Experienced swimmers know it is relatively easy to escape the narrow channel of the fast moving water by floating and allowing it to drag you further into the ocean or by swimming alongside the shore.
On Aug. 25, 1875, Captain Matthew Webb, a 27-year-old former English naval officer, accomplished a feat many thought impossible: swimming across the English Channel.
To the stimulus offered by the English Channel some people have reacted by staying at home; others have crossed it in rowboats, sailing ships, steamers, or, in modern times simply by swimming.