Eileen Fenton.
Remembering my middle-school days in the 70’s I went to Sandal Endowed CE Middle School. My English teacher was Miss.Fenton. She was a brilliant, albeit an ‘oldschool’ teacher. She was also our swimming teacher and ran the swimming club Wakefield’s Sun Lane baths, of which I was a member for a time.
I remembered that she was the first woman to swim the English Channel and I decided to look this up. Here’s what I found:
“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. Twenty-four men and women paced or stamped up and down-twenty 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, swimmers must clear the water and walk three yards unaided on the beach.
“Eileen Fenton, 22, a 112-lb. Yorkshire schoolteacher who, despite a strained shoulder, crossed in 15 hours 31 minutes crawled out of the water on her hands and knees to claim the £1,000 purse for women. She was one of 9 to finish out of 24 competitors (she came 6th).
“Successful on her first attempt she had 2 subsequent failures.”
Does anyone know what happened to her after she retired (I assume she retired)? Is she still alive? I would be interested to know.