Gertrude Ederle ( Eng . Gertrude Ederle, October 23, 1905 - November 30, 2003) - American swimmer , Olympic champion. She set five world records and became the first woman to cross the English Channel . She was often called the "Queen of the Waves."
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Childhood
Gertrude was born on October 23, 1905 in New York . She was the third of six children. Her parents were German immigrants . According to her autobiography, “American Girl” ( America's Girl ), her father kept a butcher shop in Manhattan . She learned to swim in Highland, New Jersey, where her family’s summer cottage was located.
Career
In Amateur Swimming
Ederle trained at the Women's Swimming Association, which consisted of famous athletes, such as Ethelda Blebtray and Esther Williams . Annual contributions of $ 3 allowed Gertrude to swim in the tiny Manhattan Basin. However, in her autobiography she wrote that by that time the Association had already become the center of amateur swimming, sports, which gained popularity due to the evolution of a bathing suit. So in 1917, the director of the Association, Charlotte Epstein, demanded that the Union of amateur athletes recognize women's swimming as a sport, and in 1919 she obtained permission from the Union to “women swim in competitions without stockings, provided that they quickly put on a bathrobe as soon as they leave the water ". This was not the only benefit from the membership of the Women's Swimming Association. The Association developed the American version of the crawl. He was developed by Louis Hendley of the Australian rabbit. This technique will then be used by Ederle. Hendley and Epstein made women's swimming a sport that they had to reckon with.
Gertrude joined the Association when she was only 20 years old. In the same year, she set her first world freestyle record at 880 yards, becoming the youngest record holder in swimming. After that, from 1921 to 1925, she set several more world and national records, for a total of 29.
At the Summer Olympics in Paris, Gertrude won the gold medal as a member of the US team, which set the world record for time. She also received two bronze medals for single heats, although she was one of the main contenders for gold medals. Ederle will later say that this was “a major disappointment in her entire career.” However, she was still proud to be a member of the American team at the Olympiad in Paris. Together with her on those games the team included: Johnny Weissmuller , Benjamin Spock and Helen Wills-Moody .
In professional swimming
In 1925, Ederle entered professional sports. In the same year, she made a seven-hour swim from Battery Park to Sandy Hook , setting a world record. This record belonged to her 81 years.
The Women's Swimming Association sponsored her and another athlete, Helen Weinwright, who intended to cross the English Channel. However, Helen at the last moment had to abandon his plan because of the injury. Then Gertrude decided to sail alone. She was preparing for this event under the direction of Jacob Wolfe, who in the past had made 22 attempts to cross the English Channel. However, the training was not entirely successful. Wulf constantly spoke to Gertrude to swim more slowly, because he believed that she would never be able to overcome the English Channel at high speed. In August 1925, Gertrude made the first attempt to overcome the strait. However, Wulf prevented her from finishing her swim, at some point ordering a swimmer from the support team to pull Ederle out of the water. According to Gertrude, she did not sink at all, but rested, swimming face down.
After that, Ederle refused to help Wolfe and began training under the guidance of Thomas Burgess , who successfully sailed the English Channel in 1911. A year after her first attempt to overcome the strait, Gertrude returned to the English Channel and this time her success was waiting for her. Only five people before her were able to overcome this distance. The best time was 16 hours 33 minutes. Gertrude went ashore after 14 hours and 34 minutes after she began her swim. The first person to meet her on the beach was an immigration officer, who asked for her passport. When Getruda returned home, a parade was held in her part in Manhattan.
Death
Since childhood, Gertrude had hearing problems, and by the 1940s she had almost completely lost it. Then she began to teach swimming deaf children. She died in 2003 at the age of 98 and was buried in the New York cemetery.
Notes
- ↑ http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-2875000093/ederle-gertrude-caroline-trudy.html
- ↑ 1 2 German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 132822954 // General Regulatory Control (GND) - 2012—2016.
Literature
- Dahlberg, Tim, Mary Ederle Ward and Brenda Greene, America's Girl (2009), St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-38265-0.
- Mortimer, Gavin, The Great Swim (2008) Walker and Co, ISBN 0-8027-1595-8.
- Stout, Glenn. The Young Woman and the Sea: The Truly Ederle Condered the English Channel and the Inspired the World (2009), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ISBN 0-618-85868-7. A full biography of Ederle.
- Morris, Bonnie (2016), "Women's Sports History: a Heritage of Mixed Messages"
Links
- NY Times Obituary for Gertrude Ederle
- Gertrude Ederle at Find a Grave