Desmond Robert Renford MBE (25 August 192730 December 1999) was an Australian long-distance swimmer who swam the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kan ...

19 times from 19 attempts. This was a record for successful crossings by an Australian until it was overtaken by

Chloe McCardel Chloe (; ), also spelled Chloë, Chlöe, or Chloé, is a feminine name meaning "blooming" or "fertility" in Greek. The name ultimately derives, through Greek, from the Proto-Indo-European root ', which relates to the colors yellow and green. T ...

in 2016. From 1975 to 1979 and for a period in 1980 he held the title of King of the Channel. At the time of his death, only two other people had swum the Channel more often,

Alison Streeter Alison Jane Streeter MBE is a British long-distance swimmer. Biography Streeter has swum across the English Channel 43 times, the most crossings done by an individual until surpassed by Chloe McCardel on 13 October 2021. She also completed seven ...

and

Michael Read Michael Peter Read MBE (born 9 June 1941) is an English long-distance swimmer who has the third most crossings of the English Channel – 33 to date. The current ''Queen of the Channel'' is Chloë McCardel with 44 crossings. Competitive swimmi ...

Biography

Des Renford was born on the 52nd anniversary of the very first Channel swim, achieved in 1875 by

Matthew Webb Captain Matthew Webb (19 January 1848 – 24 July 1883) was an English swimmer and stuntman. He is the first recorded person to swim the English Channel for sport without the use of artificial aids. In 1875, Webb swam from Dover to Calais in l ...

. He took up marathon swimming only at the age of 39. His Channel crossings included three in 10 days in 1980. In 1977 he broke the record for swimming around

Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a Alcatraz Island Lighthouse, lighthouse, a military fortif ...

by 23 minutes. He was a mentor of

Susie Maroney Susan Jean Maroney (born 15 November 1974) is an Australian former marathon swimmer. In 2019, Maroney competed in the sixth season of ''Australian Survivor''. She was eliminated on Day 7 and finished in 22nd place. Swimming career Maroney w ...

, and led her on her first Channel crossing when she was 15. In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 12 June 1976, Renford was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE).It's an Honour
/ref> He was a

Papal knight The orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See include titles, chivalric orders, distinctions and medals honoured by the Holy See, with the Pope as the fount of honour, for deeds and merits of their recipients to the benefit of the Holy ...

of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under ...

(the letters OHS sometimes appear after his name). He was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser t ...

in 1998. He suffered three heart attacks and a stroke, and had undergone heart surgery. He had a fourth heart attack while swimming on 29 December 1999. He went into a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

, was admitted to the

Prince of Wales Hospital Prince of Wales Hospital is a large of Tertiary referral hospital and large of teaching hospital from Faculty of Medicine in Chinese University of Hong Kong in Sha Tin, New Territories in Hong Kong.. Named after Charles, Prince of Wales (no ...

in Sydney, and died there the following evening. His wife Patie, whom he married in 1945, and their three sons were at his bedside when he died. The former Heffron Park Pool was renamed in Des Renford's honour on 1 March 2000 as the

Des Renford Aquatic Centre Des is a masculine given name, mostly a short form (hypocorism) of Desmond. People named Des include: People * Des Buckingham, English football manager * Des Corcoran, (1928–2004), Australian politician * Des Dillon (disambiguation), severa ...

References

* Obituary article, ''

Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', 1 January 2000, p. 3 Doverlife website and official records of the Channel Swimming Association and the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation

External links

Renford Aquatic Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renford, Des 1927 births 1999 deaths Australian male swimmers Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire English Channel swimmers Australian long-distance swimmers Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees