Gertrude Ederle's Channel swim
The girl from New York who conquered the English Channel
Alex Q. Arbuckle
1923-1926
Born in Manhattan in 1906, Gertrude Ederle first learned to swim at the age of nine at her family’s summer cottage in Highlands, New Jersey.By the age of 15, she was becoming a formidable amateur swimmer. She dropped out of school and entered competitive training at the Women’s Swimming Association.She was soon setting world records left and right, and at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris she won two bronze medals, as well as a gold in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay.
Despite winning the gold with her team, she was bitterly disappointed with the other two third-place finishes, and set her sights higher.The next year, she swam from Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, a distance of 22 miles. Her record time of seven hours and 11 minutes would remain unbroken for 81 years.Her next target was more prestigious: the English Channel.
With her trainer Jabez Wolffe following alongside in a boat, Ederle made her first attempt to cross the channel on Aug. 18, 1925. Seven miles from the English coast, fearing that Erdele was exhausted and drowning, Wolffe ordered a safety swimmer to pull her from the water.Ederle was furious, and fired Wolffe. She brought on trainer Bill Burgess, who had successfully swum the channel more than a decade prior. A year after the first attempt, on the morning of Aug. 6, 1926, she stood on the beach at Cape Gris-Nez, France, greased herself with petroleum jelly and lard to protect against cold water and jellyfish, donned her modified motorcycle goggles and struck out for the English coast.
A strong southwest wind soon sprang up, forcing her to plow through choppy seas and whitecaps. The tide and winds pushed her northward up the channel, but she continued to stroke steadily. A tugboat with her trainer and friends followed alongside.After hours of struggle, she was within sight of Kingsdown, just northeast of Dover.
As the swimmer got nearer the shore visitors and residents between Kingsdown and Deal collected all the dry material they could lay their hands on to build big bonfires, which they lighted on the beach to act as a beacon for the swimmer. When Miss Ederle got to within some 500 yards of the beach the crowd had increased to thousands, and every man, woman, and child assembled became almost frantic in their excitement as it became apparent that the swimmer had succeeded. The shrill blasts from the sirens of the two attendant tugs were insignificant compared to the great volume of human sound which came from the vast concourse of people on the foreshore. - The Guardian, Aug. 7, 1926
At last, she came ashore, walking confidently despite offers of help from spectators who dashed into the water to meet her. At the age of 19, she had crossed the 21-mile Channel in 14 hours and 45 minutes, beating the male record holder by more than two hours.After a short breather, she asked if she could swim back out to see her friends in the tug offshore.
Visit Premier Exhibitions at 417 5th Avenue to see the past become present again at "Retronaut's New York." This pop-up exhibition of extraordinary, digitally restored photographs captures New York City at the turn of the 20th century. It's only open until May 15, so be sure to get down there before it’s gone.