title: Male swimmers cross the English Channel faster than female swimmers.
abstract: We examined the gender difference in performance of open-water ultra-swimmers crossing the English Channel between 1875 and 2011. A total of 1606 swimmers (1120 males and 486 females) crossed the English Channel within a mean time of 809.6 ± 175.6 min. The overall female swim time of 796.3 ± 188.7 min was not different compared with the overall male swim time of 815.4 ± 169.4 min (P > 0.05). The fastest male swim time ever of 417 min was 6.7% faster than the fastest female swim time ever with 445 min. The gender difference in performance of the top three times ever was 8.9 ± 2.3%. Over the last 36 years, the performance of the annual top three swimmers showed no changes for both females and males. The top three males (564.3 ± 63.8 min) were significantly faster than the top three females (602.1 ± 58.7 min; P < 0.01). The gender difference remained unchanged at 12.5 ± 9.6% over the years. To summarize, the top three male swimmers in the English Channel were ∼12% faster than the females in the last 36 years. It seems unlikely that female open-water ultra-swimmers will overtop males in the near future in the English Channel.
authors.affiliation: Institute of General Practice and Health Services Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Knechtle
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Rüst
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rosemann
mesh_terms: D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D013997:Time Factors