Diana Cleverley
Diana Cleverly was an open water swimmer and primary school teacher from New Zealand.
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Open Water Swimming Highlights
- She participated in the August 1956 Butlin's International Cross-Channel Swimming Race in the English Channel at the age of 22.
- She attempted a 33.5 km English Channel crossing in August 1956 at the age of 22, a week after the Butlin's International Cross-Channel Swimming Race.
- She reportedly swam across Lake Nyasa in November 1963. Her onshore finish was at the beach at Grand Beach Hotel in Malawi.
1956 Billy Butlin English Channel race
Entrants for the 1956 Billy Butlin's International Cross-Channel Swimming Race included (left hand corner and going down the photograph)
- 1. Jack McClelland (32 from Belfast)
- 2 Jack Cloutier (24) Canada
- 3 Dogan Sahin (25 from Turkey)
- 4 Ronald Tarr (19 from London)
- 5 Clarence Conza (33 from New Zealand)
- 6 Ian Tirrell (33 from South Africa)
- 7 Erik Martin (53 from Sweden)
- 8 Jenny James (28 from Wales)
- 9 Maria Meesters (17 from Holland)
- 10 Baptista Pereira (35 from Portugal)
- 11 Margaret Sweeney (26 from New Zealand)
- 12 Greta Anderson (29 from Denmark)
- 13 Elizabeth Wild (22 from New Zealand)
- 14 Florence Burdett (27 from America)
- 15 Diana Cleverley (22 from New Zealand)
- 16 Brenda Fisher (28 from Grimsby)
- 17 Thomas Park (32 from California)
- 18 Harold Bracewell (47 from Blackpool)
- 19 Edward (Ned) Barnie (59 from Scotland)
- 20 Arthur Rizzo (28 from Malta)
- 21 Mohammed El Soussi (28 from Syria)
- 22 Fredrick Oldman (40 from Huddersfield)
- 23 Mihir Zen (27 from India)
- 24 Alfredos Camarero (25 from Argentina)
- Toufic Bleik (25 from Lebanon), Kurt Feilen (30 from Germany), John Healey (29 from Ireland), and Edna Borenstein (19 from Israel) are not included in the photo.
- 14 escort pilots turned back without attempting to land.
- There was an opinion that the race should not have been started under the prevailing weather conditions which were forecast.
- 8 swimmers started, but none were successful.
Lake Nyasa
Lake Nyasa (also known as Lake Malawi, Lake Nyassa, Lake Niassa, or Lago Niassa in Mozambique) is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system. The lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. This great lake's tropical waters are reportedly the habitat of more species of fish than those of any other body of freshwater on Earth, including more than 1000 species of cichlids. It is between 560 and 580 kilometers long, and about 75 kilometers wide at its widest point. This lake has shorelines on western Mozambique, eastern Malawi, and southern Tanzania.
