Jenny Eileen James (1927 - 24 October 2014) was the first Welsh person to swim the English Channel.

Born in Pontypridd in 1927, she learned to swim aged 7 in the Pontypridd Swimming Baths. (The Baths reopened in 2015 as the Pontypridd Outdoor Lido, now the National Lido of Wales). On 19 September 1949 she swam from Penarth to Weston-super-Mare, and then made the swim in the reverse direction on 9 July 1950,[1] so becoming the first woman to swim the Bristol Channel both ways.[2] On 16 August 1951 she competed in the Second Daily Mail Cross Channel Race,[3] and became the first Welsh person to swim the English Channel, crossing from France to England in 13 hours 55 minutes.[2] She received an official homecoming on her return to Pontypridd.[4] She was granted the freedom of Pontypridd in recognition of her achievement, and free entrance for life to any swimming pool in Wales.[2] She became the women's record holder for her swim of Windermere in 1958.[5]

She worked as a swimming coach and lifeguard at the Pontypridd Baths, and is credited as having saved more than 100 lives in her career. She is commemorated at the Lido,[6] where a plaque has been erected in her honour.[7]

James died at a care home in Porth, Rhondda on 24 October 2014. She was unmarried.[2][8]

References

  1. ↑ "Bristol Channel swims". LongswimsDB. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Jenny James: First Welsh person to swim the channel dies". BBC News. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Second Daily Mail Cross Channel Race". Dover Museum – Channel Swimmers. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  4. ↑ "Official homecoming". People’s Collection Wales. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  5. ↑ "Loch Lomond Championship" (PDF). British Long Distance Swimming Association. August 1959. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "Heritage". Lido Ponty. Rhondda Cynon Taf CBC. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  7. ↑ "Plaque for first Welsh person to swim English Channel". BBC News. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  8. ↑ Tegeltija, Sam (2014-10-30). "The first Welsh woman to swim across the English channel, Jenny James, dies at the age of 87". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
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