Talk:Bill Burgess

Number of failed attempts
We have conflicting sources for the number of failed attempts before success: I have taken the second in preference, as the paper was contemporaneous with the event, unlike the web site. ◃Λmniarix▹ (talk) 23:25, 18 December 2015 (UTC)
 * "13 failures" – "Biography: in 1911 when, after 13 failed attempts, he became the second man to swim the English Channel", sports-reference.com.
 * "15 failures" – "The Channel Swim: Burgess's Perseverance Rewarded After Fifteen failures", Poverty Bay Herald, October 11, 1911.

Method of swimming
We have a conflict over the claim that he only used breaststroke. I haven't corrected this as I don't think it's important – at the end of the day, he swum mostly on his "front" to the extent that he found goggles useful. Perhaps the "over-arm side stroke" was not distinguished from breaststroke in 1911. ◃Λmniarix▹ (talk) 23:25, 18 December 2015 (UTC)
 * "His motorcycle goggles leaked water, but they protected his eyes from water splashes during his breaststroke-only swim." – The history of goggles, International Swimming Hall of Fame.
 * "I used the over-arm side stroke practically all the way, except ... swam on my back." – "The Channel Swim: Burgess's Perseverance Rewarded After Fifteen failures", Poverty Bay Herald, October 11, 1911.