August 6th, 1926: was the day that, Gertrude Caroline Ederle, became the first woman to swim across the English Channel in a time of 14-hours, 39-minutes. The fastest time over the previous five men who had swam it.From Wikipedia:
After reading the article it seems to me that swimming was once held in higher regard than that of football or basketball during the depression. Coming out of that generation the world embraced Johnnie Weismuller as Tarzan, Esther Williams and her swim movies, and perhaps others.
Gertrude Caroline Ederle (October 23, 1905 – November 30, 2003) was an American competitive swimmer. In 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
She trained at the Women's Swimming Association, which produced such competitors as Eleanor Holm and Esther Williams. She joined the club when she was only thirteen. From this time Gertrude began to break and establish more amateur records than any other woman in the world.
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.
When Ederle returned home, she was greeted with a ticker-tape parade in New York City. She went on to play herself in a movie (Swim Girl, Swim) and tour the vaudeville circuit, including Billy Rose's Aquacade. She met President Coolidge and had a song and a dance step named for her. Unfortunately, her manager, through a combination of incompetence and duplicity, mishandled her showbiz career and Ederle failed to reap the rewards she deserved. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1965.
[Oh, I have to throw this in: Coach Ahelee of Mision Viejo Aquatics swam it too.]
[Link]
What changed the Zeitgeist.
13 comments:
I'm in the middle of reading a book about her right now! Back then people were trying to cross the channel with breaststroke and sidestroke, I think she was the first person to complete it with regular freestyle (american crawl). The book gets into some of the politics of swimming history, it's pretty interesting to learn about... I think you would dig it.
you do realize that back in the day there were professional swimmers too, right? They weren't really paid to race. according to ISHOF they were the stars of water shows. Swimming, just like comics, had a pretty rich golden age in our history.
Football happened.
I did not know this. No wonder shows like Cirque du Soleil's "O" and Le Reve are so popular.
Would love to see a You Tube.
Jason, it was August 1920 that Football became the American Football League. :-P
Just answering this one: What changed the Zeitgeist.
Football happened.
I was just teasing though it was around for awhile before it supplanted swimming.
I would say Baseball before football, but ultimately it was probably sex appeal that took it down. Keep in mind this was pretty much the only way to see girls "scantily clad" in a socially acceptable fashion. Outside of competitive swimming it was scandalous to not wear stockings with your swim suit that also happened to be a big wool dress... these chicks were in big single piece suits which was pretty risque at the time. I bet once people loosened up in regards to women's clothing swimming lost a big portion of the perv demographic.
Good observation.
Thank you for recognizing Miss Ederle's English Channel Swim Tony.
She is a legend and in my view, has contributed more to women in sports and physical fitness than anyone in history.
Big hello from USMS LC Nationals in Indy! The first day is put to bed - a great day for most all!
Thank you for recognizing Miss Ederle's English Channel Swim Tony.
She is a legend and in my view, has contributed more to women in sports and physical fitness than anyone in history.
Big hello from USMS LC Nationals in Indy! The first day is put to bed - a great day for most all!
http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Girl-Incredible-Swimmer-Gertrude/dp/0312382650/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249832531&sr=1-1 is the link to the Amazon.com page for a recently(this week)published book about Gertrude Ederle--America's Girl, by several authors, including one whose middle name is Ederle so is likely related. I haven't read it yet but the coincidence of its publication and your blog entry seemed worth mentioning it. It seems to have gotten very good reviews.
I don't know why sports celebrity were more scattered in the 1920's. The Boston Light Open Water Swim from the oldest lighthouse on the outer reaches of Boston Harbor racing to Dorchester Bay used to be greeted by 20,000 people when you reached the finish. There were 2 when I finished it a couple of years ago. Its not just swimming though--Jesse Owens was the most famous athlete in the world in 1936. Phelps wasn't in 2008--its probably Lionel Messi or Ronaldinho or Michael Jordan--team sports with brand identity and large commercial interests promoting their success. Its just a different world.
Why don't you review it and I will post your review?
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