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Gertrude Ederle – Photo by Bain News Service from

Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Gertrude Ederle

Popularly known as the 鈥淨ueen of the Waves” or 鈥淎merica鈥檚 best girl”  as President Calvin Coolidge once called her, Gertrude Caroline Ederle was an American competition swimmer, who became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

She was born on October 23, 1905, in Manhattan, New York City, and she was the third of six children and the daughter of German immigrants, Gertrude Anna Haberstroh and Henry Ederle.

During the height of her career in the 1920s, Ederle became an Olympic champion and the world record-holder in five swimming events. Her achievements inspired millions of women around the world to take on swimming as a career, which until then was generally viewed as men鈥檚 only sport.

 Let鈥檚 look at the Top 10 Remarkable Facts about her.

1. She became the first Woman ever to Swim Across the English Channel

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Ederle is widely known as the first woman to swim across the English Channel.  She first attempted to swim across the Channel in August 1925, but after swimming for nine hours she was forced out of the water by her trainer although she insisted she wanted to continue.

Ederle made her second attempt from Cape Gris-Nez in France at 07:08 on August 6, 1926, but this time she was well prepared and had a new trainer. She was also escorted by her family and news reporters who motivated her to continue despite rough seas and strong winds which made her progress very difficult.

Against all odds, Ederle persevered through storms and heavy swells, and finally, she reached the English coast at 9:04 p.m. after spending 14 hours and 31 minutes in the water. She became the first woman and the sixth person ever to swim across the channel successfully.

2. She failed in her First Attempt

Ederle鈥檚 first attempt across the Channel, in August 1925, ended with an unfortunate and controversial incident; six miles from the English shore, she seemed to weaken after swimming 23 miles in just under nine hours. as the sea became rough.

As the sea became rough and swamped by waves, she vomited up some seawater, and her training coach, who later insisted he thought she was either unconscious or nearly so, pulled her out of the water.

Ederle was disqualified the moment her 鈥渢rainer鈥� touched her which was against the rules. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I could have gone across but I could have gone further,鈥� she told reporters upon her return to New York.

3. She Became Completely Deaf

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Gertrude Ederle was born with normal hearing but she became partially deaf during her childhood after she suffered from measles which seriously damaged her eardrums. Her condition worsened after she swam across the English Channel in 1926, which rendered her almost completely deaf due to the effects of extremely salty ocean waters.

By 1940, she was completely deaf and spent most of her time teaching deaf children in New York City to swim. Asked about the effects her career had on her ears, Ederle answered 鈥淭he doctors told me my hearing would get worse if I continue swimming, but I loved the water so much, I just couldn鈥檛 stop.

4. She Became an Olympic Champion

Perhaps the biggest dream of any athlete is to win an Olympic gold medal. Gertrude Ederle achieved this fete in the 1924 Summer Olympics in 麻豆APP, when she won a gold medal as a member of the first-place U.S. team in the 4脳100 meter freestyle relay.

Individually, Ederle won bronze medals in two other swimming events although she was expected to win Gold in all three events. She would later say her failure to win all three events in the games was the biggest disappointment of her career.

5. She held 29 US National and World Records from 1921 until 1925

According to her biographer, Ederle showed interest in swimming at an early age. Her father taught her to swim in Highlands, New Jersey, where the family owned a summer cottage.

She joined the amateur swimming association club at the of twelve and quickly became one of the best young swimmers at the club. In the same year, she set her first world record in the 880-yard freestyle, becoming the youngest world record holder in swimming.

Ederle set eight more world records after that, seven of them in 1922 at Brighton Beach. In total, Ederle held 29 US national and world records from 1921 until 1925 making her one of the most successful amateur swimmers in US history.

6. She Dropped out of high school to Focus on her swimming career

Riggin, Ederle, and Wainwright – Photo Source:

Following her early-age swimming exploits, Ederle dropped out of high school and joined the Women’s Swimming Association to fully concentrate on her swimming career.

Her older sister, a swimmer herself, was her biggest supporter and her training partner.  She pushed Ederle to become serious about the sport and did the paperwork to enter her into races.

7. She became an American Hero

When she returned home after successfully swimming across the English Channel, Ederle became an instant American hero and was greeted with a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan. More than two million people lined up the streets of the parade route to cheer her.  

Her success received front-page coverage throughout the United States, England, France, and Germany, and was also invited to the White House to meet President Calvin Coolidge, who called her “America’s best girl.”

8. She never got married

Although Ederle received numerous marriage proposals during the height of her career, she turned down all of them. She however got engaged to be married in 1929, but her fianc茅 terminated the relationship after he learned she had gone almost completely deaf.

Ederle never got into a romantic relationship again nor had any children of her own. Asked why she chose to stay single after her first engagement failed, she replied, 鈥淭here never was anyone else; I just didn鈥檛 want to get hurt again.鈥�   

9. She Faded away from the Public life

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Ederle鈥檚 sudden fame and huge attention from the press became overwhelming, and as a result, she suffered from what doctors then called a nervous breakdown. The Channel swim had also significantly worsened her hearing, and she retired from swimming competitively in 1928, at age 22.

To make matters worse, she fell down the steps of her apartment building and twisted her spine which left her bedridden for several years. Although she recovered and made several guest appearances at Billy Rose鈥檚 Aquacade at the New York World鈥檚 Fair, she never returned to public life.

From the early 1940s up to her death in 2003, Ederle lived away from the public eye and her quiet life was interrupted on only two later occasions, when she was elected in 1965 to the International Swimming Hall of Fame, and when she was inducted in 1980 into the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.

10. She died at the age of 97

After living a quiet life for more the six decades, Ederle died in Wyckoff, New Jersey, in 2003 at the age of 98. She was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.

In her memory, an annual swim from New York City’s Battery Park to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, is named after and follows the course she swam. She was also inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2003 and a Recreation Center, complete with a pool on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, not far from where she grew up bears her name.

Ederle’s lifetime achievements helped to demonstrate that women could be great athletes and compete at the same level as men. She also inspired millions of women to take on swimming as a career, which until then was viewed as men鈥檚 only sport.

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