The exhilarating true story of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim
the English Channel, and inspire a "wave of confidence and emancipation"
for women in sports (Parade).
By age twenty, at the height of the Jazz Age, Trudy Ederle was the most
accomplished swimmer in the world. She'd won Olympic gold and set a host
of world records. But the greatest challenge remained: the English
Channel. Only a few swimmers, none of them women, had ever made the
treacherous twenty-one mile crossing. Trudy's failed first attempt
seemed to confirm what many naysayers believed: No woman could possibly
accomplish such a thing.
In 1926, Ederle proved them wrong. As her German immigrant parents
cheered her, and her sister and fellow swimmer Meg helped fashion both
her scandalous two-piece swimsuit and leak-proof goggles, Trudy was
determined to succeed. "England or drown is my motto," she said,
plunging into the frigid Channel for her second attempt at the crossing.
Fourteen hours later, two hours faster than any man, and after
weathering a gale and waves that approached six-feet, she stepped onto
Kingsdowne Beach as the most famous woman in the world.
Based on years of archival research that unearthed Ederle's memory from
obscurity, Young Woman and the Sea brings to life the real Trudy
Ederle, the challenges that came with her fame, and the historic mark
her achievement made for all women athletes who followed.
