Edward Harry Temme (16 September 1904 – 20 June 1978) was an English swimmer and insurance clerk. Temme was the first man to swim across the English Channel both ways, from France to England on 5 August 1927 and from England to France on 18 August 1934. He was also a water polo player who competed in the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

in Amsterdam and the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

in Berlin.

Biography

Temme was born in Stratford Road, Plaistow, Essex (now part of

east London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

). He was a member of the British water polo team that finished fourth at the

, playing in four matches. Eight years later, he was part of the British team that finished eighth at the

, playing in six matches. Temme kept his job as an insurance clerk and trained to cross the English Channel after work and at weekends. He was tall and weighed . He swam from France to England on 5 August 1927, starting at Cap Gris-Nez near

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

and reaching Lydden Spout, near

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, in 14½ hours. He died in Padua, Veneto, Italy.

References

External links

Edward Temme's profile at Sports Reference.comBritish Olympic Association profileFlickr profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temme, Edward 1904 births 1978 deaths English male water polo players Olympic water polo players for Great Britain Water polo players at the 1928 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 1936 Summer Olympics Male long-distance swimmers English Channel swimmers People from Plaistow, Newham Sportspeople from the London Borough of Newham