Becky Lewis

Last updated

Becky Lewis
Personal information
Born1983-1984
Barrow-in-Furness, Great Britain
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Long-distance swimming

Rebecca Lewis (born 1983or1984, known as Becky), is an English long-distance swimmer. She held the record among English women for the fastest crossing of the English channel in 2009, 2010, and 2013, and in 2016 set a record for the fastest two-way crossing of the channel for both British men and women. [1] Between 2007 and 2022, she completed thirteen crossings of the Channel. [2]

Contents

Records and achievements

Irish Sea relay

In 2011 she swam for 35 hours 18 minutes as part of "The Swim", a relay team crossing the Irish Sea. [3]

Loch Lomond

On 26 August 2012, she swam Scotland's Loch Lomond in 9:23:34, setting a new championship record for women. The time was ratified by the British Long Distance Swimming Association. [4]

Two-way swim of Windermere

In 2015 she broke the record for the fastest time for a two-way swim the length of Windermere, in the regular competition held by the British Long Distance Swimming Association. Exiting the water first, she completed the swim in 8 hours 33 mins, breaking her own previous women's record by 14 minutes but the men's record as well. The old records were set in 2005 for women and 2007 for men. [5]

Fastest British woman across English Channel

By 2016, Lewis held the record among British women for the fastest crossing of the channel, at eight hours 35 minutes.

Fastest two-way English Channel crossing

In 2016 she broke the record for the fastest British swimmer to make a two-way crossing of the English Channel with a time of 20 hours and 30 minutes. Her first crossing was around 10 hours, which she felt was rather slow, but when she made her second crossing in roughly the same time, she was pleased with her time. [6]

Awards

The Channel Swimming Association awards the Centenary Cup for the fastest English Channel swim of the year by a British person. Lewis won the Cup in 2009, 2010, and 2011. [4]

Swimming career

Lewis usually preferred an ordinary bathing suit over a wet suit for comfort. Her preferred nutrition was an energy gel and water which she would take every 40–45 minutes. Her preparation included carb loading in the weeks prior to an event. [6]

Her swim in August 2015 raised funds for the Babygrow Appeal, supporting the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit after her nephew had been nursed there. [6]

She appeared with Paul Rose in the "Windermere" episode of his 2018 BBC One series The Lakes with Paul Rose . [7] [8]

Personal life

Lewis is a physiotherapist and works in Barrow-in-Furness. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gertrude Ederle</span> American swimmer (1905–2003)

Gertrude Caroline Ederle was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Among other nicknames, the press called her "Queen of the Waves".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Chadwick</span> American swimmer (1918–1995)

Florence May Chadwick was an American swimmer known for long-distance open water swimming. She was the first woman to swim across the English Channel in both directions, setting a time record each time. She was also the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Bosporus, and the Dardanelles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynne Cox</span> American swimmer (born 1957)

Lynne Cox is an American long-distance open water swimmer, writer, and speaker. She is best known for being the first person to swim between the United States and the Soviet Union, in the Bering Strait, a feat which has been recognized for easing the Cold War tensions between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Dr. Vicki Keith Munro, CM, O.Ont, LLD, ChPC is a Canadian retired marathon swimmer, coach and advocate for disabled athletes. Her accomplishments include the first crossing of all five Great Lakes, a 100-hour swim and the world record distance of 80.2 kilometers swum using the butterfly stroke. Many people consider Keith as the face of marathon swimming.

Kevin Murphy has swum the English Channel 34 times, more than any other man in history. The overall title of greatest number of successful English Channel swims is held by Chloë McCardel with 44 to her name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunny Lowry</span> British swimmer (1911–2008)

Ethel "Sunny" Lowry MBE was credited with becoming the first British woman to swim the English Channel in 1933, Although Mercedes Gleitze was actually the first British woman to swim the channel, in 1927.

Penny Lee Dean is an American long distance swimmer who began her career with her swim across frigid San Francisco bay at age 10. She is best known for having the fastest time for anyone to swim from Catalina to California in 7:15:55 in 1976, and the fastest time to swim the English Channel in 1978 in 7:40.

Dr. Julie Bradshaw is a British teacher, sports coach, counsellor, long-distance swimmer, and councillor at Charnwood Borough Council, Loughborough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Fisher</span> English swimmer (1927–2022)

Brenda Fisher was an English long-distance swimmer. In 1951 she broke the women's world record for swimming the English Channel becoming a celebrity and she was given the British Sportswoman of the Year Award.

Chloë McCardel is an open water swimmer and swim coach from Melbourne, Australia.

Michelle Davidson, is a U.S. Masters Swimmer and a long distance, open water swimmer. She is one of only 84 swimmers in the world who have ever accomplished the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, which includes crossing the English Channel and Catalina Channel, and circumnavigating Manhattan Island.

Linda Carol McGill, also known by her married name Linda Kruk, is an Australian former competition swimmer noted both for achievements at the Commonwealth Games and in long-distance swimming. At age 30, McGill set a record for the fastest and only swim around Hong Kong Island which stood for over 40 years, and still holds the record for the fastest swim in a counterclockwise direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhakti Sharma</span> Indian open-air swimmer

Bhakti Sharma is an Indian Open water swimmer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramvir Singh</span>

Wing Commander Paramvir Singh is an Indian Air Force officer and Adventure Sports athlete. He is an open-water endurance swimmer with multiple records to his credit, having led expeditions to the English Channel, unexplored channels in the Arabian Sea, one of which broke a world record, and the historic first-ever swim down the entire stretch of the River Ganga. as well as an Ultra Triathlon and Duathlon athlete.

Sarah Thomas is an American marathon swimmer. She is the first person to complete four consecutive crossings of the English Channel and the first person to swim a current-neutral swim over 100 miles. She holds the world record for longest, second-, and third-longest current-neutral swims, and various other records in both fresh and salt water categories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stella Taylor</span> American long distance swimmer (1929–2003)

Stella Taylor was an American long-distance swimmer born in Bristol, England, best known for crossing the English Channel twice and holding Guinness Book of Records recognition as the oldest woman to swim across the Channel. She made her first English channel crossing in August 1973 in 15:25, from England to France, when she was around the age of 43, repeating the swim in 1975 in 18:15 at the age of 45.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meenakshi Pahuja</span> Indian academic and marathon swimmer

Meenakshi Pahuja is an Indian lecturer and marathon swimmer. After a successful career as a competitive swimmer, she became a teacher at Lady Shri Ram College, and later entered open water swimming. She received a 2018 Nari Shakti Puraskar award.

Jenny Eileen James was the first Welsh person to swim the English Channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Mann</span> American swimmer (born 1997)

Rebecca Wilke Mann is an American open water swimmer and writer.

References

  1. ↑ "Rebecca Lewis Swimming Fast And How". The Daily News of Open Water Swimming. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2018.with video clips of technique
  2. ↑ "Rebecca Lewis, Swims, Races". Longswimdb. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "Swimmer completes 56-mile challenge". Westmorland Gazette. 7 September 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Rebecca Lewis, Open Water Swimming Career". Openwaterpedia. 7 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Griffiths, Simon (9 August 2015). "Records broken at BLDSA Two-Way Windermere Championships". Outdoor Swimmer Magazine. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Brilliant Barrow physiotherapist Becky breaks British swimming record". The Mail (Barrow). 2 September 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "The Lakes with Paul Rose: Series 1, Windermere" . Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  8. ↑ Goodhart, Benjie (11 October 2018). "TV blog: The Lakes with Paul Rose". SAGA magazine. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.