Bristol Channel swims
The Bristol Channel is a large inlet of the North Atlantic Ocean in southwest Great Britain, separating England and Wales. The width varies from 9 miles (14 km) at its confluence with the River Severn to 23 miles (37 km) where it meets the Atlantic. Notably, the Bristol Channel has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world, up to 13m (43 feet).
Swimmers have been drawn to the challenge of crossing the Bristol Channel for nearly 100 years. Kathleen Thomas was the first, crossing a 16 km route in the inner/eastern channel between Penarth, Wales to Weston-super-Mare, England in 1927. In 1971, Kevin Murphy pioneered a longer route across the middle of the channel, from Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales. In 2009, Gethin Jones pioneered the "outer" route across the widest part of the channel, from Ilfracombe, England to Swansea, Wales.
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Due to the complicated geography of the Bristol Channel shoreline and large variation in width, there is not one "obvious" or canonical swim route, as with other famous channel swims (e.g, English Channel). In the interest of simplifying record keeping, while also celebrating diverse swim challenges, we list Bristol Channel routes in three geographical categories:
- "Inner" channel, near the confluence with the River Severn, starting or finishing in Penarth, Wales (16-21 km).
- "Mid"-channel, starting or finishing in Porthcawl, Wales (21-27 km).
- "Outer" channel, between Ilfracombe, England and Swansea, Wales (37 km).
While the start location of cross-channel swims can be fixed, in swims across strong tidal currents, a specific finish location can be difficult (if not pointless) to hit. Thus according to marathon swimming tradition, the finish of a channel swim is simply: "the other side" - or wherever is closest or most convenient. Applying this tradition to the Bristol Channel, the route distances indicated below are measured from a fixed/established start point to the closest land on the other side of the channel.
There is one exception to this rule - the original Kevin Murphy "mid-channel" route from Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales. This route is approximately 5km longer than finishing at the closest land (Nash Point). In this case, any swimmer who starts on the beach in front of Glenthorne House and finishes in Porthcawl west of the River Ogmore is credited with 26.8 km.
| Route |
Swims |
First |
Fastest |
| Ilfracombe, England to Wales |
4 |
Geth Jones - 2009 |
Sian Clement - 14:01:00 (2016) |
| Weston-super-Mare, England to Penarth, Wales |
3 |
Harry Luscombe - 1929 |
Edward Temme - 07:05:00 (1933) |
| Penarth, Wales to Weston-super-Mare, England |
7 |
Kathleen Thomas - 1927 |
Gerald Forsberg - 05:40:00 (1964) |
| Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales |
8 |
Kevin Murphy - 1971 |
Jane Luscombe - 10:46:00 (1976) |
| Penarth, Wales to Clevedon, England |
8 |
Stephen Price - 1991 |
Joanne Jones - 05:27:57 (2020) |
| Clevedon, England to Penarth, Wales |
1 |
Stephen Price - 1992 |
Stephen Price - 08:17:02 (1992) |
| Clevedon - Penarth - Clevedon |
1 |
Stephen Price - 1994 |
Stephen Price - 15:43:17 (1994) |
| Porthcawl, Wales to England |
4 |
Tom Chapman - 2021 |
Martyn Webster - 09:10:00 (2022) |
Inner
| Date |
Name |
Gender |
Age |
Nation |
Route |
Km |
Time |
| 1927 Sep 5 |
Kathleen Thomas |
 | |
|
Penarth, Wales to Weston-super-Mare, England |
16.1 |
07:20:00 |
| 1928 Jul 8 |
Edward Temme |
 | |
|
Penarth, Wales to England |
15 |
06:35:00 |
| 1929 Aug 15 |
Edith Parnell |
| |
|
Penarth, Wales to Weston-super-Mare, England |
16.1 |
09:45:00 |
| 1929 Sep 12 |
Elsie Westenberg |
| |
|
Penarth, Wales to Weston-super-Mare, England |
16.1 |
09:37:00 |
| 1929 Sep 15 |
Harry Luscombe |
