Thomas Gregory (born 9 October 1976 Chapter 1 of Tom's book time-hops back to the start of his swimming career in 1984: "By the time of my eight birthday on 9th October, I was near the bottom of the all-important class 'plus' board".) swam the English Channel in 1988 at the age of 11 years 333 days, and holds the record as the youngest person to have done so. He made his swim on 6 September 1988. The record cannot be broken because the Channel Swimming Association has since set an age limit of 16 years for officially recognised crossings. The age limit was introduced on 26 November 2000. "The CSA resolved on the 26th November 2000 that Solo swimmers must be 16 years or older on the day the swim commences."
Sources differ as to his age at the date of the swim. Gregory's own book states that he was 11 years and 333 days old, Searching within the book preview on Google Books produces no hits for "330" or "336" but three hits on "333" including "If I could do that ... I would hold a world record because at that moment I was eleven years and 333 days old". as does the 2025 book 150 Years of Swimming the Channel. The Channel Swimming Association states that he was 11 years 330 days old. His old school gives the figure of 11 years 336 days, as does a BBC article.
Gregory's coming-of-age story about being the youngest person to swim the Channel, A Boy in the Water (2018, Penguin: ) was joint winner of the 2018 William Hill Sports Book of the Year. It was BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in August 2018. He served in the Royal Anglian Regiment of the British Army.
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