Stories of the English Channel

www.abiliocouto.cjb.net

This page contains: ( In order of appearance)

1.Story of the swims of Abilio Couto in the Channel, 2. The Cross-Channel Swimming Race (1950), 3. First Channel Cross 4.Channel World Race (1951), 5. A Channel Swimming Association.

To see photos of the Channel, click here

The numbers 2,3,4 was copyed from the book It´s Cold in The Channel of Sam Rockett, published in 1957.

1. History of the swims of Couto in the Channel

Couto was the first brazillian to cross over the English Channel, in 1958, and he repeated twice in the year of 1959. The English Channel is the most difficult swim of the world in open water, that is a test that many Olympic champions try to do but in its majority they fail, a lot of people already died trying to do the crossing.
What turns the difficult test they are largely its currents and temperature that it is in an average of 14 to 18 degrees.
Its first crossing (Abilio) it was commented in newspapers of all he world, becoming in the year of 1958 one of the sportsmen more acquaintances from Brazil. The association of the Channel ,who fiscalizes all the crossings of the channel, gave to Couto through Mr. Wood, a cup of pure silver, with the following registration:

"This Trophy commemorates the swimming of the English Channel by Abilio Couto who swan form Cap. Grip Nez, France to St. Margareth's Bay Dover; England on August 10th 1958 in 12 hours 45 minutes. The swin was under auspices of the Channel Swimming Association whose certificate is awarded herewith."

With this first crossing of 1958 Abílio it was not only the first Brazilian to cross the Channel he was the first person of the world to beated the channel in that year, and also the first south american to be recognized officially by the crossing, because CSA demands a conduct before, and after the athlete's powders crossing to be recognized oficially, winning like this a certificate and a cup. The Centenary Edition of Channel Swimming Association of 1975 shows Abílio as being the first person of South America, the second is Albertondo ( Argentina) in 1961 when he made its double crossing in the Channel with 43hrs 10min. About the people's 40 percent that cross the Channel they are recognized officially by the association.

Couto became the first swimmer of South America to swim sucessfull in the Channel. It was Agoust 10 with 12hrs 45min of swimming. Average of 1 km each 23 minutes for 12 hours.

In 1959 Abílio it returned Channel twice, on September 11, 1959 it broke the world record in the sense England-France (Hard Way) with the time of 12hrs 49 min, and at that time ambassador from Brazil in London sent Abílio a Rolls-Royce to take it the Brazilian embassy where it stayed as official guest for thirty days. The record was homologated for CSA.
The first person to send a telegram of congratulations Abílio G. Forsberg, whose record was broken by the Brazilian,Forsberg was president of Channel Swimming Association. The Average of this swimming was 1 km each 23,3 minutes.

14 days later of Couto's second crossing he made the crossing again, only that now in the sense France-England, made the crossing with the time of 11hrs and 33min. In this same test the World Championship of swimming of long distance was being accomplished by International Long Distance Swimming Federation, and Abílio it participated in the test, arriving in first place, becoming the world champion of the federation. Same Abílio being amateur all the professionals that were getting ready expired there is a long time for the championship. It is important to stand out, and CSA made it in its report, that Abílio was hurted in the left hand, doing with that he made the whole crossing with the shut hand and the fingers. Average of 1km each 21 minutes during all the swim!. The Channel Swimming Association of England published in the official report of Couto´s third swim in English Channel : "Couto is one of the bests if not the very best swimmer of the world at this distance"

The CSA gave to Couto two more thropies to commemorate the 1959 swims.

"Abílio you are a recordholder,hurray the Brazil" ( Mr. Wood, british judgmen after the second swim of Couto)Source: O Cruzeiro 31/10/59

" BRÉSIL, BRÉSIL, BRÉSIL !!!!! " (french crowd in Wissant.) Source: O Cruzeiro 31/10/59

"The English Channel is little to Couto" 25/10/58 . (Manchete Esportiva, number 153.)

"Crossing the channel it´s my hobby" ( A Tarde Newspaper, 18/10/59)

"The sea was slow, praying for a record". Abílio Couto

"Try Again man beats the Channel!" Daily Mail 10/08/1958

"Why i tried the channel?.. It´s the dream of all the swimmers. There is, indeed, a song of Doris Day wich says: For you i am capable to cross the channel; its a great achievement, all of you dream to swim the channel"

Abílio Couto

2. The Cross-Channel Swimming Race (1950)

"A year passed. Now the date was 22nd August, 1950; the time was twenty minutes past midnight. The eyes of the world were focused through television and news-reel cameras on the wet sand of Cap Gris Nez beach. Tewnty-four men and women paced or stamped up and down-twent four athletes chosen to represent a dozen nations in the most fantastic race ever held, the Cross-Channel Swimming Race organized by the Daily Mail with Jeffrey Trub."

"By the rules of the race, swimers must clear the water and walk three yards unaided on the beach."

