Summary

• Daisy Ridley stars as Gertrude Ederle in Young Woman and the Sea, but the movie focuses mainly on her Channel crossing and not her full life story.
• Ederle's real success as an Olympic athlete and other achievements, like a 22-mile swim, are briefly featured in the film for context.
• Despite her triumph swimming the English Channel, Ederle faced challenges and hearing loss later in life, yet continued to teach swimming.

Disney's Young Woman and the Sea revolves around the remarkable true story of American athlete Gertrude Ederle, yet the movie doesn't always provide a complete picture of the protagonist's life. After becoming the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926, Ederle has been understandably immortalized thanks to the incredible scale of her achievement. However, while Young Woman and the Sea accurately documents many aspects of the event, by necessity the movie couldn't tell Ederle's complete life story.

Young Woman and the Sea stars Daisy Ridley as Ederle and boasts an impressive ing cast, including many of the major players involved in the real event. Alongside Ridley are the likes of Christopher Eccleston as Jabez Wolffe – Gertrude's trainer and a real swimmer who also made several attempts to swim the Channel – and Tilda Cobham-Hervey, who plays Gertrude's sister, Margaret. Given the drama of the true story, Young Woman and the Sea mainly focuses on the attempted crossing itself. However, Gertrude Ederle's real story has many more complexities than the film can possibly convey.

Young Woman And The Sea Is Based On Gertrude Ederle's True Story

Like many of the best sports movies, the basic setup of Young Woman and the Sea is rooted in fact. Following an extended period in Ederle's life, the movie explains her success as an Olympic athlete – winning a gold medal at the 1924 Paris Olympics as part of the 4x100 meter freestyle relay team. Ederle and her team won the race in what was then a world record – establishing a precedent for pushing boundaries. Given that the Olympic Games were an entirely amateur event, Ederle did not turn professional until 1925 – where the majority of Young Woman and the Sea's action takes place.

Although the film focuses on Ederle's incredible Channel crossing, her career was full of other outstanding achievements. Before her successful attempt, for instance, she swam 22 miles along the Jersey Shore in just over seven hours – a record that stood for 81 years. The movie also reflects her upbringing in Manhattan, as well as depicting a close relationship with her sister Margaret, who the movie depicts as playing a key emotional ing role. Although the film undoubtedly takes creative license with some aspects of the story, it stays broadly true to the facts of Ederle's life.

Gertrude Ederle Swam 21 Miles Across The English Channel In 1926

As Young Woman and the Sea's inspirational narrative depicts, Ederle did indeed become the first woman to swim the Channel in 1926. However, although she was eventually successful, her mission was not entirely straightforward, only completing the feat at the second attempt. Ederle first tried the swim in 1925, when she was trained by ex-swimmer Jabez Wolffe (played by Christopher Eccleston). Controversially, Wolffe (who had failed to cross the Channel in 21 separate attempts during his own career) ordered Ederle's swimming partner to pull her from the water when she had stopped at the surface to rest.

It is felt by many commentators that Wolffe, despite training Ederle, ultimately did not wish her to succeed. This explains why, when she made her second attempted crossing in 1926, she replaced Wolffe with another trainer. This time she was successful, becoming only the sixth person to swim the Channel and the first woman to do so – completing the feat in a time of 14 hours and 34 minutes, then a world record for both men and women.

What Happened To Gertrude Ederle After Swimming The English Channel

After arriving back in the United States following her triumph, Ederle was met with a celebratory parade in Manhattan. According to Swimming World Magazine, she was "greeted by a ticker-tape parade of 2-million folk" and became a pop-culture sensation. Her fame was such that she even received an invitation to the White House to meet President Calvin Coolidge, who reportedly told her, "I am amazed that a woman of your small stature should be able to swim the English Channel.” Her celebrity status was such that she embarked on a short-lived Vaudeville career, and even played herself in the Hollywood film Swim Girl, Swim.

However, despite her fame, Ederle's career took a complicated turn. Childhood illness had dramatically affected her hearing – a situation that was exacerbated by swimming. As a result, Ederle was rendered nearly totally deaf before turning 40. However, she still loved the water, teaching the sport to deaf children once she herself had retired. She died in New Jersey in 2003 at the age of 98 – leaving behind an incredible legacy, even beyond the events of Young Woman and the Sea.