On this day in 1875, Matthew Webb became the first man to successfully swim the English Channel. Since then many others have managed to swim from England to France or vice-versa. Here is more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_successful_English_Channel_swimmers
And here is a more recent success for Sport Relief:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sport_relief/7282858.stm