| |
|
Weston-super-Mare, England to Penarth, Wales |
16.1 |
09:03:00 |
| 1933 Jul 30 |
Edward Temme |
| |
|
Weston-super-Mare, England to Penarth, Wales |
16.1 |
07:05:00 |
| 1949 Sep 19 |
Jenny James |
| |
|
Penarth, Wales to Weston-super-Mare, England |
16.1 |
10:05:00 |
| 1950 Jul 9 |
Jenny James |
| |
|
Weston-super-Mare, England to Penarth, Wales |
16.1 |
08:23:00 |
| 1964 Jul 18 |
Gerald Forsberg |
| 52 |
|
Penarth, Wales to Weston-super-Mare, England |
16.1 |
05:40:00 |
| 1991 Sep 28 |
Stephen Price |
| 29-30 |
|
Penarth, Wales to Clevedon, England |
21.2 |
07:45:18 |
| 1992 Sep 21 |
Stephen Price |
| 30-31 |
|
Clevedon, England to Penarth, Wales |
21.2 |
08:17:02 |
| 1994 Sep 22 |
Stephen Price |
| 32-33 |
|
Clevedon - Penarth - Clevedon |
40.9 |
15:43:17 |
| 2007 Aug 26 |
Gary Carpenter |
| |
|
Penarth, Wales to Clevedon, England |
21.2 |
05:35:22 |
| 2017 Aug 16 |
Alec Richardson |
| |
|
Penarth, Wales to Clevedon, England |
21.2 |
05:58:03 |
| 2020 Sep 27 |
Joanne Jones |
| 27-28 |
|
Penarth, Wales to Clevedon, England |
21.2 |
05:27:57 |
| 2021 Jun 17 |
Tom Chapman |
| 39 |
|
Penarth, Wales to Weston-super-Mare, England |
16.1 |
06:17:21 |
| 2021 Jul 2 |
Tom Chapman |
| 39 |
|
Penarth, Wales to Clevedon, England |
21.2 |
06:38:53 |
| 2022 Jul 7 |
Tom Chapman |
| 40 |
|
Penarth, Wales to Clevedon, England |
21.2 |
07:04:12 |
| 2022 Jul 7 |
Philip Warren |
| |
|
Penarth, Wales to Clevedon, England |
21.2 |
07:04:22 |
| 2022 Jul 11 |
Rosalind Edmonds |
| |
|
Penarth, Wales to Clevedon, England |
21.2 |
06:49:10 |
| 2022 Aug 6 |
Jo Bolton |
| |
|
Penarth, Wales to Weston-super-Mare, England |
16.1 |
06:14:00 |
Middle
| Date |
Name |
Gender |
Age |
Nation |
Route |
Km |
Time |
| 1971 Jul 14 |
Kevin Murphy |
| 22 |
|
Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales |
26.8 |
15:00:35 |
| 1975 Jul 17 |
Ted Keenan |
| 39 |
|
Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales |
26.8 |
14:26:15 |
| 1976 Aug 19 |
Jane Luscombe |
| |
|
Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales |
26.8 |
10:46:00 |
| 1977 Aug 21 |
David Jones |
| |
|
Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales |
26.8 |
13:01:00 |
| 1979 Aug 4 |
Jeffrey Lloyd |
| |
|
Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales |
26.8 |
11:01:30 |
| 1982 Jul 29 |
Kaye Daniels |
| |
|
Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales |
26.8 |
11:24:10 |
| 2020 Sep 10 |
Kamil Resa Alsaran |
| 59 |
|
Glenthorne, England to Wales |
21.6 |
13:08:00 |
| 2021 Jun 19 |
Tom Chapman |
| 39 |
|
Porthcawl, Wales to England |
26.2 |
11:57:00 |
| 2021 Jun 30 |
Claire Leighton |
| |
|
Glenthorne, England to Wales |
21.6 |
09:13:00 |
| 2021 Jul 19 |
Victoria Lea |
| |
|
Glenthorne, England to Wales |
21.6 |
08:32:00 |
| 2022 Jun 22 |
Lee Johnson |
| |
|
Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales |
26.8 |
11:43:36 |
| 2022 Jul 21 |
Avram Iancu |
| 45-46 |
|
Glenthorne, England to Wales |
21.6 |
11:42:00 |
| 2022 Jul 21 |
Elaine Burrows Dillane |
| 50-51 |
|
Glenthorne, England to Porthcawl, Wales |
26.8 |
12:52:02 |
| 2022 Aug 6 |
Tom Chapman |
| 40 |
|
Porthcawl, Wales to England |
26.2 |
12:07:02 |
| 2022 Sep 19 |
Martyn Webster |
| 55 |
|
Porthcawl, Wales to England |
26.2 |
09:10:00 |
| 2022 Sep 19 |
Pat Gallant-Charette |
| 71 |
|
Porthcawl, Wales to England |
26.2 |
12:55:49 |
Outer
| Date |
Name |
Gender |
Age |
Nation |
Route |
Km |
Time |
| 2009 Sep 13 |
Geth Jones |
| |
|
Ilfracombe, England to Wales |
37 |
21:39:00 |
| 2016 Jul 23 |
Sian Clement |
| 38 |
|
Ilfracombe, England to Wales |
37 |
14:01:00 |
| 2022 Sep 21 |
Fergal Somerville |
| 58-59 |
|
Ilfracombe, England to Wales |
37 |
15:35:00 |
| 2022 Sep 21 |
Philip Warren |
| |
|
Ilfracombe, England to Wales |
37 |
21:47:00 |
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