As she approached the shore of Sangatte , France , Florence Chadwick was exhausted . She had been swimming in the English Channel for over 16 60 minutes , battling hard air current and thick fog that made every stroke a challenge . The previous leg of her journey , from France to England — which she had make out a class earlier — had been easy compare to this . But her endeavor would be deserving it : When she at last arrive on French soil that Clarence Day , September 11 , 1951 , she became the first fair sex to successfully drown round - trip across the English Channel .
Born in San Diego , California in 1918 , Chadwick reveal her love of sea swimming at an early age . Her hometown offered her easy memory access to the beach , and she started vie in swimming race at 6 old age old . She like drive herself to float in difficult conditions : at night , in fog , and in strong flatus . At the old age of 10 , she float a two - mile race in the rough waters of Hermosa Beach , wow the crowds . At 13 , she take in second place at the U.S. national championships .
After calibrate from San Diego State College , she produce aquatic shows for the U.S. military , and in 1944 , she swim with MGM’swater ballet starEsther Williams in the melodic filmBathing Beauty . But Chadwick had her sights set far beyond Hollywood .
As a child , Chadwick had been inspired byGertrude Ederle , who , in 1926 , became the first woman to swim the English Channel . Before her , women were consider unequal to of such a retentive - distance swim . Ederle not only proved them haywire , but beat the men ’s record by two hours .
Chadwick became determined to be the first fair sex to swim the Channel round - trip — not just from France to England , as Ederle had , but from England to France . bather and other experts considered the latter to be a more unmanageable crossing , in part because of the strong electric current pushing by from the shoring . No woman had ever swim the England - to - France itinerary successfully . Chadwick go down a goal of float both Ederle ’s route and then back again , even if she had to rest in a chip between trips .
After World War II , Chadwicktook a jobas a comptometer ( a character of adding machine ) operator with an American petroleum company in Saudi Arabia . She swim in the Persian Gulf before and after work and for up to 10 hours on her days off . After two years of rigorous preparation , she decided she was quick to make the first part of her Channel effort — the slip from France to England , which Ederle had swum in 1926 .
Chadwick training at a British hotel in 1955 . She swum while marry with a rope to model pushing against the stream . Image course credit : Getty Images
On a chilly August morning in 1950 , Chadwick plunk into the water outside Wissant , France . She drown across the 21 international mile of the Channel to Dover , England , accompanied by her Church Father , admirer , and assurance in a fishing boat . They kept an eye on her route and watched out for risk , while she now and again nibbled sugar cubes to keep up her energy . The slip strike her a little over 13 hours — a world record for fastest swimming across the Channel by a woman .
" I finger fine , ” she told reporters after crawling ashore in England . “ I am quite inclined to float back . " But Chadwick ended up hold up the stumble back across the Channel to France for over a year , waiting for more favourable weather and tides , and fattening herself up on a kilogram calorie - rich diet in preparation for the weight going that comes with a long swim in cold urine .
On September 11 , 1951 , despite thick fog and headwinds , Chadwick finally entered the water in Dover . The route to France was penalise , made worse by the fumes from an accompanying powerboat . But she completed the slip in 16 minute , 22 instant — a earth record . When she arrived , the mayor of Sangatte was there to shake her hired man .
Chadwick ’s accomplishment made her famous . Back in San Diego , townspeople hurl her a ticker tape parade . She look on TV show such asWhat ’s My Line ? , second Catalina Swimwear , and was contribute a car by the city of San Diego . Although she had accomplish her goal of conquering the Channel , it was n’t enough .
On July 4 , 1952 , Chadwick essay to float across the Catalina Channel , which stretches from Catalina Island to the Palos Verde peninsula on the Southern California coast . After almost 16 hours of swimming through a thick-skulled fog , frigid H2O , and nearby sharks ( which her support bunch , following in boats , charge at with rifles ) , she give up when she was just half a naut mi away from ground . She by and by told a reporter : “ Look , I ’m not apologise myself , but if I could have seen land I might have made it . ”
Two months later , she lastly succeeded , making the journeying to Catalina in 13 60 minutes , 47 transactions — two hour faster than the previous official record , set by a man .
Chadwick followed up her Catalina swim with another trip across the English Channel from England to France in 1953 , shave several hour off her previous time . later on the same year , she swim across the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco , as well as the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits in Turkey , break record book made by both men and women along the way .
Although she achieved incredible success , Chadwick was also notable for her pertinacity : She failed to discharge swims , let alone offend records , more time than she succeeded , not only in the Catalina Channel but inLake Ontario and the Irish Sea . But she never let failure stop her . A groundbreaker , she pulverize the notion that womanhood were incapable of long - distance survival swimming , and pave the way for other adult female to proceed to soften records in the mutation .
Even after retiring in 1960 , she was n’t content to rest . She opened swim schools in New York and New Jersey , frequently coached untested swimmers , lectured on the economic value of fitness , and worked as a credit counselor and stockbroker .
In 1995 , 25 year after she wasinductedinto the International Swimming Hall of Fame , Chadwickdiedof leukemia in San Diego . Fittingly , her ash tree were scattered in the Pacific Ocean .
