- Who
- Sally Minty-Gravett
- What
- 59:45 year(s):day(s)
- Where
- Not Applicable ()
- When
Sally Minty-Gravett (Jersey, b. 16 July 1957) became the oldest female swimmer to complete a two-way consecutive English Channel swim on 29–30 August 2016, aged 59 years 45 days. She completed the double crossing from Dover, Kent, UK, to Calais, France, and back again in 36 hours 26 minutes. The record was set under the auspices of the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation.
The first leg was completed in 15 hr 3 min (08:44 to 23:47) and the second leg took 21 hr 23 min (23:47 to 21:10). She was piloted by Neil Streeter aboard the vessel Suva.
In 2016, Sally was awarded an MBE for her services to swimming.
The oldest male to complete a two-way English Channel swim is Rick Seirer (Australia, b. 10 September 1959) who completed the double crossing on 26–27 August 2019, aged 59 years 351 days. He swam from Dover, UK, to Cap Gris-Nez, France, and back in a total time of 29 hours 46 minutes, as ratified by the Channel Swimming Association.
Sally is also the only person in history – male or female – to swim across the English Channel at least once across six decades – in 1975 aged 18, 1985 aged 28, 1992 aged 35, 2005 aged 48, 2013 aged 56 and 2022 aged 65. In total, “Dolfin Sal” has completed eight English Channel swim crossings to date. On her latest outing, she raised over £21,500 for the Jersey Alzheimer’s Association and the Jersey Lifeboat Association.
