Wonder Woman of the Week: Gertrude Ederle

One of the most annoying responses I hear when I tell people I write about sports is the age old- and fictional- belief that men’s bodies are just more evolutionarily built for sports and that women can never be better than men. This week’s spotlight is a heroine who proved that women are not only capable of achieving the same successes as men in fields of physical fitness, but can even beat them at their own game. The Wonder Woman of the Week is Gertrude Ederle.

Gertrude Ederle was born in New York City in 1905. Her parents were German immigrants who owned a butcher shop in Manhattan. Ederle’s passion was for swimming however and she spent her childhood swimming at the local pool and the New Jersey beach where her family spent summer vacations. As a teenager, Ederle joined the Women’s Swimming Association and competed at local competitions. She won her first at 16 and between 1921 and 1925, Ederle set 29 separate swimming records. [1]

In the 1924 Paris Olympics, Gertrude Ederle won the gold medal in the 400 meter freestyle and in 1925, she became the first woman to swim the length of the New York Bay- breaking the previous record by more than seven hours. Later that year, Ederle wanted to accomplish the unthinkable. At the time, the greatest feat in athletics was swimming the English Channel- a feat that only five people had so far accomplished. They were all men. Ederle wanted to prove that women were as capable as men. [2]

The first person to complete the feat swam for 21 hours and 45 minutes, but the fastest record by 1925 was set at 16 hours and 33 minutes. When Gertrude Ederle attempted her first swim, she swam for 8 hours and 43 minutes. A massive wave hit Ederle during the swim and her support team was afraid Ederle was drowning. They pulled her out of the water and she was disqualified. Instead of proving women were as capable as men in sports, Ederle instead reinforced the stereotype that men were superior. [3]

Without financial support nor the support of her fans, Ederle attempted the feat one last time with the instructions to her crew to let her die rather than pull her out of the water. A storm hit the channel during Ederle’s attempted second swim, but she refused to quit under the lethal conditions. When the storm passed, Ederle walked onto the beaches of England with a successful swim behind her and a new world record. Gertrude Ederle not only completed the swim during a torrential storm at sea, but she shattered the previous record with a time of 14 hours and 31 minutes. [4]

Ederle proved that not only can women compete at the same physical level as men- but that they can win. Her feat opened up athletics to women in more sports than swimming. Thanks to Ederle’s success, women in the United States can compete at the same elite level as men. There is a long way to go however in the fight for gender equality in sports, but that progress would never have started if it was not for Gertrude Ederle.

“Gertrude Ederle Biography.” Biography.com. A&E Networks; 2016. Web. 26 October 2016.

Gerber, David; Moody, Nicola; and Stobart, Dominic. “Swimming the Channel; Bricking the Bank; And Canyon Survivor.” Mysteries at the Museum. Travel Channel. 25 August 2016.

“Gertrude Ederle becomes first woman to swim English Channel.” History.com. A&E Networks; 6 August 2016. Web. 26 October 2016.

Severo, Richard. “Gertrude Ederle, the First Woman to Swim Across the English Channel, Dies at 98.” New York Times. np; 1 December 2003. Web. 26 October 2016.