"Four miles from the English shores the race became a neck-and-neck struggle between Le Morvan and Rehim. Roger le Morvan was actually leading by half a mile; he had benn welll fed all the way over glucose and champagne and when he saw the English cliffs so close he was certain of his sucess. - I have won, i have won, he told himself over and over again. But the Egyptian was swimming to orders. Imperceptibly, he began to put on speed. Less than an hour before the finishhe and Le Morvan were swimming almost side by side. Watchers i the beaches told themselves that it would be a photo finish. Then the unpredictable happened. Le Morvan started to give way. He did not realized, he said later, that the Egyptian was so close. Suddenly aware of the situation, he began to struggle with all his strrenght to regain his lead. With a little more than a mile to go, El Rehim, apparently drawing on hidden reserves in this six foot, fifteen stones frame, put on an amazing burst of speed while the Frenchman seemed to sink back the tide. So El Rehim with his immense body glistening with grease in the sunlight, and with a smile to watch it, he strode up the sands."

"To the crowd around him he boasted - Its not the money that matters but the honour. I am a forty-one and father of six children. I have shown that a man of forty can be as fit as a youth. I did not find a difficulty swim. I did the crwal from start to finish, took it steadily and saved muself for that last half-mile sprint. When i passed Le Morvan, who is a wonderful swimmer, i knew the race was mine. Now i feel so fit i believe i could swim back." About El Rehim

Results: ( France - England)

1. Abd El Rehim (Egypt) - New world record 10:50h

2. Le Morvan ( France) 11:02h

3. Mareeh Hassan Hamad ( Egypt) 12:10h

4. Sam Rockett ( GB) 14:17

5.Willian Barnie ( Scotland) 14:50h

6.Eileen Fenton ( GB) 15:31h - First woman

7. Jason Zirganos ( Greece)16:19h

8. Antonio Albertondo ( Argentine) 15:25h

9. Jenny Kammersgaard ( Denamark) 16:30h

Did not finished: Emile Soron ( France), Eduard Mussche ( Belgium), David Frank ( USA), Willy van Rijsel ( Holland), G.B.Brewster ( GB), Panagiotis Kamberous ( Greece), Elna Andersen ( Denamark), Margareth Ann Feather , Fahmmy Attallah ( Egypt).

3. First Cross of the Channel

"Undoubtedly, channel swimming began a long time ago. But was Captain Webb in 1875 the first man to get across? Webb was the first to do it, he were no goggles.The crawl srtoke was unknow until 1875 and he relied largely side stroke ans breast stroke. He took no solid foods. Webb drank english ale, brandy, beef tea, coffe and-of all thing- cod liver oil,wich made him violent sick."

"The moment when i touched the Calais sands, and felt the French soil beneath my feet, is one wich i shall never forget, were i to live for a hundred years. It was terribly exhausted at the time, and during the last two or three hours i began to think that, after all, i should fail. On the following day, aftar i had a goo night´s rest, i did not fell very much the worse for what i had undergone. I had a peculiar sensation in my limbs, somewhat similar to that wich is often felt the first day of the cricket season; and it was a week before i could wear a shirrt collar, owing to a raw red him at the back of my neck, caused by being obliged to keep my head back for so long a period; for, it must be remembered, i was in the water for very nearly twenty-two hours." Captain Webb, 1875

The time of Webb´s cross was 21:45 h and he used the England to France (Hard way).way

"Years later on the Whirpool crossing, in the end of the race,Webb don´t stop to spit blood from your mouth. Webb ignored the wish of your brother to stop, he don´t stoped and after eight minutes fighting against the brave tide the Captain desapeared, your body was just found it a few days later. The channel swimmers consider with justice that Webb was the pioneer of his sport. " Brazillian magazine, Realidade, 1975.

4. Channel World Race 1951

"On Sunday, 12th August, the eyes of the world werre fixed on our little village. The race was scheduled for the following day. But the Monday morning the weather and the seas had not improved."

"It was a difficulty decision. But half past two in the afternoon Truby gave me the stand by signal. It would me confirmed at 6pm and unless conditions steadily worsened the racec would begin the following morning. We all kept our fingers crossed."

"In the evening Truby rang me on the private wire to confirm the start of the race the following morning. He sounded as cherrful as i suddenly became. Already Wissant was congested by great crowds."

"At any rate, it was already clear that we had eclipsed the 1950 ´Channel swims to end all the Channel swims´

Results: ( France - England)

1. Hassan Hamad ( Egypt)12:12h

2.Roger Le Morvan ( France) 12:13h

3. Abd el Rehim ( Egypt) 12:25

4. Saied el Arabi(Egypt), Brenda Fisher ( England)12:42 - New female world record beated by Fisher

6. Godfrey Chapman ( England) 12:56

7.Winnie Roach ( Canada)13:25

8 Eniqueta Duarte ( Argentine) 13:26

9. Lars Bertil Warle ( Sweden) 13:28

10. Raphael Morand (France) 13:45

11. Daniel Carpio ( Peru) 13:50

12:Janny James ( England) 13:55

13: Jason Zirganos ( Greece)14:10

14. Antonio Albertondo ( Argentine) 14:14

15. Jan van Hemsbergen ( Normandie)14:30

16. Sally Bauer (Sweden) 14:40

17. Edward Barnie ( Scotland) 15:01

18. Jenny Kammersgaard ( Denamark) 15:38

Did not finished: Alain Bombard ( France), Eilenn Felton ( England).

5. The Channel Swimming Association

The Channel Swimming Association was founded in 1928 in England to fiscalized all the attempts in the English Channel. It is the CSA that recognize a swim as official result or not. To visit the official website of CSA and see other related sites about English Channel click here.