Hello Sylvia,
I am happy to hear that you enjoyed reading about my famous grandfather and his dare-devil stunts. He held so many championships in long distance swimming and he was the Isle of Man Champion for 1900. I would estimate his age to be in his early twenties in that photo of Grandad in his swimming costume with all his medals sewn or pinned on.. He was born in 1876 so he would have been about 24 years old. I don't know what the IOM Championship entailed, but I will do my best to try and find out. I live in Canada, so I am somewhat limited in my knowledge of the geographical areas.

Did you notice in the Liverpool Echo newspaper article from 1978 that his son, Percy Matchett, started the swimming club, I believe called the Barracudas - perhaps that is where the letter "B" originated (this is only a guess, not fact). Is the Liverpool Echo newspaper still in existence and if so, could anyone go through their archives from 1978 and see if the original photographs might be with the article written by Neil Morton.

Is there anyone out there who would know what distance was involved to win the IOM Championship of 1900? Please help us if you can, anyone.

Thankyou, Sylvia, and perhaps with the help of all the wonderfully helpful people on this website, we can solve some of these mysteries.

Kindest regards,
Penny