English Channel is a body of water between England and France that connects the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. The channel is about 350 miles (563 kilometers) long. It ranges from about 21 to 100 miles (34 to 160 kilometers) in width. The narrowest part of the channel, between the English city of Dover and the French city of Calais, is called the Strait of Dover. The French name for the English Channel is La Manche (The Sleeve).
The English Channel is the world’s busiest sea passage. About 600 vessels sail through or across the Strait of Dover daily. Ferryboats and hovercraft carry passengers and vehicles across the channel between England and France.
Major ports on the English coast include Dover, Plymouth, Portsmouth, and Southampton. Ports on the channel’s French coast include Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais, Cherbourg, Dieppe, and Le Havre. Popular resorts line the channel coast, including Brighton and Hove, the Isle of Wight, and Bournemouth in England, and Deauville and Le Touquet in France. Islands in the channel include the United Kingdom’s Channel Islands, near the French coast; and the United Kingdom’s Isle of Wight, near the English coast.
Vessels in the English Channel must often battle rough seas. Currents from the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet in the channel. The currents and strong winds cause the roughness. About 25 dense fogs occur in the channel annually.
Most geologists believe that what are now England and France were joined by a low-lying plain at the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago. They believe that about 7,000 years ago, large amounts of ice melted nearby. The water from the melting ice raised the level of the sea, flooding the low-lying plain and creating the English Channel.
The channel has long protected England from invasions. The Spanish Armada in the 1500’s, Napoleon’s fleet in the 1800’s, and Adolf Hitler’s warships in the 1940’s all failed to cross the channel and conquer England.
In the mid-1700’s, people began expressing interest in building a tunnel beneath the English Channel. Albert Mathieu, a French mining engineer, presented the first plan for a tunnel in 1802. In 1986, the United Kingdom and France announced plans to build a railroad tunnel under the Strait of Dover. Construction of the tunnel began in 1987 and was completed in 1994. Passenger trains and freight trains use the tunnel. Also, the tunnel accommodates special trains that carry automobiles, buses, and trucks through it. See Channel Tunnel.
The English Channel has long been a challenge for swimmers. In 1875, Matthew Webb of the United Kingdom made the first recorded crossing of the channel, swimming from England to France in 21 hours 45 minutes. In 1926, Gertrude Ederle of the United States became the first woman to cross the English Channel, swimming from France to England in 14 hours 39 minutes (see Ederle, Gertrude C.).
In 1981, Jon Erikson of the United States became the first person to swim the channel three times without stopping, swimming from England to France, France to England, and England to France again. In 1987, Philip Rush of New Zealand broke several world records on a three-way swim. He holds the record for the fastest swim from England to France and back, 16 hours 10 minutes; from France to England and back, 20 hours 26 minutes; and for the three-way swim, 28 hours 21 minutes. Rush beat Erikson’s total time by over 10 hours. In 1988, Richard Davey of Dover, England, set a new record for the fastest swim from France to England, 8 hours 5 minutes. In 1994, Chad Hundeby of the United States set a record for swimming from England to France, 7 hours 17 minutes. Later swimmers from England to France set records of under 7 hours.
