... 1926 (85 years ago today), a 19-year-old American-born daughter of German immigrants, Gertrude Ederle, who'd won gold and bronze medals at the 1924 Paris Olympics, became the 6th person and 1st woman to swim the English Channel. (photo credit) It was her 2d attempt to make the 21-mile journey from Dover, England, to Cape Griz-Nez, France. It took her 14 hours, 31 minutes. The event changed her life, which would last another 77 years:
'Ederle damaged her hearing during the Channel swim, and went on to spend much of her adult life teaching deaf children in New York City to swim.'
(Prior August 6 posts are here, here, here, and here.)