Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-29
FAILURE WAS NEAR
ONCE DURING SWIM
Mrs. Corson Asked Trainer
/ to Get life Belt Ready,
But Illness Passed.
BY MRS. CLEMINGTON CORsON

got TO land, but ! was all in, and my
husband, who must have been nearly
as tired as | Was--he rOwed the small
boat the whole way from France TO
England-and never laid down the
oars for moment--did the only thing
possible in taking me away from the
crowd in the small boat and back to
the launch again.
/ lay on the deck. and everybody
said keep her quiet" | was still all
there. The spirit was willing, but
the flesh was weak. 1t was wonder.
ful Of them to take me right along
the beach from there to the harbor
where l got hot bath. | felt like a
new woman, but oh, so sleepy. They
took me right back here in the car
and put me to bed. Now the cables
are already coming in stacks, and |
feel as though | had just finished it,
and l am SO happy.
Although I am not the first woman
10 swim the Channel, / am the first
mother to do it, | have two little
Riddles at home, boy and a girl, and
they have been away from me since
the beginning of April.
Training Since October.
l have been training hard since the
beginning OF October for this swim.
walking and swimming in America,
and since | got here L have continued
training. I guess some people
thought | was pretty cOcky when |
said L was going to do it and the
papers printed it. | will confess now
l wished few times on the way
across l had not said that, but nv
heart would have broken if, after all
me training and some real sacrifice,
mad not succeeded this time.
thought about my little ones all
the time | was swimming and about
my hubby rowing along there. Talk.
ing about records. l wonder if it is
a common thing to row a boat across
the Channel for 16 hours at a stretch?
determined that l could stick il if
he could and he wouldn't let ANYBODY
else take the oars for a minute, al
though there were two others in the
little boat with him
Mr.. Tlmson was cheer leader on
the motor boat, the Viking. Wasn't
that name coincidence? I'm a Dane
ana when | saw that name l de-
termned it would bring me good luck
III L mad that boat. At the end of
each mile Timson would shout to me:
Another mile for Sonny, another
mile for Sister" They are the kids
names. you know, at least, nv name
for them.
Planned Swim Years Ago.
1t was my ambition for many years
TO swim the Channel, but | did not
get the chance to come over until
three years ago, and there was such
a blow that | had to give I'D after
1%I2 hours. l don't want to advance
an alibi, but I nearly got there. and
1t blew hard for the last two hours
want to say what a splendid lot
l had on the motor boat There were
IL or them and l don't think one of
them took his or her eyes off me or
stopped pulling for me the whole
time. When l got near shore I could
see the crowds and l should have
hated to be a. gutter with all those
people waving to me and cheering me
on. or course, ii was the last hour
that was so hard, with only three
quarters of a mile to go.
i could see the people waving all
the time. but it took an hour, NV
limbs were like lead. but | knew l
could do it. and | never lost confidence
at the end.
There was only one time in the
small hours that was bad ! suddenly
felt i'll and | said TO my trainer, vii
liam kellingley. who leaned over the
edge of the little boat where he was
sitting by my husband. in low voice,
because l didn't want the others to
hear:
Wanted Life Belt Ready.
Get the life belt ready. | feel
queer. but don't attempt to pull me
out unless YOU see me go fiat on the
water. | leave 1t to Your Judgment
whether You must take me out or
not"
But few minutes after | got my
second wind and when daylight came
1t was CHEEKY to see the sunshine on
the cliffs of Dover and I felt all right
again.
Whenever | sang out to the Viking
FOR Il nice song. they gave me one,
Louis Timson sang me American
songs and ii was great to hear them.
Every hour they yelled out that had
done another hour and told me how
many miles | had to go.
Apart from my husband and chill.
dren / thought Of my old mother in
Denmark. / am going to stay here in
Dover three days. then go to London
and from there to Denmark to see
her. She was so set against my try.
Ing three years ago. but this time she
had set her mind on my doing it. She
wrote me only the other daN:
You must do it
| didn't see any sharks or porDoises
but just as I started from Griz- Nez a
man on the beach yelled out to me:
Look out for those dogfsh. They
are IL feet long
Fish Let Her Alone.
I guess he was Just kidding. Any
way the fish let me alone
l told you something about that life
belt. What l told kellingley about
having ii ready was because | had
made up my mind not TO ask for it, no
matter what happened I didn't really
mean TO float on the water, / meant
10 go on until my head went under
Then i couldn't ask for 1t, and that
was why I wanted II ready---if he
threw It. we'll l could grab it.
| asked if il was ready when | felt
that cramp. 1t began In my right leg
and ran up until ii affected my spine.
and then the pain began around the
heart. | thought | was nearly fin
ished. | got better. but it was still
there when the sun came up and
saw the cliffs at Dover. l prayed
and the pain went away. Then
asked my husband:
Woman Swimmers Praised.
But 1 shouldn't have minded il he
was level with me. / knew | could
beat him. for there is no comparison
between a man and a woman swim
mer.
There was one other time when
thought l had failed and that was
when ! was looking into Dover har
Dor and | knew / had missed my
landing place. and if l didn't get in
to Shakespeare Cliff | would be taken
out and would have failed again.
That was where ! got my third
wind and / thought of last Summer,
when I drove the children down to
Virginia. On my way back my little