| Birth Place: | Dewsbury, Great Britain |
Eileen Fenton (born 1928) was the first woman to swim the English Channel, accomplishing the feat on 26 September 1950.[1] Fenton completed the swim as a competitor in the First Daily Mail Channel Race. There were 24 competitors in the race and less than half of these finished. She finished in a time of 15hrs 31mins, and received a winner's cheque of £1000.[2]
In 2019, she received an MBE in the Queen's Birthday honours for voluntary service to Long Distance and Competitive Swimming Coaching in Yorkshire and Great Britain.[3]