Daniel Carpio (Peru)

Carpio at Folkestone Open Air Pool. Folkestone, Kent.

Daniel Carpio was trained by Ted Temme, who at that time was the only person to have swam the Channel in both directions, and was presented by Dover Council with a Gold Cup. This cup was offered by the Council to the fastest swimmer to swim the channel from England to France in 1934, Male or Female, Amateur or Professional. At that time the swims were mainly from France to England. The reason for the Gold Cup was to promote the town of Dover. Ted Temme was the only person to swim the Channel from England to France in 1934. He also accompanied Carpio on his swim,in 1947. This swim has not been recognised by the Channel Swimming Association.

Peruvian swimming legend Daniel Carpio Maciotti was born on 11 March 1910 and died at the age of 99 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Popularly known as “Carpayo”, he was Natonal Champion in, 100, 200 and 400 metres backstroke. He won the International Games in 1925 and participated in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, 1936 Berlin Olympics, and 1948 London Olympics.

Daniel was the first South American to cross the English Channel in 1947 and also crossed the River Plate in 1945, 1977, and 1982 (when he was 72 years old). The National Swimming Pool in Lima, Peru is named after “Carpayo,” who was the first person to cross the Straight of Gibralter in 1948, he also swam the Straight 1977 and 1988 (when he was 78 years old). In 1947, he was awarded the Order of the Sun as a Great Master by the Peruvian President Jose Luis Bustamante y Reviro and the Recognition Award by the Peruvian Institute of Sports (IPD).

Daniel Carpio swam in the Daily Mail Festival of Britain race in 1951. He was 11th overall and the 9th male swimmer. His swim was not recognised by the Channel Swimming Association.

The New York Times, Friday, September 5th. 1947: Peruvian Swims the English Channel.Carpio, First to cross Since 1939, Spends 14 hours and 46 minutes in the water. DOVER, England, Friday, Sept. 5th. Daniel Carpio, 35 year old Peruvian distance swimmer, today whipped powerful three-knot tides to swim the English Channel after 14-hour 46-minute effort. The young bank clerk was the first person to swim the treacherous channel since Sweden’s Sally Bauer made her crossing only a week before England entered World War II in 1939. Pilot John Burwill of the accompanying motor boat, June Rose said Carpio had chosen a day when the persistant high winds in the Channel were soft but the tides were against a fast crossing.Carpio’s time was considerably short of the record, 11 hours 5 minutes, set by Georges Michel, a Frenchman, in 1926 over the same route from Cap-Gris-Nez. The distance is only about nineteen miles, but waves and currents forced him to swim for forty-two miles.

Tides Are Worst Enemy. After his arrival on the tiny beach at the foot of Shakespeare Cliff. Carpio – who had complained in the second half of the swim of bad stomach pains – said his worst enemy had been the tides, coupled with the salt water that burned his stomach when he swallowed.Carpio slipped into the water off Cap-Gris-Nez at 1.56 P.M (EST) yesterday and began clipping off a steady twenty-two strokes per minute.  The flood tide set in after he had been in the water about two hours and, according to the plan for the crossing, Carpio changed his course to northeast, heading for the lightship on the Goodwin Sands just off the English coast. The hardest part of his swim began shortly before sundown when the ebb tide began. Tiring under his tide-battling efforts, the Peruvian swimmer slowed to eighteen stokes a minute and stopped oftener to be fed. Under the guidance of his trainer, Edward Temme, and his Argentine manager, Carlos y Ermini, Carpio had been eating at two-hour intervals after his departure from the French coast.

Carpio’s time was fifteen minutes slower than that of the American, Gertrude Ederle, who crossed the channel on June 6 1926, and was acclaimed as a national heroine when she came home to the United States.

Post script. The New York Times, Friday, September 5. 1947: Twenty-three swimmers of the hundreds who have attempted the feat before and since Mathew Webb of England first succeeded in negotiating the passage in 1875 have made the Channel Crossing.One of these. E. H. Temme of England, holds the sole distinction of covering the distance in both directions. He swam from France to England over the customary course in 1927 and in 1934 to make it from make it from South Foreland, England, to Blanc Nez. Nine women have lasted the distance. Among them was Mrs.Clemington Corson (Mille Gade) of New York who completed her endurance feat just twenty-two days after Miss Ederlie had set the precedent for her sex.