The Irish Long Distance Swimming Association (ILDSA) has provided authentication observers for swimmers attempting to cross the approximately 35-kilometre (22 mi) North Channel between Northern Ireland and the Mull of Galloway. According to the ILDSA, this was first accomplished in 1947 by Tom Blower. The first two-way crossing was completed by a six-person relay team on 28 July 2015.
The North Channel is part of the Ocean's seven, a set of seven long-distance open-water swims considered the marathon swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge.
Solo (including two-way)
Date | Name | Nationality | Direction | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|
28 July 1947 | Tom Blower | England | Ireland to Scotland | 15 hrs 26 mins |
11 September 1970 | Kevin Murphy | England | Ireland to Scotland | 11 hrs 21 mins |
29 August 1971 | Kevin Murphy | England | Ireland to Scotland | 14 hrs 27 mins |
11 August 1973 | Ted Keenan | Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 18 hrs 27 mins |
22 August 1988 | Alison Streeter | England | Ireland to Scotland | 09 hrs 53 mins 42 secs |
23 August 1988 | Margaret Kidd | Scotland | Ireland to Scotland | 15 hrs 26 mins 03 secs |
25 August 1989 | Alison Streeter | England | Scotland to Ireland | 10 hrs 04 mins |
7 September 1989 | Kevin Murphy | England | Scotland to Ireland | 17 hrs 17 mins 48 secs |
18 August 1997 | Alison Streeter | England | Scotland to Ireland | 10 hrs 02 mins12 secs |
27 July 1999 | Paul Lewis | England | Scotland to Ireland | 14 hrs 28 mins |
21 July 2000 | Stephen Price | England | Scotland to Ireland | 16 hrs 56 mins |
31 July 2004 | Colm O Neill | Ireland | Scotland to Ireland | 11 hrs 25 mins 05 secs |
12 September 2008 | Colleen Blair | Scotland | Ireland to Scotland | 15 hrs 23 mins 59 secs |
31 August 2010 | Stephen Redmond | Ireland | Scotland to Ireland | 17 hrs 17 mins 01 sec |
1 September 2010 | Ann Marie Ward | Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 18 hrs 59 mins 26 secs |
27 July 2011 | Craig Lenning | US | Ireland to Scotland | 14 hrs 44 mins 50 secs |
2 August 2011 | Howard Keech | England | Ireland to Scotland | 13 hrs 25 mins |
16 June 2013 | Fergal Somerville | Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 21 mins |
30 July 2013 | Milko van Gool | Netherlands | Ireland to Scotland | 10 hrs 34 mins |
29 August 2013 | Darren Miller | US | Ireland to Scotland | 11 hrs 16 mins |
22 July 2014 | Guy Moar | Australia | Ireland to Scotland | 11 hrs 10 mins |
07 August 2014 | Colleen Mallon | Northern Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 09 hrs 56 mins |
6 August 2014 | Adam Walker | England | Ireland to Scotland | 10 hrs 45 mins |
2 September 2014 | Kimberley Chambers | New Zealand | Ireland to Scotland | 13 hrs 6 mins |
22 July 2015 | Graeme Lowe | Jersey | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 27 mins |
24 July 2015 | Vicky Miller | England | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 6 mins |
7 August 2015 | Rohan Dattaray More | India | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 46 mins |
7 August 2015 | Adrian Sarchet | Guernsey | Ireland to Scotland | 14 hrs 13 mins |
11 August 2015 | Ion Lazarenco | Moldova/Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 16 hrs 23mins |
9 September 2015 | Tom Pembroke | Australia | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs |
14 July 2016 | Cameron Bellamy | South Africa | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 16 mins |
25 August 2016 | Edward Williams | England | Ireland to Scotland | 10 hrs 58 mins |
24 August 2016 | Pat Gallant Charette | US | Ireland to Scotland | 14 hrs 22mins |
16 August 2017 | Abhejali Bernardova | Czech Republic | Ireland to Scotland | 10 hrs 23 mins |
25 June 2018 | Nicholas Murch | United Kingdom | Ireland to Scotland | 11 hrs 48 mins |
5 August 2018 | Jaroslav Chytil | Czech Republic | Ireland to Scotland | 16 hrs 4 mins |
5 September 2018 | Rachael Elkaim Hanisch | Australia | Ireland to Scotland | 10 hrs 32 mins |
8 September 2019 | Zach Margolis | US | Ireland to Scotland | 14 hrs 24 mins 32 secs |
1 July 2021 | Lauren Lesyna | US | Ireland to Scotland | 16 hrs 14 mins 37 secs |
21 July 2021 | Elaine Burrows Dillane | Ireland | Scotland to Ireland | 14 hrs 54 mins 30 secs |
19 August 2021 | Katherine Chapman | UK | Ireland to Scotland | 10 hrs 59 mins 02secs |
19 August 2021 | Matt Murphy | UK | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 35 mins 02secs |
