Roger Allsopp, 70, becomes oldest person to swim the English Channel

A retired surgeon has become the oldest person to swim the English Channel. Roger Allsopp, 70, took the record from previous holder George Brunstad, whose other claim to fame is that he’s Hollywood star Matt Damon’s uncle.

Roger Allsopp set off from Shakespeare Cliffs, Dover on Tuesday morning at around 8am and taking 17 hours, 51 minutes to complete the 21 nautical mile journey. He was some way off the verified record of 6 hours, 57 minutes set in 2007 by Bulgarian Peter Stoychev. The person to have swum the channel the most times is Briton Kevin Murphy, who has completed the crossing 34 times (so far).

Roger Allsopp has a history of taking on physical challenges. He ran the London Marathon at the age of 60, and in 2006 he swam the English Channel for the first time, taking the (then) age record of 65 before George Brunstad beat him and Allsopp returned for another shot.