Gertrude Ederle

Gertrude Ederle was an American Olympic swimmer who became the first woman to swim across the English Channel, at the age of 19 in 1926. Her time held the record for fastest channel swim (only five males had succeeded before her) until 1950, when Florence Chadwick beat her time.
Apart from the Channel swim, Ederle participated in the 1924 summer Olympics. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2003.
==References==
*The Sesame Street 1976 Calendar notes Ederle's channel swim on August 6th, 1926. The calendar depicts a nearby boat, and in fact two tugboats followed her: one containing her family, trainer, and a reporter from the paper sponsoring the swim, and a second carrying rival journalists.
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Category:Historical References
Category:Sports