29 September 2021 | Luca Estrada Pozzi | Italy / US | Ireland to Scotland | 13 hrs 37 mins 21 secs |
15 September 2021 | Stève Stievenart | France | Scotland to Ireland | 14 hrs 44 mins 03 secs |
9 July 2022 | Sarah Thomas | US | Scotland to Scotland | 21 hrs 46 mins 38 secs (2-way) |
10 July 2022 | Andrew Keay | Australia | Ireland to Scotland | 14 hrs 30 mins 12 secs |
10 July 2022 | Barry Murphy | Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 13 hrs 53 mins 34 secs |
10 July 2022 | Siân Clement | Wales | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 45 mins 32 secs |
22 July 2022 | Grainne Moss | Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 13 hrs 33 mins 36 secs |
22 July 2022 | Barbara Hernandez | Chile | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 19 mins 36 secs |
8 August 2022 | Alessandra Rossi Cima | Brazil | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 21 mins 00 secs |
8 August 2022 | Callum Eade | New Zealand | Ireland to Scotland | 11 hrs 40 mins 10 secs |
8 August 2022 | Sarah Liles | UK | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 54 mins 31 secs |
9 August 2022 | Jessi Lidstone Harewicz | UK | Ireland to Scotland | 18 hrs 15 mins 4 secs |
9 August 2022 | Sarah Philpott | UK | Ireland to Scotland | 16 hrs 21 mins 54 secs |
23 August 2022 | Samuel Abeshouse | Australia | Ireland to Scotland | 11 hrs 16 mins |
18 September 2022 | Victor Pineiro | Argentina | Ireland to Scotland | 13 hrs 29 mins |
25 August 2022 | Paul Georgescu | Romania | Ireland to Scotland | 11 hrs 7 mins 3 secs |
27 July 2023 | Bethany Mitchell | US | Ireland to Scotland | 13 hrs 9 mins 21 secs |
Relay teams
Date | Team Name | Team size | Nation of Origin | Direction | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
27 August 1990 | Ireland One | 6 | Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 03 mns 01 sec |
14 August 1993 | City of Liverpool | 6 | England | Ireland to Scotland | 10 hrs 39 mins 42 secs |
23 June 1996 | City of Dublin | 6 | Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 44 mins 56 secs |
20 August 1999 | The All American | 6 | US | Scotland to Ireland | 13 hrs 11 mins 39 secs |
26 August 2002 | City of Liverpool | 6 | England | Scotland to Ireland | 12 hrs 47 mins 41 secs |
6 July 2004 | The Swilly Trio | 3 | Ireland | Scotland to Ireland | 14 hrs 41 mins 14 secs |
22 August 2011 | Team Camlough Lake | 6 | Northern Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 21 mins 12 secs |
5 July 2014 | 11 Feet Camlough Lake | 6 | Northern Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 12 hrs 52 mins 0 secs |
7 August 2012 | The Machine Men | 3 | US | Ireland to Scotland | 10 hrs 18 mins 0 secs |
24 June 2015 | Wexford Masters | 6 | Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 13 hrs 09 mins |
28 July 2015 | Fast and Frozen | 6 | Worldwide | Ireland to Scotland to Ireland (two-way relay) | 29 hrs 57 mins |
7 August 2015 | Infinity V | 5 | Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 13 hrs 15 mins |
25 May 2016 | Deadly Diamonds | 5 | Northern Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 10 hrs 20 mins 0 secs |
12 June 2016 | O W Ladies | 5 | England | Ireland to Scotland to Ireland (two-way relay) | 28 hrs 25 mins |
30 June 2016 | The Celtic Kippers | 6 | Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 13 hours 46 mins |
25 August 2016 | Channel Swimming Crazies | 4 | Northern Ireland | Ireland to Scotland | 09 hours 55 mins 44 secs |
References
- "North Channel". Irish Long Distance Swimming Association.
- Cowie, Jonathan (16 August 2015). "Two relay records set in the North Channel". H2Open.
- "Swim the North Channel". Irish Long Distance Swimming Association. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
- "Swim the North Channel". Irish Long Distance Swimming Association. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- "Sea Donkey - The inspirational story of an ordinary man's attempt to swim the Northern Channel". Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- "Old Boy's epic North Channel swim for charity". St. Joseph's College. 9 September 2015.
- "Solo swimmers of the North Channel - Infinity Channel Swimming". 17 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
- "Solo Female". Retrieved 18 August 2018.
- "Doctor conquers 22-mile North Channel". The Times. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
- "Czech hardy man conquers North Channel in 16 hours". Retrieved 18 August 2018.
- "Relay Team North Channel swim". Infinity Channel Swimming. 2016.