Taylor, Haydn

Haydn Taylor (1897 – 1962), a native of Cleethorpes, dentist and Channel Swimmer. On the 22nd August 1935 he set off from Cap Grisnez, near Calais, at 1.35am and arrived just west of Dover to complete the crossing at 4.23pm. The swim duration of 14 hours and 48 minutes was the eighth fastest crossing at the time. Accompanied by Eddie Stockwood on final part of the swim.

Haydn Taylor was also the first man to swim the Humber 1932

Haydn Taylor, of Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, who landed at Abbot’s Cliff, between Folkestone and Dover, at 4.23 this afternoon, after a swim of 14 hours 48 minutes from Cape Gris Nez. The record is 11 hours 5 minutes up by Georges Michel of France, in 1926. This was Mr. Taylor’s first attempt, and it is the first time that the Channel has been swum this year. Dr. G. B. Brewster, of Southwark, S.E., who entered the water at the same spot as Mr. Taylor a quarter of an hour earlier, gave up after three hours. It was his tenth attempt. TROUBLE WITH GOGGLES: Three hours after he started Mr. Taylor entered a patch of choppy sea, and he had trouble with his goggles, which from time to time he had to empty of water. Eventually he was given another pair. When he was four miles from Dover the worst part of the swim began. “I don’t think I would attempt another Channel swim for he said later. ‘It was terribly gruelling, especially when I could see the Dover cliffs for the five hours I was battling with a westerly current. “After I entered the water we were carried east of Gris Nez, got to the Goodwins at about mid-day, but after that it was a fight against the tide.” Mr. Taylor’s swim was made three days before the sixtieth anniversary of Captain Webb’s first Channel swim. He crossed from Dover to Calais in 21hr. 45min.
Kingston Gleaner Sep 17 1935

Swims by Taylor, Haydn

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