Tom Gregory (swimmer)
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 October 1976 Eltham, Greater London, Great Britain |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
Thomas Gregory (born 9 October 1976[1]) swam the English Channel in 1988 at the age of 11 years 333 days, and holds the record as the youngest person to have done so.[2] He made his swim on 6 September 1988.[3] The record cannot be broken because the Channel Swimming Association has since set an age limit of 16 years for officially recognised crossings.[4] The age limit was introduced on 26 November 2000.[5]
Sources differ as to his age at the date of the swim. Gregory's own book states that he was 11 years and 333 days old,[6] as does the 2025 book 150 Years of Swimming the Channel.[7] The Channel Swimming Association states that he was 11 years 330 days old.[2] His old school gives the figure of 11 years 336 days,[8] as does a BBC article.[9]
Gregory's coming-of-age story about being the youngest person to swim the Channel, A Boy in the Water (2018, Penguin: ISBN 9780241354124) was joint winner of the 2018 William Hill Sports Book of the Year.[10] It was BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in August 2018.[11] He served in the Royal Anglian Regiment of the British Army.[12][3]
