The Washington times., 1901-09-22
GREAT SWIMMING FEATs.
Numerous Risky Attempts Made to
Cross the English Channel.

Leander, who used nightly to swim the
Hellespont to meet his lady love, is prob
ably the first long-distance swimmer of
whom there is any definite record. though
the Hellespont would not be thought
very formidable strait by modern ath-
lete, as II is only about a mile across. The
strength of the current there. however,
renders 1t impossible for even a boat to
cross In a direct line, and Lord Byron.
who in 1910 SWAN the Hellespont in COM
pany with Lieutenant Ekenhead. actually
covered a distance of about four miles.
Among the Romans. Horatius. who swan
the Tiber after his heroic feat in keeping
Lars Porsena and his army at bay. can
hardly be reckoned among iong-distance
swimmers, as the river is only about 100
yards across
Apparently the first attempt ever made
to swim the English Channel was in 112,
when Johnson. known as the hero of
London Bridge" started from Dover. The
cold of the water. however. was so in
tense that he was obliged to give in after
a comparatively short distance, but he is
said to have covered seven miles in sixty
five minutes The next effort was that by
the famous Captain Webb three years
later. The first great swimming feat of
Captain Webb was his heroic attempt.
when on board the Cunard liner the Rus
sia, to save a seaman who had fallen
overheard in mid-Atlantic. His next eX-
plot was his twenty-mile swim from
Blackwell to GraveSend, a distance he ac-
complished in few minutes under five
hours. Then on August "a he again start
ed, leaving Dover at II o'clock A WIND
arose and the sea roughened, and only MS
indomitable pluck enabled him to keep up
the struggle. He finally landed at Calais
at 1910 a. m. after being in the water
twenty-Dne hours and forty-five minutes
His success made him popular nero ne
was greeted with the widest enthusiasm
wherever he went: and unfortunately IL
must to some extent be reckoned the in
direct cause of his tragic death in lSS5. in
his wild attempt to swim the Niagara
rapids.
Dalton, an American, who started from
BouIogne at O'Clock on August II. 1890.
The night was cold and rainy. and the
tide drifted him considerably out of his
course; but it was claimed that he was
successful in reaching FoiEestOnc at 3:3D
the next day. having covered between
fifty and sixty miles. Many attempts
have been made since to swim the chan
mel. but none has been wholly successful
Fisher and Dalton attempted to swim
from Dover to Ramsgate, a feat which
Captain Webb had once performed but
were unsuccessful. in 1884, Peter McNally,
OF Boston started from Dover at II
O'Clock, accompanied by Iugger. AS u
suitable diet he chose beef extract, es-
sence OF ginger and chewing tobacco. By
3 O'Clock exhaustion began to set in and
he suffered greatly from cramp: but he
went doggedly on until he became deliri-
Gus and his friends dragged him forcibly
into the lugger. The last attempt, and
one which was very nearly successful,
was that of Frank Holmes. in September,
1898. Starting from Dover, he swan within
six miles of the French coast. when, fog
coming on and the wind beginning to rise,
he abandoned his attempt.-Chicago
News.