Webb, Matthew

Webb, Matthew (1848-83), swimmer, b. Dawley, Shropshire, England.

Captain Webb, as he was always called (although he was not a captain), was the first man to swim the English Channel.

In his time people said this was impossible. But Webb set out from Dover, on 24 August, 1875 and came ashore at Calais 21 hours later.

Almost all his life, Webb had been a keen swimmer. He was a sailor by trade and saved a number of people from drowning. Once he rescued a shipmate from the Atlantic Ocean during a storm.

Eight years after swimming the Channel, he tried a harder swim. He tried to swim the rapids below the Niagara Falls but the pounding waters battered him to death.

See Kathy Watson The Crossing