TO SWIM THE CHANNEL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 284, 25 August 1908, Page 5

TO SWIM THE CHANNEL.

<' ANOTHER FAILURE. (BY .TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYBIGUT.) . ; : London, August 23. T. W.V Burgess again failed in-his attempt to. swim the Channel, getting ( within oni and a half miles of Gravelines, twelve miles cast north-east of Calais, and after being in the water for 22$ hours. WOLFFE'S EFFORT. "Quite a number -of swimmers seem to fail when within quitfe a short . distance of the French coast. Last year Wolffe got within ' three-quarters of a mile of it, and this year he got'within a mile. An account of , his-swim early, last month state 3 that he swam- with ■ scarcely any variation in his strokes, and only occasionally stopped for feeding purposes. Food was giveh to nim' from over .the. side ct a smiiil boat, Mrs. .Wolffe haying charge, of the arrangements. ; Several of th«?se on the steamer oceasiopally took .a-'-turn - in:the water with Wolffe,. but. they were unable to keep up with him for very long. Oi>'board the. yacht that accompanied the' swimmer were'a couple of pipers.^who throughout the. day frequently played'the swimmer some of his favourite tunes. Wolffe'has extraordinary '.powers or resisting cold, and several ■ times said that the water seeiiled-to him quite warm. He - entered the slack water between tides' when four miles.from tho shore,,and v then made a bee-line for' Calais, covering about one and a half miles before the ebji tide set in. Towards midday,"and for two or. three hours afterwards, the sea was like a sheet of glass, and the heat of 7 the 1 sun was : so great that Wolffe wore goggles and a head-dress'to protect him. On hiS progress .' across Channel, ; Wolffe passed through several patches* of jelly fish, and twice ran close to a shoal of mackerel. ■ "About 2.30 he was within seven miles of the French coast. With the flood tide came a little breeze from' the eastward, which set' up rather an uncomfortable lap on the water. Wolffe swam on .until he .reached a point off Cape Blanc Nez, one mile from the French shore at 5.55 p.m. There he was caught in a strong easterly current, which carried him away towards the North Sea. He was capable of continuing his swim, hut as he could make no leadwav he decided to abandon his attempt. I'hough" the' sea had been lumpy towards the md Wolffe-was quite fresh when-he left the vviter." ' v