Discover the Story of Gertrude Ederle, an Olympic Gold Medalist and World Record Setter Who Made Waves as the First Woman to Successfully Swim the English Channel

After a failed 1925 attempt and a year of training, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926—beating the existing record by nearly two hours and establishing herself as a trailblazer in swimming

After over fourteen hours in frigid water, battling rough waves, strong currents, and stinging jellyfish, Gertrude Ederle officially earned her place as a trailblazer in swimming in two ways. She became the first woman to swim across the English Channel, and in doing so, Ederle also broke the previous world record set by Enrico Tiraboschi by almost two hours. This rebutted the prevailing public opinion at the time that women were less physically capable of athletic achievement than men. Her lifelong dedication to the sport began decades earlier, rooted in a childhood spent in and around the water.

Born in New York City on October 23, 1905, Ederle was the third of six children. Her parents, Henry and Gertrude, were German immigrants who owned a successful butcher shop. As a child, her father taught her how to swim in a river at their summer cottage in New Jersey, and Ederle fell in love with the sport. Self-described as a “water baby,” Ederle continued to swim throughout her childhood and was “happiest between the waves,” according to a New York Times article. She began swimming competitively and had immense success from an early age. In 1917, at age twelve, Ederle won the 880-yard freestyle competition and became the youngest world record holder in swimming. She joined the newly created Women’s Swimming Association (WSA), and as a teenager, dropped out of high school to train year-round, an unusual decision at the time.

Undeterred by the limitations women faced in sport and competition at the time, Ederle began competing professionally at the national level. From 1922 to 1925, she competed with the WSA, won national team titles in indoor and outdoor championships, and set twenty-nine United States national and world records in competitions from 100 to 500-meter swims. She also qualified for and swam in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, winning gold in the 400-meter freestyle relay as the leadoff swimmer and bronze in the 100 and 400-meter freestyle individual races.

From the Olympic Stage to the English Channel

After her success at the Olympics, Ederle was determined to continue breaking barriers and set her sights on swimming the English Channel. Though women had attempted this swim before, none had been successful. Only five men had accomplished the great feat.

Because of the Channel’s changing tide, swimmers are forced to swim in zigzags with the ebb and flow of the tide rather than a straight line, which increases the mileage of the crossing. At its narrowest, the Channel is twenty-one miles, but swimmers can cover a distance of up to forty miles to finish the journey due to the tide and strong winds. The swim is further complicated by cold temperatures and jellyfish.

Ederle’s first attempt in 1925 was unsuccessful. Though sources differ on the circumstances surrounding the reasons for the incomplete swim, Ederle was disqualified on her first attempt following claims that someone from the support boat touched her. Ederle maintained that she could have easily continued. She vowed to try again, and insisted that no matter what, she did not want to be touched. She fired the coach involved with the failed swim and spent the next year dedicated to training, swimming four hours a day in preparation.

The following year, on August 6, 1926, Ederle returned to the English Channel with a new coach, Bill Burgess, who successfully completed the crossing in 1911, and a hunger to complete the treacherous swim herself. She was better prepared to follow the tides and was wearing a revolutionary swimsuit and goggles that she designed herself.

In her previous attempt, she wore a traditional women’s bathing suit, which was essentially a wool dress. This was impractical and heavy. In 1926, however, Ederle fashioned her own two-piece suit by cutting up a one-piece. Highly controversial at the time, her suit was lighter, more aerodynamic, and would not slow her down.

Ederle entered the water at Cape Gris-Nez in France at 7:08 am, completely covered in sheep grease for warmth and wearing her personally designed wrap around goggles, which were kept watertight with molten candlewax.

The water was cold and choppy, but she persevered through heavy storms and waves. Her coach, father, and sister rode in a boat alongside her, offering encouragement, food, and water. Ederle sang to keep herself occupied, and the crew on the boat held up signs depicting parts of a car because her father promised her a “red roadster” if she was successful. Her swim was sponsored by the New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune, and reporters also followed her by boat.

The reporters turned her swim into a large-scale media event. They used wireless radios to communicate play-by-play reports to the newspapers on her location and condition. The newspapers updated Ederle’s progress in different editions published throughout the day, much like the sports broadcasts of the modern era.

Fourteen hours and thirty-nine minutes later (sources note Ederle’s time as between fourteen hours and thirty-one minutes to fourteen hours and thirty-nine minutes), Ederle arrived at Kingsdown Beach on the English coast, after swimming a total of thirty-five miles. A crowd of people awaited her arrival because they read in the newspapers that she was getting close. She was described by many as looking like a boxer at the end of a match. She was bruised and swollen from the harsh waves, saltwater, and jellyfish stings. She also suffered hearing impairment, worsening existing hearing loss from a childhood case of measles.

Ederle further revolutionized the sport by swimming a different stroke than her predecessors. She swam the front crawl compared to the trudgen—a combination of front crawl arms and a sideways kick—and the breaststroke that those before her used. The front crawl was known to be faster, but the trudgen was thought to be more efficient for the Channel’s severe currents. Ederle’s incredible speed with the front crawl proved that this stroke was an effective method for long distance swimming.

“America’s Best Girl:” Gertrude Ederle’s Legacy

Upon her return to New York City, two million people welcomed her home with the first ticker-tape parade to honor a woman. The press nicknamed her “Queen of the Waves,” a short film was made honoring her swim, and songs were devoted to her. President Calvin Coolidge invited her to the White House, where he called her “America’s Best Girl," making her one of the first professional women athletes to visit the presidential residence.

Ederle spent the next few decades competing occasionally and performing in touring swimming exhibitions. In the 1950s, she went into semiretirement after suffering a bad fall and worsening hearing loss. After her competitive swimming days ended, Ederle worked as a swim instructor for children with hearing impairments, officiated New York City Parks Department swimming competitions, and advised the aquatics team at the Flushing YMCA.

Ederle’s historic swim paved the way for other women athletes by changing the narrative of women’s athletic capability. After her, the next four people to successfully swim the English Channel were all women.

Her accomplishments are recognized through her 1965 induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an “Honor Swimmer” and posthumous induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2003. Ederle continues to be a source of inspiration for women swimmers and is remembered as a pioneer and trailblazer in sport.

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