Gertrude 1 EDERLE SWIMS THE CHANNEL Gertrude Ederle stood on a beach in northern France in the early morning of August 6 1926 The water was cold but the seas were calm The English coast lay 21 miles 33 8 kilometers in the distance This time she was going to make it The 21-year-old New Yorker’s first attempt to swim across the English Channel ended in failure Her coach feared for her safety and made her quit after nearly nine hours in the water She fired that coach and hired one who had experience swimming the Channel himself Together a year later they would conquer it The English Channel is an incredibly difficult swim The water is cold even in the summer Strong winds often kick up waves several feet high Even for experienced swimmers it’s a major challenge At the time of Ederle’s swim only five people had ever made it across And all of them were men Gertrude Ederle gets greased up to protect her skin during her English Channel crossing 44 CHAPTER
EDERLE’S DEAFNESS Ederle had trouble hearing dating back to her childhood After her channel swim she became a swimming instructor but by 1945 she was totally deaf Instead of letting that slow her down she used her deafness in a positive way becoming a swimming instructor for deaf children She never learned sign language but she showed children they could be comfortable in the water without hearing Ederle started her swim at 7 08 a m The seas were calm at first But she ran into trouble at noon as storms significantly slowed her progress Another storm hit at 6 00 p m and her coach suggested she quit But Ederle’s family was also in the boat following her and they encouraged her to keep going Her father had promised her a new car if she completed the journey To motivate his daughter he called out to her reminding her of the prize that awaited Ederle pushed through more rough seas and reached Kingsdown England at 9 04 p m The straight-line trip of 21 miles 33 8 km had become 35 miles 56 3 km with the waves pushing her off course But she didn’t care Her time Ederle faced difficult conditions in the water during her swim 7
