Fastest swim crossing of the English Channel (IS1, female)

The fastest swim crossing of the English Channel (IS1, female) is 12 hours 20 minutes by Mel Barratt (UK), when she swam from Samphire Hoe near Dover, Kent, UK, to Cap Gris-Nez, France, on 28 August 2024, as ratified by the Channel Swimming Association.

The 33-km (20.5-mi) swim was piloted by Fred and Harry Mardle on board the vessel Masterpiece.

Born with congenital toxoplasmosis, Barratt is the first ever blind woman to successfully swim across the English Channel. The first blind swimmer to make the crossing is believed to be James Pittar (Australia) on 19 July 1998, with a swim time of 13 hours 50 minutes, overseen by the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation.

Barratt is a former Paralympian swimmer having won two golds, two silvers and a bronze across two Games (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000) and has subsequently turned her attention to open-water swimming. On 17–18 July 2023, she became what is thought to be the first blind person to swim across Lake Geneva in Switzerland as part of a six-person relay team.