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    Breaking Waves and Barriers: The Story of Trudy Ederle in ‘Young Woman and the Sea

    Entertainment 4 Mins Read

    The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are still two months away, but excitement for the games is being stoked by a new Disney movie about an Olympic swimmer that’s making waves in theaters. “Young Woman and the Sea,” which premieres this Friday and is directed by Joachim Rønning, features Daisy Ridley in the lead role as Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

    Trudy Ederle, an American athlete, was a pioneering figure in the early days of women’s sports during the 1920s, dominating the realm of women’s swimming. According to Glenn Stout, who authored the 2009 book that inspired the movie, Ederle held “virtually every world record you could hold for women’s freestyle swimming.”

    The film endeavors to authentically portray Ederle’s life, emphasizing realism, particularly in the swimming scenes, which were filmed in the open waters of the Black Sea and the English Channel.

    The narrative begins with Ederle’s childhood in a New York City tenement, where she nearly succumbs to measles. After her recovery, which leaves her with slight hearing damage, she becomes determined to master swimming, inspired by her sister Meg and other athletes training on Coney Island. Despite being initially barred from local pools over health concerns, her father helps her by tying a rope around her and teaching her to swim in the Atlantic Ocean. The film adds a whimsical touch with scenes of Trudy playing the ukulele and singing, although these are fictional embellishments.

    Under the guidance of Charlotte Epstein, founder of the Women’s Swimming Association, Ederle soon begins accumulating swimming medals. The association was established in response to the tragic 1904 General Slocum disaster to promote swimming among women. Ederle’s Olympic success came in 1924 in Paris, where she secured a gold medal in a relay and two bronzes.

    Ederle’s ambitious swim from Lower Manhattan to Sandy Hook, New Jersey is a key plot point in the movie, portrayed as a stunt to impress a potential sponsor during his dinner. While fictional, this scene illustrates the lengths she was prepared to go to in order to swim the English Channel.

    After a failed first attempt at the channel swim in 1925, where she suspected sabotage by her then-coach Jabez Wolffe, Ederle switches coaches to Bill Burgess, who had previously conquered the channel himself. His training and strategic advice on swimming with the tides proved pivotal in her successful crossing on August 6, 1926. Ederle’s 14-hour and 31-minute swim not only set a new record but also challenged prevailing notions about women’s physical capabilities in sports, influencing the inclusion of more women’s events in subsequent Olympics.

    The film also recreates the celebratory ticker-tape parade held in Ederle’s honor in New York City on August 27, 1926, after her triumphant return. Despite her fame, Ederle later led a relatively private life, even performing in vaudeville water shows and teaching swimming to deaf children. She passed away in 2003 in a New Jersey nursing home at the age of 98, leaving behind a legacy of ten nieces and nephews and a trailblazing record in women’s sports. Reflecting on her achievement, she once remarked that she was motivated by the challenge and the skepticism she faced, using it as fuel to demonstrate what could be accomplished.

    Major Points

    • “Young Woman and the Sea,” a new Disney movie directed by Joachim Rønning and starring Daisy Ridley, tells the story of Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel.
    • The film portrays Ederle’s journey from overcoming childhood illness and barriers to swimming in segregated pools to becoming a dominant figure in women’s swimming in the 1920s.
    • It captures key moments like her training under Charlotte Epstein and her participation in the 1924 Paris Olympics, where she won three medals.
    • The narrative includes a fictionalized account of Ederle’s swim from Manhattan to New Jersey to secure funding for her Channel attempt, emphasizing her determination and resilience.
    • Ederle’s successful channel swim in 1926 set a new record and challenged stereotypes about women’s physical capabilities, leading to more opportunities for women in sports.

    TL Holcomb – Reprinted with permission of Whatfinger News

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