Young Woman and the Sea 2024

The subject of this biography is 19-year-old New Yorker Trudy Ederle, a German immigrant’s daughter. She was the first woman to swim the English Channel in August of 1926. Only five men had ever completed the gruelling 21-mile trek from Cape Gris-Nez, France, to Kingsdown Beach, England, before her. That might not sound all that horrible, but when you factor in erratic tides, frigid water, currents that appear determined to pull you in, and swarms of jellyfish, it becomes obvious that this is no typical test of perseverance. Trudy fought against everything, even the pervasive sexism that surrounded her like sharks on chum, as she swam 35 miles that day, surpassing the men’s times by nearly two hours. Stream this biography in full length on Myflixer.