Kevin Murphy (born 1949) has swum the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

34 times, more than any other man in history. The overall title of greatest number of successful English Channel swims is held by Chloë McCardel with 44 to her name.

Swimming career

Murphy's total of 34 includes three double-channel swims. He also holds the record for the earliest Channel crossing of the year, set on 29 May 1990. In 1964, aged just 15, he completed his first long distance swim – 6 hours 29 minutes for the of

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

. In 1968, he completed his first Channel swim – England to France in 15 hours 15 minutes. In 1970, he became only the third person at that time to complete the two-way Channel swim in 35 hrs 10 mins. In 1971 he was the first person to swim around the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. In his 1975 two-way swim, he was ordered out of the water because of awful weather after swimming non-stop for 52hrs 30mins. At that point he was halfway back on what would have been a record breaking third leg. This decision by the boat crew wouldn't have been taken lightly, given his famed stamina and ability to withstand the coldest and harshest water conditions, as typified in 1988, when he won the

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

Scottish ASA Centenary Championship. The conditions were so dreadful that none of the other swimmers was able to finish the race. In 2000, 32 years after his first Channel success and at the age of 51, he completed his 32nd crossing of the English Channel in a time of 15 hours 10mins, a time faster than his very first crossing in 1968. He thereby became King of the Channel, setting a new record for the most successful Channel swims by a man. He lost this title temporarily, due in part to pursuing several swims overseas and then from being forced to succumb to major shoulder surgery to remove bone spurs, an affliction caused by 40 years of relentless marathon swimming and training. However, on 29 August 2005, and just 18 months after having surgery, Murphy completed his 33rd crossing in 13 hours 31 mins to become joint holder of the King of the Channel title. Murphy completed his last (34th) Channel swim on 21 July 2006 in a time of 15 h 14 mins to make him the undisputed ''King of the Channel''. As of 2006 Murphy still worked as an

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journalist. In 2008 he appeared on "The Great British Body" where he was chosen to represent the British male because of his extraordinary achievements. In 2009, Murphy was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

References

External links

CS&PFChannel Swimming AssociationChannel Swimming Information - Swimmer Profile: Kevin MurphyBBC News Article on Channel Swimming"Kevin Murphy - Openwaterpedia"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Kevin 1949 births Living people People from Kingsbury, London English male swimmers British male long-distance swimmers English Channel swimmers Sportspeople from the London Borough of Brent Swimmers from London English television journalists

Swimming career

See also

References

External links