Sport: Scoreboard, Aug. 8, 1955

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¶ Just 14 hours and 37 minutes after she waded into the water at Cape Griz-Nez, France, blonde, freckle-faced Marilyn Bell, 17, staggered ashore beneath the white cliffs of Dover. The pretty Canadian schoolgirl, first person ever to swim the icy waters of Lake Ontario (TIME, Sept. 20), was the youngest ever to swim the English Channel.

¶ Pace-Setter Chris Chataway, the man who used to make a business of helping other runners hang up records, hung up a world-beater for himself. At London's White City stadium, Chataway swapped pacing chores every quarter mile with his countryman Derek Ibbotson, took off on his own in the last half mile of a three-mile race and broke the tape in 13:23.2—3.2 seconds faster than the record held by Russia's Vladimir Kuc.

¶ For the third year in a row, French Bicyclist Louison Bobet made the long grind of the Tour de France (TIME, Aug. 9, 1954), pedaled for 22 days through Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and around the rim of France, covered more than 2,700 miles and came home first to Paris' Parc-des-Princes stadium. Just 4 min. 52 sec. behind: Belgium's Jean Brankart.

¶ Looking back over a quarter century of American football, the Associated Press ranked college elevens according to their won-lost records, discovered to no one's surprise that the nation's leader is Notre Dame, with a record of 184-38. The next four: Tennessee 185-50, Alabama 178-52, Army 166-54, and Duke 170-56.