Jenny Kammersgard & Margaret Feather

The Daily Mail Channel Swimming Race 1950. Channel swimming contestants for Daily Mail Race taking a break for a chat during their training at Folkestone Pool; they are Jenny Kammersgaard, aged 32 years, kneeling on the poolside, and Margaret Ann Feather, aged 17 years, of Scarborough in Yorkshire, in the pool.

Jenny Kammersgaard of Copenhagen. Her swims include Kattaget, Sealand to Jutland 1937, Baltic to Jutland 1937, Denmark to Germany 1938.

She was the first woman to swim the channel Breastroke. She made two successful swims, both Daily Mail; she was the last lady in both races – in 1950 she did 16hrs 27mins and was the second women swimmer to finish and the last successful swmmer to finish, 15 swimmers failed. In 1951 she swam in 15hrs 38mins.

She swam two individuals in 1952, without success, and one in 1954.

Margaret Feather was a competitor for the 1954 Butlins race. She was successful, her time was 16hrs 23mins. She finished in fourth place, second female.

She was unsuccessful in the 1950, 1952 and 1953 races.

She has swum Morecambe Bay and in 1953 she was awarded the best woman for effort in the Nile Swim (only two finishers). She was the first woman to complete the Capri-Naples swim.

From the Sam Rockett collection