Gertrude Ederle was born in New York in 1905, her parents were originally from Germany and she was one out of five children. Gertrude learned how to swim at a local public pool in New Jersey, where her family spent their summer on vacation. she started swimming competitively somewhere in her teen years. She became a national champion at the age of sixteen. while
in school she joined “Woman’s Swimming Association” and later dropped out of school all together. later in her life she went to the 1924 olympics and had one of her greatest accomplishments when she swimmed across the English Chanel. she was the first woman to accomplish such a terrific task.