Evening star., 1950-08-08
Swimmers
Continued From First Page)

mile out, she had been asked if she
wanted to rest her legs.
mo fear" she answered, laugh
ing. IN keep going now. 1t looks
only another yard or so the fin
lsh."
She actually did not touch dry
land, at the end.
"A few feet from the shore line,
under the 250-foot cliffs, she clam
bered into one of her rowboatS.
But no one doubted that she had
finished her swim and made it one
of the greatest in the history of
channel attempts.
She was not far shortly
channel swim standardS-of the
recognized mems record of 1905
set by Frances Georges Michel
in 1926.
Miss Chadwick was the third
American woman to make this
crossingA19 miles as the crow
flies, but actually much farther
in swimming distance because of
the sweep of tides.
The others were Miss Ederle
and Mrs. Mile Gade Carson, who
crossed in 1926 in Is hours and %
minutes.
Shirley May France. the IT,
year-oid girl from Somerset.
| Mass had been Swimming 43
hours 46 minutes when she gave
4 UP. She was sobbing as she was
!, pulled from the water, within
sight of the white cliffs.
l-ss Miss Chadwick LET'S france in
the darkness 10 minutes ahead of
II Shirley May.
4 A longtime champion swimmer,
Miss Chadwick completed her first
race when she vase years old. In
l l945. she turned professional to
appear in the film Bathing
Beauty" with Esther Williams. For
the last two years, while working
for an oil company in Saudi Ara
bia. she trained constantly, often
getting up before dawn for two
hour swim before going to work.
On days off she swan eight to
10 hours. The restaurant run by
Miss Chadwick's father in San
Diego is adorned with about rs
trophies and $50 medals won by
his daughter.
Miss Chadwick began SWIM
ming at 2:37 am. and her last
stroke was timed at 4:05 pm.
Q1:05 am, EDIT.
She had the triumph, and Shir-
ley May had the tears.
Begged to Quit.
Shirley Mays coach, Harry
Boudakian, and her manager, Ted
Worner. begged her to quit.
Please. please, come out" said
Worner. Harry knows what's
best for you"
But It's so near" Shirley May
cried. "It's only three hours"
More like six hours" Bouda-
khan replied.
The boast about her closed in,
in tight circle. She argued and
pleaded, all the time eluding the
outstretched arms. !
You'll have another try"
Boudakian said. You can't get
in on the tide now. It's too late
Shirley sobbed bitterly.
Every one is going to think I'm
a flop" she cried.
Boudakian replied: "If I thought
you could do it I wouldn't take
you out"
Then the coach made it a COM
mand. At last Shirley May took
his hand. She collapsed.
Alfonso Cruz, a Guatemalan
Channel swimming candidate who
was in the boat with her party, |
jumped into the water and lifted
Shirley May into the rowboat.
She was limp. Shirley regained
full consciousness slowly. She
smiled wanly at her handlers.
Then the tears flowed silently.
Miss Chadwick TirelesS.
Miss Chadwick swan almost
mechanically, apparently tireless,
as her arms split the cold, calm
water. Her pace at the outset was
ambitious-60 strokes to the min
ute-but she cut it back to 26
later. Her f1awless rhythm never
faltered.
Before she plunged into the
Channel at Cap Girls Nez the Cali
fornian was calm and confident, as
If she were back home going for
quiet dip at familiar shore.
She was aware. however, that she
might fail, and she wanted to be
hauled from the water if it be-
came obvious that she no longer
could beat the record.
Miss Chadwick swan the gruel-
ling course almost without eating.
She paused four or five times an
hour to take cubes of sugar. her
only nouriShment.
The California swimmer financed