A new dawn in sport: The 150th anniversary of Matthew Webb’s Channel swim

By Harsh Thakor

On August 25th, we commemorated the 150th anniversary of Captain Matthew Webb’s historic crossing of the English Channel, a feat that set a timeless benchmark for endurance swimming and physical endeavor. Webb’s achievement, once deemed impossible, ignited a global wave of inspiration, urging countless others to pursue the seemingly unattainable. His swim symbolizes the relentless human spirit, pushing the boundaries of what the body and mind can achieve. Sports historians should delve into the biochemical and psychological transformations that fueled Webb’s groundbreaking journey, exploring the forces that shaped his extraordinary life.

Born in 1848 in the industrial town of Dawley, Shropshire, Webb emerged from humble roots as the son of a doctor. His early years near the River Severn sparked his affinity for water. By age seven, he could swim, and at eight, he and his brother heroically saved their younger sibling from drowning. Leaving school at twelve, Webb joined the merchant service, dreaming of a life at sea inspired by Victorian adventure tales like William Kingston’s "Old Jack". As a mariner, he sailed global trade routes, from India to Yemen, earning a reputation for bravery. In the Suez Canal, he freed a ship’s propeller from a rope, and in the stormy mid-Atlantic, he risked his life to save a crewmate swept overboard, earning the Stanhope Gold Medal despite failing to rescue the man after 37 minutes in treacherous waters.

Webb’s maritime exploits honed his ability to endure punishing conditions, setting the stage for his ambition to conquer the English Channel. In the early 1870s, he trained rigorously off Dover’s pebbled beaches, battling cold waves for hours, and occasionally at Lambeth Baths. Inspired by J.B. Johnson’s failed 1873 attempt, Webb resolved to tackle the Channel. His first effort on August 12, 1875, faltered, but twelve days later, coated in porpoise grease to combat hypothermia, he set out again from Dover’s Admiralty Pier. Accompanied by a support boat carrying broth, tea, brandy, and cod-liver oil, Webb faced 19°C waters, jellyfish stings, and shifting tides. Journalists and an artist aboard recorded his journey, noting pauses for “good ale” and “beef tea.” After nearly 22 hours of breaststroke at 20 strokes per minute, battling currents that extended his route beyond 60 kilometers, Webb stumbled ashore near Calais at 10:41 a.m. on August 25, 1875. His triumph, achieved without modern wetsuits or equipment, redefined human endurance and opened new horizons in open-water swimming. For 30 years, no one replicated his feat until Thomas Burgess crossed in 1911.

Webb’s Channel swim catapulted him to fame in Victorian society, which celebrated larger-than-life figures. The £2,424 raised for his crossing—significant for the era—enabled him to become a professional swimmer. He swam 64 kilometers along the Thames in 1877, won a 119-kilometer, six-day race in 1879, and famously floated for 128.5 hours in Boston in 1882. His Channel feat remained his crowning glory, though he continued to captivate audiences with lectures and daring exhibitions.

Tragically, Webb’s pursuit of fame and fortune led to his demise. In 1883, weakened by tuberculosis and having lost 19 kilos since his Channel swim, he announced plans to swim the Niagara Gorge. Despite pleas from his brother, a doctor, and friends to abandon such dangerous feats, Webb, driven by financial strain, leapt into the Niagara’s whirlpool rapids on July 24, 1883. Within ten minutes, the currents overwhelmed him, and his body was recovered four days later. The "Illustrated London News" mourned him as the “bravest and greatest of swimmers,” a man whose determination defied all odds, undone only by his final, reckless challenge.

Dover recently hosted a vibrant celebration of Webb’s legacy, attended by figures like veteran sports journalist and Channel swimmer John Goodbody, who completed the crossing in 1991 in 15 hours and 40 minutes. Goodbody, whose book "150 Years of Channel Swimming" chronicles the sport’s evolution, described the event as a tribute to “one of the most extraordinary feats in British sport,” rivaling the 1966 World Cup in public fervor. The celebration highlighted the growing popularity of open-water swimming, with over 2,700 successful Channel crossings since Webb’s time, the fastest in six hours and 45 minutes, and American Sarah Thomas achieving the only four-time consecutive swim. Webb’s spirit endures in every swimmer who braves the Channel, a testament to his role in ushering a new epoch of human endurance.

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*Harsh Thakor is a freelance journalist and Channel swimmer (15 hours, 2 minutes, 1988)

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