Matthew Webb - 19 Jan 1848-83

First Person To Swim The English Channel 

In 1873, Webb was serving as captain of the steamship Emerald when he read an account of the failed attempt by J. B. Johnson to swim the English Channel. He became inspired to try, and left his job to begin training, first at Lambeth Baths, then in the cold waters of the Thames, the English Channel and Hollingworth Lake. His early training was backed by Fred Beckwith who was the "Professor" at Lambeth Baths. Beckwith organised a spectacle by showing Webb swimming miles in the River Thames. Webb completed ‘nearly six miles’, but the poor public interest meant that Beckwith lost money. 

On 12 August 1875, he made his first cross-Channel swimming attempt, but strong winds and poor sea conditions forced him to abandon the swim. On 24 August, he began a second swim by diving in from the Admiralty Pier at Dover. Backed by three escort boats and smeared in porpoise oil, he set off into the ebb tide at a steady breaststroke. Despite stings from jellyfish and strong currents off Cap Gris Nez which prevented him from reaching the shore for five hours, finally, after approximately 21 hours and 40 minutes, he landed near Calais—the first successful cross-channel swim. His zig-zag course across the Channel was nearly 40 miles (66 km) long!

Henry Taylor, 1885-1951

Manchesters Victorian Swimming Superstar

Henry represented Great Britain in four Summer Olympics between 1906 and 1920 and served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. His fortunes declined after he retired and he died penniless. His record of three gold medals at one Olympic Games – the most by any Briton – stood for 100 years until it was equaled by cyclist Chris Hoy in 2008. 

Henry Taylor was born in Hollinwood in Oldham, Lancashire, on 17 March 1885 to James, a coal miner, and Elizabeth Taylor. Henry's parents died when he was young and he was raised by his older brother. He learned to swim in the Hollinwood Canal, and practised in any water body he could find – baths, becks, canals, lakes, etc., including the Hollinwood Canal and Alexandra Park's boating lake. At 5'5" (1.65 m) and weighing 10 stone 6 pounds (66 kg),[7] he wore a hand-woven silk swimming costume weighing about an ounce.[8]

He was selected for the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens winning a gold in the one mile freestyle, silver in the 400m freestyle and a bronze in the 4×250 m freestyle. Later that year, Taylor broke the world record for 880 yards (800 m). The British press hailed Taylor as "Britain's Greatest Amateur Swimmer". He was the first man to hold the world record for the 1500 metres freestyle, a feat that he completed on 25 July 1908 in a time of 22:48.4 in London. His haul of three was the most gold medals won by any Briton at the Olympics. 

Four years later, Taylor was selected for the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. In the 4×200 m freestyle relay, he helped his team win bronze.[4] There were no Olympic Games in 1916 because of the First World War. Taylor joined the Royal Navy in 1914 and kept fit by swimming around the ships when his ship was anchored at Scapa Flow.[3] He was present at the Battle of Jutland. A popular story tells that during the course of the battle, his ship, HMS St. Vincent, was sunk and while the survivors waited for two hours to be rescued, Taylor swam around encouraging his crewmates.[4] However, this story is probably a myth as HMS St Vincent was not sunk at the Battle of Jutland.[9] He was transferred to HMS Ramillies where he remained until he was demobilised.[3]

After the war, Taylor returned to swimming. He took part in the Morecambe Bay Race, winning eight times over a period of 20 year and at one point held the record.[8] Taylor attempted to emulate Matthew Webb in swimming across the English Channel but failed due to bad weather.[10] He annually took on the French champion, swimming in the River Thames and the River Seine and winning on every occasion.[3] Taylor's last appearance in the Olympic Games was at Antwerp, Belgium, in 1920 when he again helped the 4×200 m freestyle relay team to a bronze medal.[4]