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A fact from List of successful English Channel swimmers appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 19 August 2010 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
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The prepositional phrases I set off with commas aren’t restrictive; i.e., here are listed the first unaided attempt, first successful crossing, etc., no matter by whom. It’s not as if, say, Thomas Burgess had two or more successful crossings, and the second is described here (although by then he’d had many unsuccessful attempts). Also, the article makes it plain that Burgess was the third, not the second, successful Channel swimmer, but Paul Boyton, the first of them, used (as his WP article points out) a suit that worked as a flotation device. (I’ve also altered the wording that editor 59.102.114.35 complained of, although I rather like swig.)
I’ve posted this here because it’s too long for the “Edit summary.” Mucketymuck (talk) 19:12, 6 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The article calls it an "unaided attempt by J. B. Johnson", but goes on to describe that Johnson stopped multiple times to drink brandy, got on his chase boat, etc. I don't see how that could possibly be called "unaided". Even if it became a failed attempt when he boarded the boat, he had already taken the brandy from the boat. Plainly put, it wasn't an unaided attempt and shouldn't be called that (or have I missed something?).
Similarly, this "first unaided attempt" suggests that there were aided (more-aided?) attempts earlier, but none is listed. Either the prior attempt(s) should be included in this section (separate subsections), or the title of this subsection should be changed. I don't know enough about the topic to pontificate further. Minturn (talk) 15:53, 2 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Johnson swam freely, unaided by any flotation device, hence his open-water swim was "unaided." Even a wetsuit is something of a flotation device. Open-water swimmers, including of the English Channel, commmonly are escorted by boats, whose crew helps them navigate, feeds and encourages them, and sees to their safety. "Marathon" swims as a rule are 10k or more. Mucketymuck (talk) 19:07, 6 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
