German Olympian Andreas Waschburger shattered the world record for a one-way crossing of the English Channel on Sept. 8, knocking off the previous standard by nearly 10 minutes.
Waschburger, 36, finished the swim in a time of 6:45:25, breaking the previous standard of 6:55:00 established by Australian Trent Grimsey exactly 11 years ago to the day.
🎉Andreas Waschburger 🇩🇪 crossed the English Channel in 6 hours and 45 minutes today, thus setting a new record, surpassing the previous record of Australian Trent Grimsey, which was 6 hours and 55 minutes in 2012.#englishchannel #englishchannelswim #longdistanceswimming pic.twitter.com/gLjEGmHOh9
— Retro Swimming (@RetroSwimming) September 10, 2023
Waschburger departed for the 32.3-kilometer swim in the early morning hours in Dover, England, and made his way to Calais, France under near-optimal conditions with little wind and water temperature in the range of 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
His swim was delayed by a few weeks due to weather, having initially planned to set off in late August.
“I’m overjoyed. A burden has been lifted for me,” Waschburger said, according to German outlet SR. “It was a long way to get there.”
NEW WORLD RECORD (once ratified!)
Unofficial success on 8 September: 1-way solo Andreas Waschburger, time 6:45:25, pilot Mike Oram.
Huge congratulations on a beautiful arc to Cap Gris Nez to set a new world record. Just over the time of a solo qualifying swim! Amazing. pic.twitter.com/z8DagcaVzf
— CS&PF (@csandpf) September 8, 2023
Waschburger was accompanied by a support boat with an experienced navigator, who provided with him fuel every 20 minutes or so throughout the journey.
“That was an extra carbohydrate mixture,” said Waschburger of what he was using to fuel. “We also mixed caffeine in there.”
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Waschburger has plenty of experience competing on the international stage in open water events, most notably racing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London where he finished 8th in the men’s 10km.
He also finished 10th in the 10km at the 2011 World Championships and notched several wins on the European Open Water Cup scene in the early 2010s.
Recently, he has shifted his focus to ice swimming, having won gold on Germany’s mixed relay at the 2023 World Ice Swimming Championships.
He said his next goal is the 2024 European Ice Championships in Bulgaria, which will run at the beginning of February next year.
It looks like he used one of those full-body-down-to-the-knees tech suits. The English channel rules specify that the suit cannot extend down to the knees (it should not go below the groin area). We will see if the record is ratified after all.
http://cspf.co.uk/article/211/andreas-waschburger
Incredible swim
Amazing! The line from England to France was as close to straight as possible!!!
If I calculated correctly his 100 yard time averages is 1:09, that’s with stopping to refuel!
Unbelievable.
you have calculated wrongly but I don’t know how to explain why. it would be more like 109-112 per 100 m. 109 per yards is just too slow
okay i dont understand yards but assuming it was 32.3 km that puts him doing about 1’15 pace per 100 on time for 6.45 hours, and with stops and a bit of mucking around must give him his set speed of around 12-13. they take very quick drinks these fast guys. big engine
I think 1:15 per 100 m is roughly 1:08 per 100 y. Incredible pace to keep for over six hours with no turns or drafting.
Incredible
I think it’s faster than that with no turns. Probably closer to 1:06
It was maybe 34 k. We are waiting for the exact calculation of the kilometers
But it was 1:10-1:11 per 100 meter.