Young Woman and the Sea vs the True Story of Swimmer Trudy Ederle (2024)

Historical Accuracy (Q&A):

Did Trudy Ederle grow up in New York City?

Yes. Gertrude 'Trudy' Ederle was born on October 23, 1905 in New York City to German immigrants Henry and Gertrude Anna Ederle. She was raised in Manhattan, and like in the Disney movie, the Young Woman and the Sea true story confirms that her father, Henry Ederle, operated a butcher shop there. Actress Daisy Ridley, who portrays Ederle in the film, is a London-born Engish actress best known for her role as Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. While she delivers a capable if not commendable performance, it is unclear why an English actress was cast to portray an American swimmer, especially given that Ridley's English accent slips through at times.

Where did Trudy Ederle learn to swim?

A Young Woman and the Sea fact-check reveals that Trudy learned to swim at her family's beachfront summer home in Highlands, New Jersey. It was there that she and her sisters became involved with the Women's Swimming Association, which trained them.

Did Trudy Ederle suffer hearing loss as a child?

Yes. Her hearing had been damaged as the result of a case of measles when she was a child. Her hearing loss was exacerbated by swimming, and by the 1940s, Ederle had lost almost all of her hearing.

Was Trudy Ederle a highly-accomplished swimmer before taking on the English Channel?

She turned professional in 1925, the same year she completed a long-distance swim of 22 miles from Battery Park in New York City to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Her record time of 7 hours and 11 minutes stood for 81 years before it was broken by another female swimmer, Australia's Tammy van Wisse. Ederle's nephew later described the swim as a warm-up for her Channel crossing.

Is Young Woman and the Sea based on a book?

Did Trudy Ederle fail in her first attempt to cross the English Channel?

Like in Disney's Trudy Ederle movie, she first attempted to swim the English Channel on August 18, 1925. She made it 14 miles before her trainer, Jabez Wolffe (portrayed by Christopher Eccleston), had a spotter who was swimming alongside her touch her and help recover her from the water. Ederle, who had been resting (not drowning) by floating face-down, had wanted to keep going, and it was speculated that Wolffe didn't want to see her finish, possibly because he had previously failed to make it across in 22 attempts from 1906 to 1914. Contact with the spotter swimmer, Ishak Helmy, immediately disqualified Ederle. Adding to the controversy was the fact that Jabez Wolffe had remarked that it just might be that women are not capable of swimming the English Channel.

For her second attempt, was Trudy Ederle trained by Bill Burgess, a male swimmer who had previously conquered the Channel?

How did Trudy Ederle pay for her swim across the English Channel?

Similar to the true story chronicled in last year's Nyad starring Annette Bening as long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, who swam from Cuba to Florida in 2013, one of the biggest obstacles is finding funding for such swims. In Ederle's case, she entered into a contract with the Daily News and the Chicago Tribune Press Service, who would be guaranteed the exclusive story.

How far did Trudy Ederle swim when she crossed the English Channel?

To cross the English Channel, New York City-born Gertrude Ederle swam approximately 21 miles from Cape Gris-Nez, France to Kingsdown, Kent, England. However, it is likely that she swam further given that the Channel's harsh conditions kept her from swimming a straight route.

When did Gertrude Ederle swim the English Channel?

How long did it take Trudy Ederle to swim the English Channel?

Ederle completed her swim across the Channel in 14 hours and 31 minutes. In researching how accurate is Young Woman and the Sea, we learned that it's true that her time was faster than any of the five male swimmers who had crossed the Channel before her, setting a world record for both men and women. She beat the previous record-holder, male swimmer Enrique Tirabocchi, by more than two hours. It took Tirabocchi 16 hours and 33 minutes to make it across the Channel three years before Ederle crushed his record.

Was a British immigration officer the first person to greet Trudy Ederle when she came ashore in England?

Was Gertrude Ederle celebrated with a ticker-tape parade attended by 2 million people?

What happened to Trudy Ederle after the events in Disney's Young Woman and the Sea?

Was Trudy Ederle's English Channel record broken?

Yes. In 1950, American Florence Chadwick made the France-to-England swim in 13 hours and 23 minutes. A year later, she crossed the channel in the opposite direction, from England to France, in 16 hours and 22 minutes, becoming the first female to swim the Channel in both directions. In her lifetime, Florence Chadwick swam the English Channel a total of four times.

How did Daisy Ridley prepare for her role as Trudy Ederle?

According to the Daily News, actress Daisy Ridley spent three months training under silver medalist Siobhan-Marie O'Connor before production began on the Trudy Ederle movie in April 2022. Ridley practiced the American crawl technique Ederle used, which is similar to the front crawl used today. O'Connor continued to train Ridley after filming commenced. "We were swimming during filming and swimming to train in the weekends and the evenings," said Ridley.

Was Young Woman and the Sea shot in the open water?

Yes. According to the Daily News, Young Woman and the Sea's English Channel sequences were shot over nine days in the Black Sea along the Bulgarian Coast. Of shooting in the ocean, director Joachim Rønning said that actress Daisy Ridley was "so game to do that. ... Never complaining, always going for it, lips blue and channeling Trudy Ederle."