Gertrude Ederle facts for kids
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | "Trudy", "Gertie", "Queen of the Waves" | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | October 23, 1905 New York City, U.S. |
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| Died | November 30, 2003 (aged 98) Wyckoff, New Jersey, U.S. |
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| Height | 5 ft 5 in | |||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 141 lb | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Women's Swimming Association | |||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Gertrude Caroline Ederle (born October 23, 1905 – died November 30, 2003) was an amazing American swimmer. She was an Olympic champion and held world records in five different swimming events! On August 6, 1926, Gertrude made history. She became the very first woman to successfully swim across the challenging English Channel. People often called her "Queen of the Waves" because of her incredible talent.
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Early Swimming Career
Gertrude Ederle grew up in Manhattan, New York City. Her father owned a butcher shop there. She learned to swim in Highlands, New Jersey, a town by the ocean.
When she was just twelve years old, Gertrude joined the Women's Swimming Association (WSA). She quickly learned the "American crawl" swimming style. This style was developed at the WSA by Louis Handley.
That same year, Gertrude set her first world record. It was in the 880-yard freestyle race. This made her the youngest world record holder in swimming at the time. She went on to set eight more world records. Seven of these records were set in 1922 at Brighton Beach. Between 1921 and 1925, Gertrude held an amazing 29 US national and world records!
Olympic Success
Gertrude Ederle competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. She won a gold medal as part of the U.S. team. They won the 4×100 meter freestyle relay race. Her teammates were Euphrasia Donnelly, Ethel Lackie, and Mariechen Wehselau. Together, they set a new world record of 4 minutes and 58.8 seconds.
Individually, Gertrude also won two bronze medals. She placed third in the women's 100-meter freestyle race. She also earned a bronze in the women's 400-meter freestyle race. When the U.S. Olympic team returned home in 1924, they were celebrated with a special ticker-tape parade.
Becoming a Professional Swimmer
In 1925, Gertrude Ederle decided to become a professional swimmer. That same year, she swam 22 miles (about 35 kilometers). She swam from Battery Park in New York to Sandy Hook. She completed this swim in 7 hours and 11 minutes. This was a record time that lasted for 81 years! Her nephew, Bob, later said this swim was just a "warm-up" for her bigger goal: swimming the English Channel.
Conquering the English Channel
In 1925, the Women's Swimming Association planned to sponsor Gertrude and another swimmer, Helen Wainwright, to swim the English Channel. Helen had to cancel due to an injury. So, Gertrude decided to go to France on her own.
She started training with Jabez Wolffe. He was a swimmer who had tried to swim the English Channel 22 times himself. On August 18, 1925, Gertrude made her first attempt. However, she was stopped when Wolffe told another swimmer to pull her from the water. Gertrude strongly disagreed with this decision. Many people thought Wolffe didn't want her to succeed.
Gertrude returned to New York. She then began training with a new coach, Bill Burgess. Burgess had successfully swum the Channel in 1911. Gertrude also got a contract from the New York Daily News and the Chicago Tribune. This helped pay for her trip and gave her a small salary.
About a year after her first try, she was ready again. On August 6, 1926, she began her historic swim. She started at Cape Gris-Nez in France at 7:08 AM. She reached the shore at Kingsdown, Kent, England, 14 hours and 34 minutes later. The first person to greet her was a British immigration officer! He asked the tired teenager for her passport.
Before Gertrude, only five men had ever swum across the English Channel. The fastest time by a man was 16 hours and 33 minutes. Gertrude's time was much faster! Her record for women stood until 1950. That's when Florence Chadwick swam the Channel in 13 hours and 23 minutes.
When Gertrude returned home, she was a national hero. More than two million people lined the streets of Manhattan for her ticker-tape parade.
Life After the Channel Swim
After her amazing swim, Gertrude Ederle became very famous. She made a deal to appear at the Brooklyn Mark Strand theater. She was paid a lot of money, more than they had ever paid a performer before.
She even played herself in a movie called Swim Girl, Swim. She also toured the country performing in vaudeville shows. She even met President Coolidge! A song and a dance step were named after her.
However, her manager didn't make the most of her fame. Also, the Great Depression started, which made it hard to earn a lot of money. In 1933, Gertrude fell down some stairs. This accident hurt her spine and kept her in bed for several years. But she recovered and even appeared at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
Later Life and Legacy
Gertrude Ederle had poor hearing since she was a child, likely due to measles. By the 1940s, she was almost completely deaf. Even with her hearing loss, she taught swimming to deaf children. She never married.
Gertrude Ederle passed away on November 30, 2003, in Wyckoff, New Jersey. She was 98 years old. She was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.
Honoring Gertrude Ederle
Gertrude Ederle has been honored in many ways:
- In 1965, she was added to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
- In 2003, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
- An annual swim from New York City's Battery Park to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, is called the Ederle Swim. It follows the same path she swam.
- The Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center opened in 2013 in Manhattan. It has an indoor swimming pool and is named after her.
- A BBC Radio 4 play called The Great Swim was made about her Channel crossing.
- A movie called Young Woman and the Sea is being made about her life. Daisy Ridley will play Gertrude Ederle in the film.
See also
- List of female adventurers
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
In Spanish: Gertrude Ederle para niños
