Speaker 1: Des Renford had an auspicious birthday. He was born exactly
Speaker 1: fifty two years after Matthew Webb became the first person
Speaker 1: to swim the English Channel. Des had a few early
Speaker 1: cracks at swinging himself, but it wasn't until his thirties
Speaker 1: that a drunken dere from a mate took him out
Speaker 1: to see Hi, I'm Tony Armstrong, and welcome to the
Speaker 1: pool room. This is where we celebrate the winners, losers
Speaker 1: and the weird stuff between. In nineteen thirty seven, as
Speaker 1: a ten year old, des Renford won a fifty five
Speaker 1: yard state swimming championship, and in the fifties he was
Speaker 1: a surf lifesaver and part of a crew who rescued
Speaker 1: three stranded fishermen who wrecked their boats on the rocks
Speaker 1: off Botany Bay. But like many other men of his generation,
Speaker 1: he'd gone to war. At sixteen, Dez joined the Navy,
Speaker 1: and after he was discharged, spent time in and out
Speaker 1: of hospital. Later on, he said of the experience, quote, altogether,
Speaker 1: it took five years out of my life. That can't
Speaker 1: be put back again. If I was ever going to
Speaker 1: be any good at sport, that took it away from me,
Speaker 1: dez tell that to Port Philip Bay. It's a drunken
Speaker 1: night in Melbourne nineteen sixty seven. Des and some mates
Speaker 1: are getting loose and he's taking a load off from
Speaker 1: his job as a salesman. After a few frothies, his
Speaker 1: journal friend Jack Ailing proposed a mighty dare to swim
Speaker 1: across Port Philip Bay the next morning after their massive
Speaker 1: night on the source. It was a twenty four mile
Speaker 1: race thirty nine kilometers to put it into perspective, that's
Speaker 1: seven hundred and eighty links of the Harald Holt outdoor pool,
Speaker 1: or about twenty eight thousand inflatable kiddie pools lined up
Speaker 1: in a row. What I'm saying is this was more
Speaker 1: than just a nootie run across the local footy ground.
Speaker 1: Morning came and Des was feeling pretty dusty. He tried
Speaker 1: to make his mate Sea reason and you know, probably
Speaker 1: just go for a pint or something, but they insisted
Speaker 1: and he set off into the cold springtime water. Now
Speaker 1: this isn't a fairy tale, so he didn't win. That
Speaker 1: race was won by Linda McGill. Just a side note
Speaker 1: on Linden, She was herself an iconic Australian marathon swimmer,
Speaker 1: the first person recorded to have swum the Bay. She
Speaker 1: was also the first Ossie to ever cross the English
Speaker 1: Channel from France to England topless, and that swim was
Speaker 1: also adare is this the secret to becoming a world champion? Hmm? Anyway,
Speaker 1: so Mguil came first and our mate Dez didn't finish,
Speaker 1: but neither did pretty much anyone else. Even though Dez
Speaker 1: didn't complete the race, he still came third because no
Speaker 1: one behind him finished either, probably just catch the very
Speaker 1: next time a. But despite falling short of his destination,
Speaker 1: DES's love of long distance swimming was set ablaze, and
Speaker 1: while he was recuperating in hospital from his dip in
Speaker 1: Port Philip Bay, he decided he wanted to swim the
Speaker 1: English Channel. Des became kind of obsessed with it. His
Speaker 1: first crossing was in nineteen seventy and after that he
Speaker 1: said he starts on becoming King of the Channel, a
Speaker 1: title that doesn't come with any castles or foreign lands,
Speaker 1: but is bestowed on the man who successfully completed the
Speaker 1: most crossings. In nineteen seventy five, he did it three
Speaker 1: times in four weeks. That year, Des nabbed the King
Speaker 1: of the Channel title from Mervyn Sharp and held it
Speaker 1: for five years. In total, des Renford swam the English
Speaker 1: Channel nineteen times in nineteen attempts, which was then the
Speaker 1: best effort by any Australian. He did it in great
Speaker 1: weather and in gale force wins. One time he got
Speaker 1: run over by a hovercraft, but still managed to swim
Speaker 1: his way to France. In nineteen eighty, when he was
Speaker 1: fifty three years old. Does swam the Channel three times
Speaker 1: in ten days, which is more often, and then some
Speaker 1: of us managed to eat veggies. With that done, he
Speaker 1: simply retired. The English Channel was his most famous marathon,
Speaker 1: but does swam all over the place. He once had
Speaker 1: to be pulled unconscious from the freezing waters of loch Ness.
Speaker 1: He also swam ninety three kilometers from Watson's Bay to
Speaker 1: North Wollongong Harbor. In nineteen eighty one, he attempted a
Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty four kilometer stretch from Newcastle to Sydney,
Speaker 1: but his sharkproof cage succumbed to choppy waters after only
Speaker 1: thirteen hours. Let me say that again, only thirteen hours.
Speaker 1: With his swimming days behind him, des Renford became an
Speaker 1: inspiration and mentor to many other water babies, and his
Speaker 1: son Michael also went on to become a champion marathon swimmer. Actually,
Speaker 1: though the ward took him. On the twenty ninth of
Speaker 1: December nineteen ninety nine, Dez suffered a heart attack while swimming.
Speaker 1: By this point he'd already had three heart attacks and
Speaker 1: a stroke. The fourth saw him slip into a coma,
Speaker 1: and he died the following day. Des Renford received many
Speaker 1: honors for his swimming efforts. He was inducted into the
Speaker 1: Sport Australia Hall of Fame. He was a member of
Speaker 1: the Order of the British Empire, and he was a
Speaker 1: papal Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher. That's
Speaker 1: like a fancy award from the Pope. Also, his cousin
Speaker 1: was rock and roll singer Johnny O'Keefe. Overall, probably a
Speaker 1: better outcome than most of our drunken DEAs. On your Dez,
Speaker 1: You've been listening to the Ballroom and iHeart production. I'm
Speaker 1: Tony Armstrong and I'll speak to you soon.