Swimming The Channel .Professor W. Cavil…

Engraving of the attempted Channel swim by W. Cavil who was Richmond Theophilus (Dick) Cavill (1884–1938). Cavill migrated to Australia, reaching Melbourne with his family in the Somersetshire in February 1879. He soon moved to Sydney and set up as a ‘professor of swimming’. 

In July 1876 Cavill swam over twenty miles from London Bridge to Greenhithe, the longest distance to that time on the Thames. Next month he swam from Southampton to Southsea Pier and from Dover to Ramsgate, before attempting to swim the English Channel. He was taken from the water three miles from his destination, but achieved considerable fame. Having a ‘robust constitution, broad chest, and great muscular power’, he tried again next year but was dragged from the water within 220 yards of the English coast. Although the ‘success’ of the swim was heatedly challenged, it was recognized by the Serpentine Club.

From the original edition of the The Graphic.