Trent Grimsey of Brisbane, Australia, broke the English Channel world record on 8 September 2012, in a time of 6 hours and 55 minutes, shaving just 2 minutes off Bulgarian Petar Stroychev’s previous record.

‘It’s every marathon swimmer’s dream to not only swim the English Channel, but also hold the record,’ Grimsey said after his swim.

The swim began at 06:43 on Saturday, guided by veteran pilot Mike Oram on Gallivant. Grimsey’s swim line was almost straight across the Channel, avoiding the typical swimmers’ S-curve navigation. He landed on Cap Gris Nez at 13:38. His pace meant he was swimming over three miles per hour. (You can see Trent's swim track here.)

‘I came over wanting to break the record. I won the 2012 FINA Grand Prix marathon series so I knew I was in great shape,’ Grimsey said.

Grimsey booked his swim in 2009, and has competed in various Australian and international events since then. Before his Channel performance, he was most noted for his 2012 Gold medal and world record over 36km in the FINA Capri-Napoli Grand Prix in Naples, Italy. He is also a 3-time Australian national champion for both 5km and 10km disciplines.

When asked how he felt the swim went, Grimsey remarked, ‘I loved the swim, it was awesome. Mike Oram was a great pilot and took me the best line possible. My crew was letting me know every hour how far under the record I was. At the first hour I was three minutes under, then at three hours I was seven minutes under. I was starting to hurt a little towards the end but still managed to hold it together for a 6:55!’ 

On behalf of the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation, as well as the Channel Swimming community, massive congratulations to Trent on a phenomenal performance.