In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

ENDURANCE
On Saturday, August 7, nineteen-year-old Gertrud Ederle of the United
States swims the English Channel between Calais and Dover in fourteen
hours thirty-two minutes. Winner of a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics
and holder of the world record in the 400-meter freestyle, she first
attempted the crossing a year ago, but gave up, exhausted, ten miles off
the British coast. This time she has cut almost two hours from the
previous record set by Enrico Tiraboschi of Argentina in 1923, thus
becoming the only woman to beat all men among the record holders in
an athletic competition (Chronik, 139). [see Male vs. Female] This
achievement makes her an international celebrity. The city of Dover
welcomes Ederle with a gala reception upon her arrival, and six weeks
later the New York Times mentions her as being among the most famous
spectators attending the championship bout between Jack Dempsey and
Gene Tunney in Philadelphia, rounding out a list that includes Charlie
Chaplin, William Randolph Hearst, and the Rockefeller family. [see
Boxing]
Twenty-one days after Ederle's feat, another American, Clemington
Cannon, becomes the second woman to cross the Channel. Though it
takes her more than half an hour longer, Cannon, too, is welcomed in
England with "tumultuous ovations." A special correspondent to the
Berliner Tageblatt dedicates a full-length article to her achievement: "In
the first two hours, Mrs. Cannon covered a distance of four English
miles. During the morning she ate some chocolate. Later in the day she
87