THE CHANNEL SWIM.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9174, 25 August 1908, Page 5

THE CHANNEL SWIM.

STILL ANOTHER FAILURE. Received August 21, 9 a.m. LONDON, August 23. Burgess again failed in his attempt to swirn the Channel, after getting within one and a-half miles of Gravelines, twelve miles east northenst,of Calais, and after being in the water for 22£ hours.

Burgess made an attempt to swim the Channel on August 13th last, but abandoned it after being in the water for six hours. A writer in the London "Telegraph" says he cannot call to mind another single instance where a record created 32 years ago still stands, but, judging from the events of the past few years, it would seem that the performance of "Captain" Matthew Webb, on August 24th and 25th, 1875, may long remain the best on record. This is the raore surprising when one considers the enoraiods p.ogress that has been made in the art of natation during the past thirty years. One has only to glance at the comparative times of championships to sse how pronounced this is. For instance, in 1878 the 100 yds was won in lmin whilst in 1906 the time was 58 3-ssec, a reduction of lSsec; in 1878 the 500 yds championship was won in Bmin 7.} sec, and in 1905 in timin 7 l-ssec, a difference of 2min; and whereas the long distance championship in 1877 occupied 1 hour 13min 27sec, in 1907 it was won in 1 hour Omin 15 1 ssec.