The Bristol Channel Swim

Commander Charles Gerald Forsberg’s Bristol Channel crossing occupies a prominent place in the BCSA archive. Its records page dates the swim to 18 July 1964 and gives 5 hours 40 minutes for Penarth to Weston-super-Mare, describing it as the fastest recorded crossing on that route. The route archive repeats the time and direction [1, 2].

The result belongs to a much larger swimming life. Forsberg had already completed an English Channel record swim in 1957 and competed in numerous British open-water events. Bristol was one part of a sustained career in endurance swimming, alongside his naval service and work as a writer and organiser [3–5].

The surviving register supplies the outline of the crossing, but an original 1964 newspaper account, observer’s log or certificate has not yet been located in this research. There is consequently no sound basis here for naming his Bristol escort, describing the weather or reconstructing his route around the islands [1, 2].

Discrepancies in the Historical Record

The direction needs checking against original evidence. The BCSA records Penarth to Weston, whereas the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s broad career account describes his Bristol swim as England to Wales. LongSwims search entries support the BCSA direction and 18 July date, but modern registers may share a source. Their agreement should not be counted as several independent contemporary witnesses [1, 2, 4, 6].

The phrase “fastest recorded” also needs its route attached. A record on the Penarth–Weston course is not a single speed record covering every Bristol Channel route. The BCSA’s attribution is retained here as a register claim, checked in October 2026, while the original record announcement remains to be found [1].

A separate career discrepancy concerns his 1957 English Channel time: ISHOF gives 13 hours 13 minutes; the Channel Swimming Association’s individual result gives 13 hours 33 minutes, as does Swim England. The official result register provides the better-supported working figure of 13 hours 33 minutes [3–5].

Other Swimming Achievements

Forsberg’s 1957 English Channel success was a solo England-to-France swim. Swim England describes it as a record made at forty-five. His competitive range also included the Solent, Morecambe Bay, Loch Lomond and Lough Neagh, while his later years included national masters sprint titles. Both major institutional biographies describe more than two hundred open-water swims or championship appearances, though their totals are framed differently [3–5].

He also contributed to the sport’s organisation. Swim England records service as BLDSA president and more than twenty years on its executive committee, as well as a long CSA presidency. Exact CSA tenure remains inconsistent: ISHOF gives 1963–1997, while Swim England says thirty-eight years. Annual reports are needed to reconcile those descriptions [3, 4].

Personal Life

Forsberg was born on 18 June 1912 and died on 24 October 2000. He served in the Royal Navy and received the OBE for naval service in 1955. His maritime career included command and salvage work, but the detailed wartime stories in later profiles require service-record corroboration before being expanded into a full naval biography [3, 4].

Writing was another enduring occupation. His books included Long Distance Swimming (1957), Strokes in Swimming (1961) and Modern Long Distance Swimming (1963). For decades his Swimming Times column brought news and advice to the long-distance swimming community. These publications are a valuable route into his own perspective as well as evidence of his influence beyond competition [3, 4].

Legacy

Forsberg helped make swimming history and helped preserve it. His 1998 induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame recognised a contribution extending from competition to administration and journalism. For the Bristol archive, his recorded 5 hours 40 minutes remains an important result; recovering the original account would give that result the documentary setting it deserves [1, 3, 4].