2013 Event Swimmer Diana Nyad makes history, becoming the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage 2003 Death Gertrude Ederle, swimming celebrity/teacher, first woman, and fifth person, to swim the English Channel, dies at 97 1997 Event Susie Maroney, 22, of Australia, is 1st to swim from Cuba to Florida 1992 Event Sadovyi swim world record 4x200m freestyle (7:11.95) 1988 Event Christopher Jacobs, Troy Dalbey, Tom Hunter and Matt Biondi, swim world record 4x100 m freestyle (3:16.53) 1987 Event Lynne Cox became 1st to swim from U.S. to Russia across Bering Strait 1985 Event Shelley Taylor of Australia makes fastest swim ever around Manhattan Island, doing it in 6 hours 12 minutes 29 seconds 1985 Event Alayson Gibbons sets 24 hour women swim record of 42.05 miles in 25 meter pool 1983 Event Drury Gallagher sets fastest swim around Manhattan (6h41m35s) 1983 Event Samantha Druce, age 12y 119d is youngest woman to swim English Channel 1982 Event Cindy Nicholas of Canada makes her 19th swim of English Channel 1981 Event American Charles Chapman is 1st black to swim English Channel 1981 Event 6 English lifeguards set relay swim record English Channel (7:17) 1980 Birthday Valerie Hould-Marchand, Riviere-Du-Loup QU, synchro swim, Silver Medal 1996 Olympics 1979 Event Marcus Hooper, 12, is youngest person to swim English Channel 1978 Event Walter Poenisch completes swim of 207 km from Cuba to Florida 1973 Event 1st sub 17-minute 1,500m female free style swim (Shane Gould 16m56.9s) 1972 Birthday Yang Wenyi, Chinese swim star, WR/OR 50m freestyle 1971 Birthday Samantha Druce, youngest woman to swim English Channel 1963 Event 1st round-trip swim of Strait of Messina, Italy (Mary Revell of U.S.) 1962 Event Fred Baldasare is 1st to swim English Channel underwater (scuba) 1961 Event Antonio Albertondo (Argentina) at 42, completes 1st "double" crossing swim of English Channel in 43 hours 10 min 1951 Event Florence Chadwick becomes 1st woman to swim English Channel from England to France. It takes 16 hours and 19 minutes 1951 Birthday Peter Davison, actor, Dr. Who, Sink or Swim, Fiddlers Three 1949 Birthday Diana Nyad, swimmer, 1st to swim Bahamas to Fla-1979 1949 Event 1st Naples-Capri swim, 17 miles (27 km) (Giovanni Gambi) 1947 Birthday Richard Roth, U.S., 400m swim medley 1964 Olympic gold 1930 Event Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam in the Mississippi River from Ford Dam, Minn, to New Orleans 1927 Event Johnny Weissmuller sets 100-yard and 200-yard free-style swim record 1927 Event Johnny Weissmuller set swim records in 100-yard and 200-yard free-style 1926 Event New York's Gertrude Ederle becomes 1st woman to swim English Channel 1923 Event Enrico Tiraboschi is 1st to swim English Channel westward 1923 Event 1st American to swim English Channel, Henry Sullivan 1918 Birthday Florence Chadwick, swimmer, 1st to swim English Channel both ways 1892 Event Amsterdam swim club renamed "The Y" 1877 Event 1st U.S. amateur swim meet (New York Athletic Club) 1876 Event 2nd Kentucky Derby: Bobby Swim aboard Vagrant wins in 2:38 1875 Event Matthew Webb becomes 1st to swim English Channel, 21h 45m 1875 Event 9th Belmont: Bobby Swim aboard Calvin wins in 2:42 1868 Event 2nd Belmont: Bobby Swim aboard General Duke wins in 3:02 1827 Event 1st U.S. swim school opens (Boston Mass)
