1956-1990

Who was first? The first person to complete a recorded crossing of the Rottnest Channel was Gerd von Dincklage-Schulenburg on 24 January 1956. Gerd was warned of the cold, sharks and the notorious rips around the island but his mind was made up and WA Newspapers agreed to organise the swim. After the start was postponed a few times due to adverse weather, Gerd finally entered the water at North Mole, Fremantle and swam towards the hazy outline of Rottnest Island. Gerd took 9hours:45minutes to reach the Natural Jetty and so began the history of the Rottnest Channel Swim. Gerd's swim stirred the imagination of the 'Weekend Mail' who offered cash prizes to better his time and this brought about the first race only two months later on 25 March 1956. The race was well advertised and soon applications for entries were received. Due to the number of swimmers wishing to participate, it was suggested by the West Australian Amateur Swimming Association (WAASA) that an elimination race of similar distance be conducted in the sheltered waters of the river. On 18 March 1956 at 8:30am a reduced field of twenty-two swimmers started at half-minute intervals from Bicton Jetty and finished the 18km race at Langley Park. Only nine swimmers made the finish line, with Trevor Seaborn crossing the line first. Nine swimmers had qualified to participate in the first race to Rottnest scheduled to take place the following weekend. They were Trevor Seaborn, Tony Rigoll, Mel Andrew, Howard Bowra, Neil Earl, George Winning, Les Stewart, Harry Lapelaars and Toby Regan. Prior to the race, Howard Bowra and George Winning withdrew from the field. Four swimmers completed this first race from the mainland to Rottnest Island. Trevor Seaborn, Neil Earl, Les Stewart and Toby Regan all beat the time of Gerd von Dincklage-Schulenburg, with Trevor Seaborn taking line honours. Due to the interest shown in this initial race, the 'Weekend Mail' decided to promote a similar swim the following summer. On advice from the WAASA, it was agreed to restrict the 1957 event to the river. Thirteen years later on 13 April 1969, Lesley Cherriman, a recent English immigrant, was the next swimmer to complete the swim across the Rottnest Channel. Lesley swam from Natural Jetty to North Mole and in doing so became the first female to complete a crossing, a feat she repeated on 18 February 1970 and again on 4 April 1971, this time from the mainland to Rottnest. Between 1983 and 1990, a total of 19 swimmers completed 26 crossings of the Rottnest Channel with seven of these crossings starting at Rottnest. Swimmers who completed more than one successful crossing during this period were Tom Brown (3), Peter Blackmore (3), Peter Tanham (2), John Whitehead (2), Shane McGurk (2) and Ken Edwards (2). Peter Tanham and Barbara Pellick have now successfully completed 21 crossings, the most number of crossings to date.