Gertrude Ederle
by Meghan Oswald
Biography of Gertrude Ederle
Gertrude Ederle was born on October 23, 1905 in New York City, New York. Gertrude was one out of five kids in their family, and her parents were immigrants that owned a butcher shop. Gertrude found her love for swimming when she was 9 years old at public pools. It wasn’t until the age of 15 was when she properly knew how to swim. She soon left school so she would be able to train more. Two years later, she won a gold and a bronze medal during the 1924 Paris Olympics. During June of 1925, Gertrude became the first woman to swim the length of New York Bay. The same summer, Gertrude wanted to swim across the English Channel which was 21 miles. On her first attempt Gertrude was pulled after 8 hours and 46 minutes of swimming because her coach, Jabez Wolff, was afraid she was swallowing too much saltwater. Gertrude fired her coach and hired T.W. Burgess. She attempted to swim the channel again on August 6, 1926. Gertrude only took 14 hours and 31 minutes, while beating two records. She was the first woman to swim across the channel and she beat the men’s time by two hours. she damaged her hearing while swimming the channel so she spent most of her time teaching deaf students how to swim. Gertrude never married and passed away in New Jersey, at the age of 98, in 2003.
English Channel
This was Gertrude's celebration when she got back from swimming the channel. The whole city was there congratulating her.
First Woman
Gertrude was the first women to swim across the English Channel even though five men have before. Many people started taking women athletes more serious after this.
Olympics
Gertrude represented the United States during the Paris Olympics. She earned a bronze medal in the 100 and 400 freestyle races by herself. Then won gold in a 4 x 100 meter relay with her team.
Gertrude Ederle- Swimmer
Questions
1. What age was she on her first win?
2. What medals did Gertrude win in the Olympics?
Impact of Gertrude Ederle
Gertrude made the swim under horrible conditions, made a huge contribution in history when many found it hard to take woman athletes serious. She made those people take her serious because she beat the record of five men.