record rows.

Limitations · 1977 total of 20:03:01 conflicts with 20:03:17 on CCSF’s successful-swims register.

ISHOF: Penny Lee Dean

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Career identity bridge between the 1978 English Channel swim and Catalina crossings in 1976–1977.

Career milestones

Catalina crossing

1976

Completed a mainland-to-island Catalina Channel swim.

Catalina double

1977

Completed a continuous double crossing of the Catalina Channel.

Channel speed record

29 July 1978

Swam England to France in 7 hours 40 minutes.

Professional champion

1979

Won the women’s world professional marathon-swimming title.

Hall of Fame induction

1996

Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Recordings & media

No reviewed recording is available for this entry.

English Channel questions

Which English Channel swims are included for Penny Lee Dean?: This profile includes 1 selected solo performance for Penny Lee Dean. It is a selected history, not a complete career total. A continuous multi-way swim counts as one performance.
When was Penny Lee Dean’s featured English Channel swim?: The featured swim finished on Saturday, 29 July 1978. Its exact start date is not confirmed here.
How long did Penny Lee Dean’s featured Channel swim take?: The featured solo crossing has a published elapsed time of 7 hours and 40 minutes.

Biography sources

Reviewed sources

Channel Swimming Association: Penny Lee Dean, 1978

Open source

Checked 2026-10-30

World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation, Bulletin 38, December 1978, page 1; archived scan

Open source

Checked 2026-10-30

International Swimming Hall of Fame: Penny Lee Dean

Open source

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Career identity bridge between the 1978 English Channel swim and Catalina crossings in 1976–1977.

Pomona College Magazine: 2023 commencement speakers

Open source

Checked 2026-10-30

CCSF: successful Catalina Channel solo swims

Open source

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Selected named individual rows: swim date, direction and elapsed time.

Limitations · The register date is not labelled departure or arrival; original observer paperwork was not inspected. Pre-1981 swims are retrospective entries.

CCSF: individual records

Open source

Checked 2026-10-31

Supports · Penny Lee Dean’s 1976 one-way and 1977 two-way record rows.

Limitations · 1977 total of 20:03:01 conflicts with 20:03:17 on CCSF’s successful-swims register.

Latest source review 2026-10-31.