Alison Streeter
Encyclopedia
Alison Streeter MBE is a British
long-distance swimmer. She has swum across the English Channel
43 times, more than anyone in the world and earning her the title of Queen of the English Channel. This total includes a triple-channel swim. She also completed seven Channel crossings in one year. She set the female record for a Channel swim from France to England (8 hours 48 minutes), in 1988. She was the first (and so far only) woman to swim the Channel three ways non-stop in 1990, taking 34h40 min for the feat.
The Queen
appointed Streeter a Member of the Order of the British Empire
(MBE) in 1991 for her swimming prowess and charity fundraising. To date she has raised over £100,000 for various charities.
In May 2006, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame
.
In 1988, Streeter became the first woman to swim across the North Channel
. She repeated the swim in 1989 and 1997. She currently holds the women's world record for the most number of North Channel crossings, and is tied with Kevin Murphy
for the overall world record of most crossings. In all of history, only ten solo swimmers have succeeded in crossing the North Channel.
She formerly worked as a currency trader in London, and now spends part of her life in Adelaide (Seacliff) and the summers in Dover as a Channel Swim boat pilot.
) 9 h 33 min
1987 Capri
- Naples
8 h 35 min
1990 Round Manhattan
Island 6 h 47 min
1995 Double English Channel
20 h 55 min
1998 Toreneous Strait, Greece 7 h 42 min
1998 Yarra River
St Kilda Pier and return 9 h 40 min
62 miles 21 h 2 min
1985 Richmond, London to Gravesend, Kent
(Tidal Thames) 42 miles 14 h 28 min
1986 Gravesend, Kent
to Richmond, London 42 miles 16 h exactly
1986 Four Piers (Solent
) 14 miles 4 h 37 min
1988 Ireland to Scotland - 1st Woman 9 h 53 min
1989 Scotland to Ireland 1st Person to succeed 10 h 4 min
1989 Round Jersey
(Channel Islands) 9 h 53 min
1992 Seven English Channel
swims in one season (one every 10 days)
1995 Overall record holder for number of English Channel
swims - 43 crossings; men's record is 34 held by Kevin Murphy
.
1998 Isles of Scilly
to Cornwall
1st person 28 miles 15 h 11 min
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
long-distance swimmer. She has swum across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
43 times, more than anyone in the world and earning her the title of Queen of the English Channel. This total includes a triple-channel swim. She also completed seven Channel crossings in one year. She set the female record for a Channel swim from France to England (8 hours 48 minutes), in 1988. She was the first (and so far only) woman to swim the Channel three ways non-stop in 1990, taking 34h40 min for the feat.
The Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
appointed Streeter a Member of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(MBE) in 1991 for her swimming prowess and charity fundraising. To date she has raised over £100,000 for various charities.
In May 2006, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame
International Swimming Hall of Fame
The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of swimming in the United States and around...
.
In 1988, Streeter became the first woman to swim across the North Channel
North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland)
The North Channel is the strait which separates eastern Northern Ireland from southwestern Scotland...
. She repeated the swim in 1989 and 1997. She currently holds the women's world record for the most number of North Channel crossings, and is tied with Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy (swimmer)
Kevin Murphy has swum the English Channel 34 times, more than any other man in history. The overall title of greatest number of successful English Channel swims is held by Alison Streeter with 43 to her name....
for the overall world record of most crossings. In all of history, only ten solo swimmers have succeeded in crossing the North Channel.
She formerly worked as a currency trader in London, and now spends part of her life in Adelaide (Seacliff) and the summers in Dover as a Channel Swim boat pilot.
British records
1984 Catalina Channel (Santa Catalina Island, CaliforniaSanta Catalina Island, California
Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The island is long and across at its greatest width. The island is located about south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is...
) 9 h 33 min
1987 Capri
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
- Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
8 h 35 min
1990 Round Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
Island 6 h 47 min
1995 Double English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
20 h 55 min
1998 Toreneous Strait, Greece 7 h 42 min
1998 Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
St Kilda Pier and return 9 h 40 min
World records (men and women)
1984 Round Isle of WightIsle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
62 miles 21 h 2 min
1985 Richmond, London to Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
(Tidal Thames) 42 miles 14 h 28 min
1986 Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
to Richmond, London 42 miles 16 h exactly
1986 Four Piers (Solent
Solent
The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...
) 14 miles 4 h 37 min
1988 Ireland to Scotland - 1st Woman 9 h 53 min
1989 Scotland to Ireland 1st Person to succeed 10 h 4 min
1989 Round Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
(Channel Islands) 9 h 53 min
1992 Seven English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
swims in one season (one every 10 days)
1995 Overall record holder for number of English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
swims - 43 crossings; men's record is 34 held by Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy (swimmer)
Kevin Murphy has swum the English Channel 34 times, more than any other man in history. The overall title of greatest number of successful English Channel swims is held by Alison Streeter with 43 to her name....
.
1998 Isles of Scilly
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
to Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
1st person 28 miles 15 h 11 min
External links
- English Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation
- International Swimming Hall of Fame
- English Channel Swimming Information - Swimmer Profile: Alison Streeter
- BBC article about crossing the English Channel, which mentions Alison Streeter
- Alison is mentioned extensively in the book 'Dover Solo - Swimming the English Channel'
- Multiple mentions of Alison on the official website of the English Channel Swimming Association
- BBC News Article on English Channel Swimming