Gertrude Ederle Research Paper

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Gertrude Ederle was a famous American swimmer who was born on October 23, 1906 in New York City, New York. Ederle loved the sport of swimming ever since she was a child, and she held 29 national and world amateur swimming records between 1921 and 1925. She also broke seven swimming records on afternoon at Brighton Beach, New York. With a time of seven hours and eleven minute, Gertrude Ederle broke the old men’s record of swimming from New York Battery to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. In the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Ederle won the bronze medal in the 100 meter, and the 400 meter freestyle events. She also won the gold medal in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay.
Swimming across the English Channel was a big dream of Ederle’s, but she failed her first attempt of crossing the English Channel in 1925. On August 6, 1926, Gertrude Ederle started her second attempt to swim the English Channel. She started the swim at Cape Gris-Nez and started the twenty-one mile journey to Dover, England. The weather caused the swim to end up being thirty-five miles long, and it took her fourteen hours and thirty-one minutes to cross the channel. This time beat the old record by nearly two hours. Gertrude Ederle became the sixth person, but first female to cross the English Channel.
After arriving back in …show more content…

Nothing would stop Ederle from making her dreams come true, no matter how hard the task. Ederle would try to accomplish her goals even during the hardest circumstances. Gertrude Ederle was a very inspiring person because she tried to prove that women were just as good of athletes as men. She often shocked the world by doing things that the world did not believe was possible of a woman. Ederle had persevered through all of the hard obstacles that she faced in her life, and that is why she is a huge role model to not only me, but women and athletes

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