Alison Streeter

Alison Streeter MBE (born 1964) has conquered the English Channel 43 times, more than anyone in the world and earning her the title of "Queen of the English Channel" (The title was previously held by Cindy Nicholas - the "King of the English Channel" is currently held by Kevin Murphy with 34 successful crossings). This total includes a triple-channel swim. She also completed seven Channel crossings in one year, a feat made more difficult because she mounted her challenges against this 21 mile body of water one at a time on separate attempts of about one every ten days. Alison is also the fastest woman from France to England (8 hours 48 minutes), a record she established in 1988. She was the first (and so far only) woman to swim the Channel three ways non-stop in 1990 taking 34 h 40 min for the feat. Only 2 other men have succeeded (Jon Erikson, 1981 in a time of 38 h 27 mins and Philip Rush, 1987 in a time of 28 h 21 mins).

The Queen appointed her a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1991 for the above 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 Fort Lauderdale.

She worked as a currency trader all her working life in London until earlier this year, and now spends part of her life in Adelaide (Seacliff) and the summers in Dover in her beloved English Channel as a fully qualified Channel Swim boat pilot

British records

1984 Catalina Channel (Santa Catalina Island, California) 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

World records (men and women)

1984 Round Isle of Wight 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 - 1 st 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 in total, men's record is 34.
1998 Isles of Scilly to Cornwall 1st person 28 miles 15 h 11 min

External links

* [http://www.channelswimming.net/ Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation]
* [http://www.ishof.org International Swimming Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.dover.uk.com/channelswimming/swimmers/184/Alison+Streeter/ Channel Swimming Information - Swimmer Profile: Alison Streeter]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5037126.stm BBC article about crossing the channel, which mentions Alison Streeter]
* [http://www.doversolo.com/alisonstreeter.htm Alison is mentioned extensively in the book 'Dover Solo - Swimming the English Channel']
* [http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/ Multiple mentions of Alison on the official website of the Channel Swimming Association]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5037126.stm BBC News Article on Channel Swimming]