Gertrude Ederle’s English Channel Swim
While swimming 20 miles would be nothing for professional swimmers who spend hours in a pool every day, this is not exactly easy in open water. In particular, swimming the English Channel from England to France is 20 miles of hellish water. It can be choppy and a mess to deal with. After seeing the lack of respect for female swimmers and females overall, Gertrude Ederle wanted to change this perception. To do this, she decided to swim the English Channel, which only five men had done before her attempt in 1926. To be considered for the world record, no one can even touch you on the swim.
Much less attempt to assist you in any form whatsoever. Her first attempt was resulting in a good time but a wave hit and caused her to be kind of out of it for a second but fine overall. Yet one of her aides grabbed her assuming she was about to drown, ending her attempt. Finally, she went out again with instructions to not interfere no matter what. This time, she swam the 20 miles in the middle of a storm, finishing in 14 hours and 31 minutes. This beat the closest time by around 2 hours! Her drive, determination, swimming power, and cardio were on full display!