Edward Williams
marathon swimmer
Edward Williams is a marathon swimmer who has taken on some of the most iconic and unforgiving open water challenges in the world, from a solo crossing of the English Channel in 14 hours to successful swims of the North Channel and Strait of Gibraltar.
His journey through cold water, powerful tides, and long hours of isolation has been defined by resilience, discipline, and an ability to keep moving forward when most would stop. This site documents those swims in detail, offering an honest insight into the physical and mental demands of channel swimming, while also connecting to the work he leads at Elite Swimming Academy, where the same principles are used to help others push beyond what they thought possible.
The English Channel 2006
Length: 21 miles
Duration: 14 hours
Water temp: 16ºC
Lake Windermere 2008
Length: 11 miles
Duration: 8 hours
Water temp: 15ºC
English Channel Relay 2014
Length: 21 miles
Duration: 10 hours
Water temp: 16ºC
North Channel (unsuccessful) 2014
Length: 21 miles
Duration: 8 hours
Water temp: 13ºC
The Gibraltar Strait 2015
Length: 12 miles
Duration: 4 hours
Water temp: 14ºC
The North Channel (successful) 2016
Length: 21 miles
Duration: 11 hours
Water temp: 13ºC
Manhattan Island 2026
July 2026
Length: 28.5 miles
Dry Land
After Dinner Speaking
Ed is an accomplished public speaker and regularly performs at corporate and charity events as an after dinner speaker.
Corporate Presentations
Ed is an accomplished public speaker and regularly speaks for companies to inspire their teams to work more effectively.
School Assemblies
Ed tours schools across the region every week to speak with the children about the importance of having a dream and doing everything it takes to achieve it.
I can not thank you enough for stepping in at the last minuet to speak at the London Society Dinner in Cambridge.
You did an amazing ‘turn’ for us and seriously on the Saturday morning at breakfast you were the only topic of conversation with members saying just how good your talk was.
I have attended the annual course for all but one of the 37 events. The general opinion was that you should be amongst one of the top 3 speakers in that time. You are certainly going to be a hard act to follow!
Charles Little
Chairman of the London Society of Accountants
“Swimming is my passion so I made it my job and set up the Elite Swimming Academy”
