Is it possible to swim from the British isles to Europe?

Question

From south east Britain to france "Boulogne sur mer"

And how long will it take?

Answer 1

Yes and it's already done by many people. The first person to swim the 34 km (21 miles) across the English Channel ("La Manche") from Dover to Calais was Matthew Webb. He swam for 21 hours 45 minutes and reached France at 10.41 on the 25th August 1875.

Since Webb's triumph, there have been 6 200 known attempts to swim the English Channel. More than 470 people were successful over 600 times, including a 12-year-old boy in 1979, a 12-year-old girl in 1983, a 65-year-old man in 1983, and a 45-year-old woman in 1975. Mike Read holds the men's record, and Alison Streeter surpassed him with the women's record. Matthew Webb, in search of an ever greater challenge, died attempting to swim the violent whirlpool rapids below Niagara Falls in 1882.

The first woman to swim the English Channel was 19-year old American Gertrude Ederle. From 1921 to 1925, Ederle set 29 US and world records for swimming races ranging from the 50 metre (50 yard) to the half-mile race. In the 1924 Summer Olympic Games, she won a gold medal as a member of the championship US 400-meter freestyle relay team, at only 17 years of age. On 6 August 1926 she crossed the English Channel in 14 hours and 31 minutes - 2 hours faster than the men's record - setting a woman's world record that stood for 35 years. It brought her even further international acclaim, and a ticker parade in New York. Sadly, she became partially deaf as a result of her Channel swim.

http://www.didyouknow.cd/aroundtheworld/...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Cha...

Answer 2

around 1000 people have succesfully completed the channel swim ( David Walliams from tv show Little Britain is one he finished in around 14 hours which is a very good time, the average is about 20 hours ) check out the links below for more info

also you can sign up to do it at channelswimmers.org

just be warned only approximately 10% of attempts are successful

Answer 3

Atina Bojadzi – Marathon swimmer- First woman that swam La Manche Channel (1969-)in 13 hours and 20 minutes