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A Plethora of Fads Emerged During the 1920S with One Such Craze, Endurance Swimming, Capturing the Fancy of Hundreds of Women Sw

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A Plethora of Fads Emerged During the 1920S with One Such Craze, Endurance Swimming, Capturing the Fancy of Hundreds of Women Sw 52 THE FAD OF NORTH AMERICAN WOMEN'S ENDURANCE SWIMMING DURING THE POST-WORLD WAR I ERA by Judith Jenkins George Depauw University A plethora of fads emerged during the 1920s with one such craze, endurance swimming, capturing the fancy of hundreds of women swimmers and the interest of hundreds of thousands of North Americans.^ On occasion over one hundred thousand spectators witnessed hundreds of swimmers challenge both the sea and the elements of nature to pursue their goals of crossing hitherto unconquered waters or setting new records. This study traces the rise and fall of the popularity of endurance swimming during the post World War I era. Specific focus centers upon the English Channel and Catalina Channel swims, the Toronto Canadian National Exhibition Marathon, the circumnavigation of Manhattan Island and swimming pool endurance records, and upon the women who accomplished these feats. Gertrude Ederle, Mille Corson, nee Gade, Myrtle Huddleston, n6e Eaton, and Lottie Schoemmel, nee Moore, were the outstanding endurance swimmers of the 20s and 30s with Ederle acquiring heroine status that has continued through the present day. All four of these women represented the working socio-economic class, with Ederle having strong German ethnic ties, while Corson was a recent Danish immigrant. Corson, Huddleston, and Schommel had children, with Huddleston and Schoemmel being single mothers using swimming as a means of family livelihood. An intertwining of financial reward, notoriety, weight reduction, patriotism, and personal challenge became the motivation for why these women pursued the hardships found in endurance swimming. The historian, Paula Fass, has suggested that the decade of the 1920s was undoubtedly the first period of time that could be characterized by its youth-centered fads. Fads have been typified as having a boom period of rapid growth followed by an abrupt curtailment of interest in the fad, and then a surge of interest in a new fad.2 An article which appeared in a 1930 issue of Saturday Evening Post^ suggested that the fads of the 1920s were initiated by two occurrences. First, American journalism fueled fads by the amount of attention given to them through newspaper coverage. Marathoners of all types received, on occasion, print and picture space similar to that granted to heroes and heroines of the day such as Babe Ruth and Amelia Earhart. Johnson stated that, "under ordinary circumstances it 53 calls for either luck or effort for the ordinary human to lift himself to the distinction of public attention. Setting a marathon record calls for neither. "4 The second reason proposed for the flourishing of fads was nationalism. In the United States, Americans wanted the U.S.A to be first in everything, a result of the new nations long-standing rivalry with Great Britain and other Western European countries 5 These factors heightened interest in sport and promoted a sporting craze in many of the new and emerging forms of athleticism. It would seem that just hearing of a record was enough to send r'""l'"i° ^ ^''^"^y *° ^^^^ *'^^* '^^'^°'^' ^^^^ giving rise in the to the first modern age of marathoning. While some youth set endurance records doing zany things such as perambulator or baby carriage pushing, flag pole or tree sittings or pushing a peanut with one s nose, while wearing a steel nose cone and kneeling on knee pads, to the top of Pike's Peak,7 others accomplished marathon feats of a more traditional nature such as bicycle racing,8 marathon dancing,9 and, marathon or endurance swimming. Interest in the pursuit of marathon swimming was aroused through news about Gertrude Ederle's daring English Channel swim and interest grew further when sizable purses were offered for other types of endurance events such as the Catalina Channel and the Canadian National Exposition marathon. Interestingly, the Catalina and English Channel swims, and the swim around Manhattan Island remain today as benchmarks of endurance swimming achievement. io Interest in endurance swimming originated with the English, who were fascinated with swims requiring perseverance rather than sprints against time. The greatest of the English distance swimmers was Captain Matthew Webb, whose renown for being the first to successfully cross the English channel in 1875 became the source of the dare, swim the English Channel to prove your greatness"" The Eng ish Channel has been reputed to be one of the most hazardous small stretches of water to swim; the cold water temperature, strong currents, and tides have all added to the Channel's formidableness. Although only five men had successfully crossed the English Channe by the mid-1920s, there were many attempts by women in 