Tammy grew up in the southeast suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria.
Her parents, John & Els, were Dutch immigrants, arriving in Australia in the early 1960’s.
Tammy was the fat kid at school – always picked last for sports!
By her teens, she had achieved success in the pool and open water, taking line honours in the
prestigious Lorne Pier to Pub in Victoria three times. She also set a new benchmark in lifesaving, winning the title of Victorian Royal LSS Iron woman for 17 years in a row!
Tammy entered the record books by becoming the fastest person to swim across the English Channel in 1993.
In 1996, she pushed the boundaries of endurance by swimming 18hours non-stop across the treacherous Bass Strait from King Island to Apollo Bay.
Tammy is the only human on the planet to have accomplished this feat.
Dubbed the “human water quality tester”, Tammy has been an advocate for cleaner waterways and a Champion for Change since her first swim across Port Phillip Bay, Victoria in 1993.
In 2001, she swam the entire 2438km length of the Murray to highlight the river’s environmental importance with the support of the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Starting from Corryong in Victoria’s High Country, it took Tammy 106 days (3.5 months) to reach the Murray Mouth in South Australia.
In 2006, Tammy swam from New York to New Jersey with the objective to honour her childhood hero Gertrude Ederle.
Gertrude was a pioneer for women in sport, and in 1926, made history by becoming the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
Tammy undertook the 35km swim following in the footsteps of Ederle, a New Jersey native, with the goal of inspiring another generation of women and girls.
She smashed Ederle’s 81-year-old world record and received widespread recognition in the US for her feat, including having a day named after her!
Every July 21st is now celebrated as “Tammy van Wisse Day” in Monmouth County, New Jersey in honour of Tammy’s amazing swim.
*Note: record broken by Casey Glover in 2008, however Tammy remains the fastest female.
