Des Renford had an auspicious birthday. He was born exactly fifty two years after Matthew Webb became the first person to swim the English Channel. Des had a few early cracks at swinging himself, but it wasn't until his thirties that a drunken dere from a mate took him out to see Hi, I'm Tony Armstrong, and welcome to the pool room. This is where we celebrate the winners, losers
and the weird stuff between. In nineteen thirty seven, as a ten year old, des Renford won a fifty five yard state swimming championship, and in the fifties he was a surf lifesaver and part of a crew who rescued three stranded fishermen who wrecked their boats on the rocks off Botany Bay. But like many other men of his generation, he'd gone to war. At sixteen, Dez joined the Navy, and after he was discharged, spent time in and out
of hospital. Later on, he said of the experience, quote, altogether, it took five years out of my life. That can't be put back again. If I was ever going to be any good at sport, that took it away from me, dez tell that to Port Philip Bay. It's a drunken night in Melbourne nineteen sixty seven. Des and some mates are getting loose and he's taking a load off from
his job as a salesman. After a few frothies, his journal friend Jack Ailing proposed a mighty dare to swim across Port Philip Bay the next morning after their massive night on the source. It was a twenty four mile race thirty nine kilometers to put it into perspective, that's seven hundred and eighty links of the Harald Holt outdoor pool, or about twenty eight thousand inflatable kiddie pools lined up
in a row. What I'm saying is this was more than just a nootie run across the local footy ground. Morning came and Des was feeling pretty dusty. He tried to make his mate Sea reason and you know, probably just go for a pint or something, but they insisted and he set off into the cold springtime water. Now this isn't a fairy tale, so he didn't win. That race was won by Linda McGill. Just a side note on Linden, She was herself an iconic Australian marathon swimmer,
the first person recorded to have swum the Bay. She was also the first Ossie to ever cross the English Channel from France to England topless, and that swim was also adare is this the secret to becoming a world champion? Hmm? Anyway, so Mguil came first and our mate Dez didn't finish,
but neither did pretty much anyone else. Even though Dez didn't complete the race, he still came third because no one behind him finished either, probably just catch the very next time a. But despite falling short of his destination, DES's love of long distance swimming was set ablaze, and while he was recuperating in hospital from his dip in Port Philip Bay, he decided he wanted to swim the
English Channel. Des became kind of obsessed with it. His first crossing was in nineteen seventy and after that he said he starts on becoming King of the Channel, a title that doesn't come with any castles or foreign lands, but is bestowed on the man who successfully completed the most crossings. In nineteen seventy five, he did it three times in four weeks. That year, Des nabbed the King of the Channel title from Mervyn Sharp and held it
for five years. In total, des Renford swam the English Channel nineteen times in nineteen attempts, which was then the best effort by any Australian. He did it in great weather and in gale force wins. One time he got run over by a hovercraft, but still managed to swim his way to France. In nineteen eighty, when he was fifty three years old. Does swam the Channel three times in ten days, which is more often, and then some of us managed to eat veggies. With that done, he
simply retired. The English Channel was his most famous marathon, but does swam all over the place. He once had to be pulled unconscious from the freezing waters of loch Ness. He also swam ninety three kilometers from Watson's Bay to North Wollongong Harbor. In nineteen eighty one, he attempted a one hundred and thirty four kilometer stretch from Newcastle to Sydney, but his sharkproof cage succumbed to choppy waters after only thirteen hours. Let me say that again, only thirteen hours.
With his swimming days behind him, des Renford became an inspiration and mentor to many other water babies, and his son Michael also went on to become a champion marathon swimmer. Actually, though the ward took him. On the twenty ninth of December nineteen ninety nine, Dez suffered a heart attack while swimming. By this point he'd already had three heart attacks and a stroke. The fourth saw him slip into a coma, and he died the following day. Des Renford received many
honors for his swimming efforts. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. He was a member of the Order of the British Empire, and he was a papal Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher. That's like a fancy award from the Pope. Also, his cousin was rock and roll singer Johnny O'Keefe. Overall, probably a better outcome than most of our drunken DEAs. On your Dez, You've been listening to the Ballroom and iHeart production. I'm Tony Armstrong and I'll speak to you soon.