The sun., 1905-08-20
DISTANCE SWIMMING CRAZE
Spreading the world Over-Holbein to
Attempt the English Channel Again.

DISTANCE SWIMMING CRAZE
Spreading the World Over-Holbein to
Attempt the English Channel Again.
For the last few years England has been
Channel swimming mad, and In natatorial
circles nothing ia talked Of but swimming
the Channel and the doings Of the aspirants
to that particular niche Of fame. Tho
craze has spread to the Continent, and
France, Germany and Hungary are now
as keen on it as their Saxon neighbors.
The fad has even worked It's way to Amer.
lea, and slight taste Of 1t was experienced
and Graham In their remarkable contest
over tho Niagara Rapids. Before the
present season Is ended 1t is unknown
what strange competition may develop
on this side Of the water.
already attempted and failed in the Dover
to Calais swim. Nothing daunted. how
ever, this plucky young woman is to at
tack the perilous task again and is now
undergoing careful preparation at the
as sors Practise spn Mss Rsermssn mar,
swan from Dover to Deal, distance OF
nine miles, and she made the distance in
hours and IS minutes. Not being salts.
fed with that amount Of work, she tried
c. M. Reyndl Of London is training hard
for another attempt on the Channel, and
little more than a week ago made a try
to lower the record from Dover to Rams
gate. He reacAed st. Margaret's Bay after
an interval of 4s minutes. and Deal, nine
miles away, was reaches in hour 81 min
utes; but soon after Reyndl caught cramp
and had to give up.
1t is thirty years since Capt, Matthew
Webb performed the feat which 80 many
have since tried to emulate. On Aug. "a, 1875,
L i. r..-. xto Al lkryR Nav ot
and after being 81 hours As minutes in the
water he touched Calais, on the other side.
Webb's body was coated with oils, which it
is said oounteracted the effects Of the cold
currents which are frequent In the English
Channel. and which are the tane Of S.y every
swim is the greatest ever recorded. He
met his death in an attempt to swim through
Niagara Rapids. on July "a, 1883.
No doubt one OF Webb's best emulators
is Montasa Holhein. who Is now preparing
Channel. On July ls last he swan from
Greenwich to Northfeet Lighthouse, a
distance Of twenty miles, In hours n min
utes, and since he has taken shorter prac-
tise swims in the Channel waters. Holbein
career as a racing cycist more than twenty
years ago. He Is in perfect physical con-
dition and il a remarkable instance Of what
outdoor life can do to prolong a mans
muscular ability. Though always a good
swimmer. Holbein did not turn his entire
years ago. On July 25 1909, he first at
tracted attention by covering forty-three
miles in the water.
Holbein started from Blackwell to two
miles beyond Gravesend. and he returned to
within a mile Of the starting point. and the
distance took him IL hours 27 minutes 4sH
seconds. About a month later the ex-
cyclist tried another long swim Entering
the water at Spithead, he swan for twelve
hours in the Solent. and. it was said, covered
fresh and warm when he left the water, it
was the opinion Of the experts that Holbein
was the man to duplicate Webb's feat Of
crossing the Channel But Holbein paid no
heed to the encoura ging plaudits and simply
took his long swins and said nothing, When
1875 he swan from Blackwell to Gravesend
pier in 4 hours 81 minutes A seconds. and
Holbein tried for this record on June 70,
1900. He made remarkable .progress and
clipped Q minutes n seconds on Webb's
long standing record.
In the early part Of 1901 Holbein kept
up his long distance work, and on Aug "a,
the exact date which Webb selected, at
tempted the task Of swimming the Channel
from Cape Grisnez to Dover. His effort
coast, where the water became 80 rough that
he had to be lifted out. and he gave up the
attempt. He was in the water IL hours
As minutes The failure in no way disturbed
Holbein, and he tried again In 1902. Starting
from the same place on Aug. II, Holbein
swam for % hours 81 minutes and was
within half a mile Of land on the English side
when he became exhausted and was
pulled into a boat. Next to Webb's this is
the greatest swimming feat on record,
Holbein was ready for business es again N N,,i IN
SIDE % He He started from Dover. and was within
four miles Of Calais when a hard current
struck him and began to take him back
ward, and he gave up after being II hours
and g minutes in the sea e. t,,,1N On Aug; s;o 70
loo4. Holbein tried Tor the the i1uftn Q, TN sims;
ten hours and quit. 1t. has not yet been
announced when Holbein will make his
Other swimmers tried the Channel. but
failed T. Holmes Of Birmingham made an
from Dover to Calais. He showed fine speed.
and covered fourteen miles In hours IS
minutes but owing to a chill gave up soon
afterward. For q number OF years j. A.
Weidman OF Dover had his eye on the Chan
with view Of one day being successful.
On July 81, 1904, he swan from Dover
to Ramsgate in six hours. A month after
ward he swan from Dungeness to Dover.
and attempted the Channel swim on Sept. Q.
was taken out exhausted. The following
day another aquatic expert tried the feat
In the person Of w. T. Burgess He started
from Dover and went we'll until he struck
a gale. which made the water 80 rough that
he was forced to retire when he was within
minutes In the water.
Miss Kellerman Is not the only woman to
tackle the Channel swim. predecessor
of the fair sex was Mme lsacescu, an
Austrian. She made the attempt from
the Calais side In July, 1900. and was in the
water ten hours, having covered more
than nineteen miles. A chill forced her to
retire. Though perhaps tho greatest female
swimmer that ever lived, Miss Beokwith
never tried the Channel swim, but other
,JuIy ~ 1873. she swan twenty miles In the
ThsvG IN ) hourp IS minutes and this u