Captain Webb Swims the English Channel

August 25, 1875

Matthew Webb, a Shropshire merchant seaman, waded into the sea at Dover and swam breaststroke for nearly twenty-two hours through jellyfish and tidal currents to reach Calais. He became the first person to swim the English Channel. Victorian Britain, already obsessed with physical endurance, had a new hero. Webb died eight years later attempting Niagara Falls.