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In
1926, the American set off from northern France for the southern
English coast, making the crossing in 14 hours 31 minutes and
beating the men’s world record by one hour and 59 minutes.
Despite a celebratory parade in New York on her return, Ederle's
name and accomplishments are not as well known to the general
public as those of other sports figures.
"Honestly, probably a big part of it was she was female and
that's why," actor Daisy Ridley, who plays Ederle in the Disney
movie, told Reuters at the film's Los Angeles premiere on
Thursday.
"Babe Ruth was her contemporary and everyone remembers Babe
Ruth... I suppose... he was constantly in front of people and
she did something that largely kept her widely isolated because
you couldn't see her do the swim at that time, bar some pictures
and a bit of reel, but I'm very happy that the story is being
told now."
"Young Woman and the Sea" is based on the 2009 book of the same
name by Glenn Stout.
"Before Trudy, people were still making the argument that women
not only shouldn't compete in sports but they couldn't," Stout
said.
"By swimming the English Channel, by beating the men's record by
two hours, that quite literally blew that argument out of the
water."
The movie is being released at the end of May in the run-up to
the Olympics, held in Paris, where at the 1924 games in the same
city, Ederle won a gold and two bronze medals.
"She did such an extraordinary thing and it's just absurd that
it hasn't been celebrated and she's not a household name," actor
Tilda Cobham-Hervey, who plays Trudy's sister Meg, said.
"So it feels really important to me that we get her story out."
(Reporting by Rollo Ross; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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