New Britain herald., 1926-08-30
WOMAN'S TRIUMPH
QUITE COMPLETE

u
Swimming across the English
channel is regarded as the great
est feat of endurance in the world.
When in 1875 Captain Webb ac-
complished it for the first time in
credulity was widespread, and it
was not until members OF the
press, who had stalked him across
in a boat, gave the detailed ac-
counts of the exploit that it was
generally believed.
Jabez Wolfe, erstwhile worlds
champion long distance swimmer
made 81 attempts to swim the
channel before he reached within
200 yards of the coast. Scores of
swimmers can plough through the
waters for 20 miles. but the 21st
mile OF the channel swim Is the
hardest, and it is in this last mile
that most of the failures occur.
1t is the channel tides that
cause the failures. They will carry
the swimmer so miles in zigzag
course. and woe to the aspirant
who. is near the goal but finds the
tide suddenly turning him back.
All this is by way of emphasiz-
ing the astonishing feats performed
by two American women in swim
ming the channel this year-Miss
Ederle on August 6, and Mrs.
Clemington Corson on August 2S.
With two American women sue
ceeding in this superlative feat
within % days of each other Amer
lean womanhood has every reason
TO be weighed down with pride;
and chivalrous American manhood
viii be eager. to yield the fair sex
every honor conceivable after such
astonishing accomplishments.
Mrs. Corson, the mother of two
small children. who were left in
New York while the parents were
attending to this important busi-
ness on the other side, has fur
nished a triumph extraordinary for
motherhood. On this side of the
ocean, at least, athletics for women
apparently do not end when the
children begin to come. One can
scarcely think of a more family
like athletic affair than this. that
while the wife and mother was
Drawing the tides, the cross cur
rents, and the choppy seas. the
husband and father, an expert
oarsman, rowed across in a dory.
Swimmers have now conquered
the channel eight times, and not
seven, as nearly all the records
will have it. The swimmers who
succeeded have been Captain Mat
thew Webb, Captain Davis Dalton.
Thomas w. Burgess. Henry Sulli-
van, Sebastian Tirabocchi, Charles
10th. Gertrude Ederle and Mrs.
bennington Corson. The name of
Dalton, an American, is usually
omitted from the lists, probably
because he swan across the chan
mel on his back Sc years ago. He
was an expert on back swimming.
What difference the style makes
so long as they get there does not
seem observable 10 the sporting
instinct.
The feats of Miss Ederle and
Mrs. Corson will strengthen the
widely current belief that women
are more nearly able to compete
with men on even terms in swim
ming than at any other sport. The
stock explanation is that women
have lighter bones in proportion TO
total weight. and therefore are
able to float more easily. As con-
dtions are nowadays, girls have
convenient opportunities to prac-
tice this sport, and thousands take
advantage of the chance to become
expert swimmers, as our beaches
amply testify. Yet, regardless of
how they float, there is something
TO be said in regard to the won
derful speed and endurance shown
by the two American women
swimmers across the channel. They
defeated all past male channel
swimmers in time consumed, and
that is considerable in addition to
the bald fact of having achieved
the goal.