As we look across the entire spectrum of marathon swimming from slow to fast, from young to old, from novice to professional, women – on average – give a good battle to their male colleagues in the oceans and lakes around the world. If the fastest of the English Channel swimmers are analyzed, the pendulum swings in favor of the males. Of the thousands of English Channel swims, only 194 swims have been completed in under 10 hours.
– 8 of the fastest 10 swims of all time were done by men (80%) – 14 of the fastest 20 swims of all time were done by men (70%) – 31 of the fastest 50 swims of all time were done by men (62%) – 60 of the fastest 100 swims of all time were done by men (60%) – 115 out of the 194 swims done under 10 hours were done by men (59%)
It appears from this limited slice of data from 1875 – 2010 that as English Channel times get faster, the number of women at the top are fewer.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.