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.

Data from Julian Critchlow‘s database was used.

Copyright © 2011 by World Open Water Swimming Association