Olympic Swimming History Question

Gertrude Ederle had an eight beat kick.

Gertrude Ederle had an eight beat kick. George, I just love it when you come up with statements like this! Who is Gertrude Ederle and what has she got to do with this thread?:help:

Syd! In NYC, Gertrude is still the It girl Quiksilver posted her bio www.answers.com/.../gertrude-ederle She was the first person to successfully swim the English Channel and an Olympic Gold Medalist from the 20s. George: Besides having an eight beat kick she also had some pluck--the water temp at Brighton Beach right now is 55 degrees. That's the beach where she trained often. I had a swimmer spend 90 minutes in the ocean last Saturday--he's swimming the Channel this August. She also has a swim named after her--it goes from the tip of Manhattan to Sandy Hook NJ--17 miles, last year was the inaugural swim. If you don't work the front part of the race the current sets in and you may end up in Staten Island. Ederle Swim www.nycswim.org/.../Event.aspx Gertrude in 3 paragraphs At the 1924 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a part of the US 400-meter freestyle relay team and bronze medals for finishing third in the 100-meter and 400-meter freestyle races. In 1925, Ederle swam a 21-mile crossing across Lower New York Bay, from Manhattan to Sandy Hook, taking over seven hours. Later that year, she made her first attempt at swimming the Channel, but she was disqualified when a trainer grabbed her after she began coughing. Her famous cross-channel swim began at Cap Gris-Nez in France at 07:05 on the morning of August 6, 1926. Fourteen hours and 30 minutes later, she came ashore at Kingsdown, England. Her record stood until Florence Chadwick swam the channel in 1950 in 13 hours and 20 minutes.

Doesn't really answer the question originally asked, but I thought I'd recommend a fascinating book I just finished reading, "The Great Swim" by Mortimer Gavin. It details the efforts by several women including Ederle, although focusing most attention on Ederle, to swim the English Channel. I hadn't realized just how popular and influential marathon swimming had become and how much these women contributed to women's swimming--and women's athletics in general. But a sad note was that for some time after Ederle's swim, she was exploited, then forgotten. She had an accident--fell down some steps--and no one thought she'd be able to walk unaided or to swim. She'd fallen into a depression but then recovered and taught herself to walk and to swim again, then to teach deaf children to swim (her hearing, already not good, had declined after her Channel swim). To me, that kind of courage is probably equal to what she accomplished in the Channel, amazing as that was--the daily task of making a dignified life for herself after the media adopted new "darlings." Anyway, a really absorbing book that I'd recommend even if you're not a swimming history buff--because of the personalities and politics as well as the endurance and courage of the swimmers. But as to the original question... the friend's uncle may or may not have actually been in the Olympics... but it's always possible that if she heard the stories as a youngster, memories can sometimes run together: i.e., he could have been in the Olympics and also done swims in the Hudson, but she may then have remembered these events as being simultaneous.

Did you ever swim in Lake Superior? I went in once to my knees and turned back--too cold! I used to swim in Superior. My grandparents lived in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and we'd swim in the lake when we visited in the summer. Even in the middle of the summer I remember it as being pretty icy!

I did Outward Bound courses in Maine and in Minnesota that both involved getting into VERY cold water. In Maine, we'd run a couple miles, then jump off a pier about 12 feet or so above the water. People thought I was nuts when I said that was my favorite part of the day. But it took a lot less coordination to jump from that pier than to do most of the other stuff I had to do. And asking to go again was a great source of consternation to onlookers. ;) I actually got to like the water temp and started to find seventy a little too warm. About a year after the Maine Outward Bound course, I went on a hiking vacation in the Maine/NH area (the kinder gentler breed of "camping"--relaxing in a bed at night). Some of the hikes involved stops for an invigorating dip in one of the ice cold ponds, and I was always the only adult female to take these dips. None of these quick swims would be adequate preparation for anything more than maybe a mile of a cold open water swim, but they were so refreshing after being warmed up from hiking!

Quick English Channel question to add (again off the original subject, sorry... just my reading has made me curious): I notice that in 1926, according to Mortimer's book, swimmers were saying that it was more difficult to go from England to France than vice versa. But lately, I've been hearing that France to England is more difficult. Why the change in opinion? Or is it just a matter of individual preference?

Thanks for that info Patrick. I thought George was taking the Mickey out of us again! Syd Syd! In NYC, Gertrude is still the It girl Quiksilver posted her bio www.answers.com/.../gertrude-ederle She was the first person to successfully swim the English Channel and an Olympic Gold Medalist from the 20s. George: Besides having an eight beat kick she also had some pluck--the water temp at Brighton Beach right now is 55 degrees. That's the beach where she trained often. I had a swimmer spend 90 minutes in the ocean last Saturday--he's swimming the Channel this August. She also has a swim named after her--it goes from the tip of Manhattan to Sandy Hook NJ--17 miles, last year was the inaugural swim. If you don't work the front part of the race the current sets in and you may end up in Staten Island. Ederle Swim www.nycswim.org/.../Event.aspx Gertrude in 3 paragraphs At the 1924 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a part of the US 400-meter freestyle relay team and bronze medals for finishing third in the 100-meter and 400-meter freestyle races. In 1925, Ederle swam a 21-mile crossing across Lower New York Bay, from Manhattan to Sandy Hook, taking over seven hours. Later that year, she made her first attempt at swimming the Channel, but she was disqualified when a trainer grabbed her after she began coughing. Her famous cross-channel swim began at Cap Gris-Nez in France at 07:05 on the morning of August 6, 1926. Fourteen hours and 30 minutes later, she came ashore at Kingsdown, England. Her record stood until Florence Chadwick swam the channel in 1950 in 13 hours and 20 minutes.

Interesting change in cultural values and perspectives. Marathon swimming, esp. the accomplishment of channel swims etc. used to be a very big deal media-wise; however, the coverage today of such things as hot dog eating contests, poker etc. dwarfs any media interest in this sport.

Ripple: thanks for the correction on Captain Webb! Finding my Inner Fish Perhaps he was a water polo player or was in a non aquatic sport? My grandfather swam in Hudson as a youngster--so yes these swims did occur Peter I think long distance swims are coming back--look at the explosion in Marathon running which used to be unique. We may now have a resurgence in open water swims, the number of English Channel swims is relatively low, now people are doing the Cook Strait, Gibralter, and the renewed Ederle/New York Harbor swim. George Lake Ontario can be a rough swim--I recall John Kinsella's tale of choppy waves. Did you ever swim in Lake Superior? I went in once to my knees and turned back--too cold!