Ederle << AY duhr lee >>, Gertrude Caroline (1906-2003), a famous American swimmer, became the first woman to swim the English Channel. In 1926, at the age of 19, Ederle swam the channel from France to England. Her time of 14 hours 39 minutes for the 35-mile (56-kilometer) distance broke the previous record and stood as the women’s record for 35 years.
From 1921 to 1925, Ederle set 29 United States and world records for swimming races ranging from the 50-yard to the half-mile race. In the 1924 Summer Olympic Games, she won a gold medal as a member of the championship U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay team. She also won bronze medals for finishing third in the 100-meter and 400-meter freestyle races. Ederle was born on Oct. 23, 1906, in New York City. She died on Nov. 30, 2003.
