Channel Swimmer 25 August

In Dawley, Shropshire there is erected a memorial on which the inscription reads: "Nothing great is easy". The memorial was erected in 1909 by Thomas Webb, to commemorate the exploits of Dawleys most famous son, his brother Captain Mathew Webb who, on this day, 25 August, in 1875, successfully arrived in Calais, France having dived from the Admiralty Pier at Dover, England some 22 hours earlier. In doing so, Captain Webb became the first person to swim the English Channel without the use of 'artificial aids' (waterwings?).

Even before his attempt to swim the English Channel, Mathew Webb was famous for aquatic exploits of 'daring do'. For example, whilst serving as second mate on the Cunard ship 'Russia', which plied between New York and Liverpool, he attempted to rescue a man overboard by diving into the sea in mid-Atlantic. Sadly the overboard man was never found. Although Webb swam around for more than half-an-hour, he found only the young man's cap. Nevertheless, Webb's brave attempt made him a hero of the British press and won him an award of £100 and the Stanhope Gold Medal. (The Stanhope Gold Medal is the Royal Humane Society's top award and Webb was the first person ever to win it. The Stanhope Medal is named after a 19th century aristocrat, Chandos Scudamore Scudamore Stanhope.)

Having been inspired, whilst serving as captain on the steamship 'Emerald' by the failed channel swimming attempt of J. B. Johnson in 1873, Webb decided to have a go himself. His first attempt, on 12 August 1875 was thwarted by strong winds and poor sea conditions and he was forced to abandon the swim. However, undeterred, on 24 August 1875 he tried again. Backed by three chase boats and smeared in porpoise oil, (for luck, presumably), he set off into the ebb tide. Despite stings from jellyfish and strong currents he finally, after 21 hours and 45 minutes, landed near Calais.

After this, Captain Webb was a celebrity, he licensed his name for merchandising such items as commemorative pottery and match box covers. He also wrote a book entitled The Art of Swimming. He participated in exhibition swimming matches and stunts such as floating in a tank of water for 128 hours. His final stunt, was to attempt to swim across the Niagara River at the base of Niagara Falls - a feat widely held to be impossible. So it proved to be. At 4.25pm on 24 July 1883 he jumped into the river and within 10 minutes he had become caught in the current and was dragged under by a whirlpool. His body was found four days later. Captain Mathew Webb, brave but bonkers.