Philip Rush, one of the greatest channel swimmers of all time, was recently elected to the board of directors of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. A native of New Zealand and a 1985 inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, he is now the national team coach of New Zealand and helps marathon swimmers every year crossed the difficult Cook Strait.

Besides his success of the world professional marathon swimming circuit, Philip established his legacy in the English Channel where he crossed a total of ten times.

He first swam the English Channel in 1985 in a single crossing and then set a double-crossing record in 17 hours 56 minutes. He made successful one-way crossings in 1986 and 1987 and then became the second swimmer to achieve a three-way crossing in 28 hours 21 minutes. In that remarkable swim, he swam the first leg in 7 hours 55 minutes which was the fastest swim of the year. He then did the second leg in 8 hours 15 minutes to set a two-way record. Not done, his third leg was clocked in 12 hours 11 minutes for a three-way crossing of 28 hours 21 minutes. In one of the most classic bits of history, Philip‘s coach set him off to do a fourth leg and pulled him aboard shortly afterwards. But Philip simply put his head down, set off to do a fourth leg without complaint.

That steely determination and uncommon focus on marathon swimming will undoubtedly serve the sport well.

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