Channel Swimmer Tom Blower at Deal

Tom Blower 1937 – 1951
A factory worker from Nottingham he made 3 successful swims. In 1937 he swam Cap Griz Nez to Abbots Cliff accompanied by the ‘Lady Brassey’ tug and piloted by Captain Pearson. In 1948 he swam from Archcliffe beach accompanied by Freddie Upton in his Walmer boat ‘Sunbeam’. This made him the 2nd person to swim both ways. In 1951 he attempted to swim there-and-back  leaving from St. Margarets Bay but abandoned the return leg after 1 hour. In 1947 he became the first man to swim the Irish Channel. He died in Devon in 1955 aged 41.
France to England: 4/8/37 (success)
England to France: 30/8/48 (success), 11/9/51(success)