90th Amazing Swimmer - By Hugh

On 6 August 1926 at 9:35 pm Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim from France to England across the English Channel. He did this in 14 hours and 31 minutes, beating the previous record-by a man-an hour and 59 minutes. What's even more surprising is that he did this in the rough seas that forced him to swim twenty kilometers extra; He swims indirectly as far as 55 kilometers, not a closer distance between countries with 34 kilometers.  The Public Loves Her .Gertrude had become an American heroine. All the newspapers had her story. From England, she returned to New York on a steamship called the Berengaria. When the Berengaria reached New York a few days later, every steamship in the harbor sounded its whistle. Airplanes dropped flowers. And as Trudy drove home along a special celebration route, nearly two million people lined up to cheer her and touch her car. Newspaper reporters gathered round her to hear her story. To them she said, "I knew I could do it. I knew I would, and I did."