Tim Lawrence

From USAFA Folklore

Lt. Col. Tim Lawrence, Class of 1988 and member of the U.S. Air Force Academy's Department of Astronautical Engineering, became the first American to swim the 14.8 nautical miles from Britain's Jersey Island to France on July 23, 2006, setting a world record.

In the process, he lowered the best overall time by more than three minutes to 8 hours, 21 minutes, 17 seconds. Colonel Lawrence is only the sixth person in the world to successfully complete this long-distance swim solo.

After battling in the last few miles and setting foot on the western shore of France's Cherbourg peninsula, the colonel was greeted by 75 people with an American flag. Only then did he learn that he was the new world record holder. The old record of 8 hours, 26 minutes and 28 seconds was set in 2005. The colonel beat that record by five minutes to become the first American and only sixth person ever to complete the swim solo since it was first accomplished in 1966.

Colonel Lawrence's record also beats the best relay team times. Only four teams have completed the Jersey Island-France swim via relay.

Sunday's swim is the latest in a long-distance swimming career, which includes completing two Ironman triathalons. Colonel Lawrence swam the English Channel in 1999. He became the first American to swim the 41 nautical miles around Jersey Island in 2002, and was the first American and second person ever to swim from the island of Vis to Split, Croatia.