1926. Various factors emerged during the 1920s to cause younq women to discard their former Victorian ways and to seek new directions in life through sport. Brown stated that the post-war economic environment progressed through several stages- an immediate post war boom, and then a recession in 1921, followed by 54 what has been called the "Golden Glow" of prosperity in 1922-29. The good times experienced by many Americans resulted in increased leisure with a proportionate increase in sport participation and sport spectatorship.i2 Some women, the flappers, assumed a flippant attitude which resulted in adventurous leisure choices. Slossom described the typical flapper of the era as "caring little for approval or disapproval as she went about her 'act', whether it were to be a marathon dancing contest... or a Channel swim. "i3 Women's swimming events after World War I consisted of short distances, until an Englishwoman, Mrs. Arthur Hamilton, attempted in 1920 and 1921^4 to swim across the English Channel. Hamilton was only the second woman to attempt the swim; her effort had been preceded by another Englishwoman, Annette Kellermann, in 1905.15 Mille Gade, an immigrant swimming champion from Denmark, swam down the Hudson River from Albany, New York, to the Battery in New York City harbor in 1921. The estimated distance of this swim was 150 miles and was completed in a six-day stint requiring 63 hours and 35 minutes.16 This phenomenal feat, however, was looked upon with disfavor by long distance swimmers as the physical effort was aided by currents and tides. Earlier in the year, Gade had tested her stamina by swimming twenty-eight miles around Manhattan Island. A boat rowed by Clemington Corson, her husband-to-be, kept pace with Gade during both of the swims. Gade's time for the Manhattan Island swim fell short of Ida Elionsky's record of 11 hours and 35 minutes set in 1916.17 Six-day endurance sporting events had been common in pedestrianism and bicycling in the latter 1800s and the early decades of the 1900s, while six-day swimming contests were contested in swimming tubs at Madison Square Garden in the 1922 Physical Culture Show. Ethelda Bleibtrey and her partner, Lucy Freeman, were victorious, by swimming approximately 1,000 laps in six days.is Bleibtrey was a triple gold medalist in the 1920 Olympics with medals in the 100-meter and 300-freestyle and the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay. 19 Bleibtrey, along with Gertrude Ederle, a 1924 Olympic medalist, and Martha Norelius, the 1924 and 1928 Olympic champion in the 400-meter freestyle and the 4 x 100-meter freestyle in 192820 were short distance swimmers who later converted to long distance swimming. In contrast, the Women's Swimming Association of New York (WSA), the authoritative organization for women's swimming in the 1920s, believed that long distance swimming developed swimming form, and that improved form resulted in both enhanced 55 speed and endurance in swimmers.21 The WSA provided American women with their first opportunities to train for national and international competition. In 1923 Mille Corson crossed sixteen of the thirty miles of the English Channel, and was the first American woman to attempt the crossing.22 There were no attempts in 1924 to cross the channel; but in the meantime, Gertrude Ederle, the future channel star, occupied herself with training for the 1924 Olympics. However, Ederle did not perform up to expectation, receiving just bronze medals in the 100 and 400-meter freestyle and the anticipated gold medal in the 4 x 100- meter freestyle relay.23 in 1925, as a prelude to her first English Channel attempt, Ederle became the first woman and the fastest person to swim from the Battery to Sandy Hook in the New York City harbor, a distance of twenty-one miles.24 jhe following New York Times statement seemed to be prophetic of her future: Miss Ederle's exploit stands out as the greatest combined speed and endurance ever accomplished by a swimmer of her sex, and is particularly interesting in view of the fact that she sails tomorrow to attempt the notable swim across the English Channel.25 After the New York Bay conquest, Ederle immediately sailed to France, where she and an entourage of hundreds waited until the time was right for the crossing from Cape Gris-Nez, France, to England. Unfortunately, rough seas were encountered in the crossing, leaving the one hundred passengers, and the musicians who provided musical accompaniment for the swim, seasick. A tenacious Ederle gave up within sight of the English shore when it was impossible to continue battling the high seas. Although she was disappointed in falling short of her goal, her swim was publically heralded as an achievement; she had completed twenty three and one-half of the thirty miles in a time faster than any man or woman before her.26 when conditions were unsuitable for a second attempt she set sail for the United States determined to attempt and to complete the English Channel swim the following year.
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