The First Woman to Swim the English Channel

By Jenn E.

Who was the first woman to swim the English Channel?
Gertrude Ederle was the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926. She was also known as the ‘Queen of Waves’ after she succeeded in her swim. She swam the channel in 14 hours and 30 minutes. She held this record until Florence Chadwick broke it in 1950. She lived from 1905 to 2003: she almost lived a hundred but not quite!

What did she achieve by doing this?
She achieved a lot by doing this. First, she was the first woman to swim the English Channel. Second, she proved that women can do things that men can do. And third, she became sort of a role model for some people.

Where is the English Channel?
The English Channel is part of the Atlantic Ocean and this part separates it from Great Britain and France and then this part joins the North Sea and then to the Atlantic. The English Channel is about 560 km long and 240km wide.

When did she swim the English Channel?
She swam the English Channel at Cape Griz-Nez, France, at 7:05 a.m. and 14 hours later she arrived at Kingsdown, England after 14 hours of swimming.

Why did she want to do it?
She probably wanted to do this for herself, but then she became very famous after this. They held a big parade for her after she had achieved this. And also, money came in very handy after she swam and the press was around her a lot when she was done her swimThis would also help more with women’s rights, because women can do anything that guys can do and she proved it.

How did this affect everyone?
After she finished her big swim, they held a huge parade for her afterwards. Many people said that a woman could not swim the English Channel, but she proved them wrong by doing this. She would have also helped the women rights by swimming the English Channel.

Resources:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/200312/01/content_286309.htm