Gertrude Ederle

Gertrude Ederle

Gertrude Caroline Ederle (October 23, 1905 – November 30, 2003) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. In 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Gertrude Ederle was the daughter of German immigrants. According to a biography of Ederle, America's Girl, her father, Henry, ran a butcher shop on Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan. Trudy was the third of six children and was born in New York City. Her father taught her to swim in Highlands, New Jersey, where the family owned a summer cottage. Among other nicknames, the press sometimes called her "Queen of the Waves."