EARLY LIFE

Gertrude ederle was born October 23, 1905, in New York City. She was the daughter of Henry Ederle and Gertrude Hazerstroh. Gurtrude started out taking lesson and swimming in her local pool. As an early teen Gertrude left school to competitively swim. When she got older she joined the woman's local swimming team in Manhattan (they got to swim year around). When she turned sixteen she joined the U.S Olympic swim team and won two metals.

Achievements

One of Gurtrudes goals was to swim across the English Channel. She failed the first try because one of the people on the boat next to her touched her arm and she got disqualified. On August 6th, 1926 she did the race again and made it across. She ended up beating the last record by two hours. On her way back she got greeted by a welcoming surprise audience that gave her lots of love.

Gertrude made a big impact on the girls of The 1920s. Gertrude taught the girls how to be brave, and fearless. She showed the new found freedom of girls in the 1920s. She proved that even if your a girl or a boy you can accomplish ampnything that you set your mind too.

The Doctors told me my hearing would get worse if I continued swimming, but I loved the water so much, i just couLdn't stop.

- Gertrude Ederle