Gertrude Ederle's
accomplishments were
not only in the water,
as an Olympic swimmer
and the first woman to
swim the English Channel,
but she also had a huge impact
on the American landscape.
1924, Paris, France. 19-year-old
Gertrude Ederle competed
for the U.S. women's swim
team at the Summer Olympics.
When the modern Olympics
were founded in 1896,
those games featured
no women competitors.
Then in 1900, you had five
events for women: tennis,
golf, croquet,
equestrianism, and sailing.
1912 was the first time women
were included in aquatic sports:
swimming and diving.
She won the gold medal in
the 4x100 relay freestyle,
and also won two bronze medals.
"The Olympic races? I
had to swim like hell...
When we're in the water,
we're not in this world.".
Gertrude Ederle was born
in 1905 in New York City,
to a German immigrant family
that owned a butcher shop.
Her father taught her to
swim in a river when she
was nine by tying a rope
around her waist.
When Gertrude Ederle got
measles as a youngster,
she had complications that led
to her being hard of hearing,
and swimming did not
help the hearing issue.
"The doctors told me my
hearing would get worse
if I continued swimming,
but I loved the water so
much, I just couldn't stop.".
Ederle dropped out of
school in her early teens
to train as a swimmer
year-round.
I think the family
support was tremendous,
especially from the father.
Most youngsters, if they
dropped out of school,
it was to work to help
support the income of the
families. Here she was,
focusing singularly on swimming.
Society viewed women
as the weaker sex,
that they were biologically
less able to have
physical courage and
withstand the rigors
of competition.
Some male doctors even called
them "maternally-wounded
women," that too
much physical effort might harm
women's roles of childbearing.
So there was a real
limit to what women were
encouraged to do in the area
of sport.
In 1918, Ederle joined
a women's team and began
to swim competitively.
The Women's Swimming
Association was founded by
Charlotte Epstein in 1917,
and it's really one of the
first athletic organizations
founded by women to
promote women's competitive
sport. They had a male coach,
Louis de Breda Handley,
a former Olympian,
who believed that women
could and should swim. And
this led to competitions,
once the amateur athletic union
allowed women to compete in the
1910s.
"To me, the sea is like
a person - like a child
that I've known a long
time. It sounds crazy, I
know, but when I swim in
the sea, I talk to it.
I never feel alone
when I'm out there.".
By the age of 20, Ederle
had set 29 world records
in women's freestyle,
including a long distance race
from New York to New Jersey.
Gertrude Ederle swam the 22
miles in 7 hours and 11 minutes.
And that record stood
for over 80 years. So
she was short distance,
long distance, all
around champion swimmer.
I can't think of anyone
that would be able
to do that right now.
That's very unique.
I'm Lia Neal,
and I'm a two-time Olympian.
I joined a swim team
when I was eight, and
I've been swimming
competitively since then.
The national team changes
every year with who's the
fastest in the country right
now. At the Olympics in 2012,
in London,
I became the first African
American woman to swim on
a finals on the 400 free
relay. And making
the 2016 Olympics,
I also became the first
African American woman to
make two Olympics in swimming.
I was just like tunnel
vision, not really setting
any limits on myself,
constantly climbing the ladder.
In 1925, with sponsorships
from the Women's
Swimming Association,
Ederle set her sights on
the ultimate endurance test,
to swim across the
English Channel.
Men had been doing it, and
five men had succeeded.
Women had tried, but no one
had done it successfully.
"Five men have succeeded,
why not a woman?
Surely in the athletic club we
are near equal in endurance!".
We have to remember,
women barely got the
right to vote in 1920.
And so Ederle was
trying to demonstrate
physical emancipation.
But the risks involved
were enormous.
You had the huge waves, the
cold temperature, the jellyfish,
and often the winds would come
up and blow you off course.
So it was a huge
physical endeavor that
most thought men would
barely survive,
let alone a woman.
Ederle set off from a beach
in France, determined to
conquer the 21-mile swim.
"I'm all ready for it.
Bring on your old channel.".
She used the freestyle
and most swimmers had
used the breaststroke.
And so this was unusual.
But she seemed to move through
the water quite rapidly,
and initially seemed
to be doing well.
But a huge wave came
up, and her coach, from
the tugboat following,
her said, "Gertrude, you should
get out." He touched her,
which was a violation.
And so the swim stopped
and she was furious because
she could have kept going,
she thought.
"My motto is, if at first you
don't succeed, try, try again.
I am going to attempt to
swim the English Channel
again next July.".
Ederle
hired a new coach and
spent a year training at
least four hours a day.
She also designed her
own goggles and a more
aerodynamic swimsuit.
In the late 19th,
early 20th century,
women at beaches and in
pools were told to cover up.
They needed to wear
full-length skirts, often
stockings or bloomers,
and that limits mobility
in the water. Ederle
revolutionized swimming
with her sporting costume.
On August 6th, 1926, at 7 am,
Ederle set off from the coast
of France a second time.
She slathered herself in
grease to protect against
the cold water and jellyfish
stings.
"Don't let anybody take
me out of the water
unless I ask. Promise me,
England or bust.".
Two tugboats kept pace - one
carrying her family and fans,
the other, reporters
from a newspaper which
sponsored the swim.
When she was getting some food,
she would rest on her back.
She would have broth,
sugar cubes, and chocolate.
The people on the boat
began singing to her.
There was nothing that was
going to stop her this time.
14 Hours and 39 minutes later,
20-year-old Gertrude Ederle
arrived on the British shore.
She was not only the first woman
to swim the English Channel,
but she beat the existing
men's record by two hours.
"I'll bet all the women in the
world will celebrate tonight.
It's up with the women
and down with the men.".
When Ederle came back,
New York City gave her a
huge ticker tape parade and
there were over 2 million
people who lined the streets
and docks to be a part of this.
She had nicknames like
"Queen of the Waves" or
"The Grease Smeared-Venus."
She was one of the first women
to visit the White House,
and President Calvin
Coolidge, he referred her
as "America's Best Girl."
There was a short film
made about Ederle and there
were songs devoted to her.
Ederle wiped out misconceptions
about women being weak.
Even though most Americans
didn't swim before,
Ederle's sudden fame
inspired more than 60,000
women in the U.S. to earn
Red Cross swimming
certificates in the 1920s.
She toured the country
on the vaudeville
circuit for two years,
demonstrating her skills
in a portable tank.
However, as a result of
the overwhelming pressure
of press attention,
Ederle suffered what
doctors then called a
'nervous breakdown.'
The Channel's swim
had also significantly
worsened her hearing.
She retired from the
sport in 1928, at age 22.
"I finally got the shakes. I
was just a bundle of nerves.
I had to quit and
I was stone-deaf.".
In her fifties,
Ederle taught swimming
at a school for deaf
children in New York
City.
It's amazing that she, being
faced with becoming deaf,
ultimately served other
generations and shared her gift.
There aren't very
many women coaches.
So I think it's up to us
pioneers to give back to
our communities that are
less privileged, to let them
know that this is an option.
As long as you race your
heart out and work hard
enough for it, you'll get it.
Elderle died in 2003,
at the age of 98,
after being inducted
into the International
Swimming Hall of Fame.
Gertrude Ederle is part
of this long legacy
of pioneers in sport,
where women compete and succeed.
She certainly kicked down the
doors for Olympic participation,
by showing that women,
given the opportunity,
can break down barriers
and achieve sometimes
even more than men.
"When somebody tells me
I cannot do something,
that's when I do it. People said
women couldn't swim the Channel,
but I proved they could."