Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World by Glenn Stout

Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World Reviews

• 
  Alicia

  This book was amazing. Interesting history, woman's lib, robbed childhoods, this book has it all. Did you know that Trudy Ederle invented the bikini 20 years before French engineer Louis Réard did it in 1946? She actually swam the Channel in one because she found that it had less drag than any other suits she tried.
  
  Also, did you know that Native Americans invented the crawl, or freestyle stroke? For years the breaststroke or sidestroke was thought to be superior to any other swim stroke until the Americans showed up at the Olympics and blew everyone out of the water. But this book talks about how it was discovered by an artist and displayed to the world at the world's fair (If I'm remembering correctly)
  
  And while all that is awesome and interesting, this book is about Trudy. A New York native of German descent who fell in love with the water on the Jersey shore. About the struggle of women to be treated as equals. About this history of swimming. About the fear of water. About the geological makeup of the Channel itself. About the rights of athletes. This book honestly is so amazing and will suck you in within the first few pages. I'm not kidding. If that story about the fire in the ship off Long Island doesn't get you, I don't know what will.
  
  I really want some of to read this so we can talk about it! You will not believe what happens at the Olympics in 1924. And you will NOT believe what happened the first time she tried to swim the channel. But ultimately this is a story about one woman's triumph and how she succeeded when everyone tried to tell her to get out of the water. LITERALLY. Oh, not only did she succeed, she SMASHED the record. A woman. An American Woman. Oh, and did I mention she was 19? Yeah, she was a teenager.
  
  This is the Seabiscuit of 2009. I'll go on record as stating that right now. Makes me happy to be a swimmer. And by the way, it's ok to be chubby if you are a channel swimmer. Maybe I should look into it?
• 
  Kelley

  Book read in conjunction with Book Discussion Group and Skype with the author
  
  I had never heard of Trudy Ederle before reading this biography; after finishing it, I feel like I really know who she was. This biography was so well-written and well researched that Trudy came to life for me. Trudy Ederle was truly a pioneer in women's sports.
  
  I appreciated the history given in women swimming at all. I had never heard of the steamship, "General Slocum" which burned in the East River. Most of the victims were women who simply did not know how to swim. That disaster took the largest amount of lives in New York until September 11. Because of that disaster, women would finally begin to learn to swim.
  
  Trudy, however, loved the water. She spent hours in the ocean with her sisters learning to swim. She joined the Women's Swimming Association in New York and trained for the Olympics. When that didn't go as she had hoped, she set her sights on the English Channel.
  
  Mr. Stout certainly brought Trudy Ederly into the daylight. I can see her swimming and smiling in my mind's eye. When told she should stop swimming, her answer was, "What for?" Many women who came after her asked their detractors the same question--Why should I stop?
  
  
  
  
• 
  Jack

  Very entertaining, well-researched and a great story that most people are unfamiliar with. It begins with a great mini-history of swimming and the Channel itself to set some context. It later identifies the major role Ederle played in developing audiences for women's sports and her place among other sports giants of her era such as Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. Stout's treatment of the crossing is suspenseful and riveting.
• 
  Megan

  Trudy Ederle's place in history is often overlooked.
  I come from a family of open-water swimmers. I have friends who have done solo crossings, and I myself participated in a successful relay swim across the Channel in 2007. And yet, I only vaguely knew about Trudy Ederle. My dad has long asserted that Lynne Cox (who, in 1972, finally displaced Trudy as the youngest female swimmer to make the crossing) was the one who revolutionized open-water swimming by using the Australian Crawl rather than the Trudgeon. My mom regularly confuses Ederle with Florence Chadwick, who set a speed record in 1953. In many ways, the post-Crossing section of this book reads like a tragedy -- explaining how the recipient of America's first ticker-tape parade quickly lost any chance to capitalize on her hard work, and died mostly-forgotten.
  But most of this book is a celebration. A celebration of an era where women started to come into their own, a sport came into its own, and the promise of possibility was so thick in the air that you could taste it. The author has adopted in Ederle not just a hero, but a symbol -- a girl who swam the Channel freestyle, and revolutionized a sport (prevailing wisdom at the time was that "Australian Crawl" was too taxing of a stroke for more than a few hundred yards; these days, the only reason someone would complete an open-water swim by some other method is for the publicity possibilities). Her pluck, strength, and talent shine in those passages, and the excitement that drives the writing is quite intoxicating.
  This is an extremely well-researched work; appreciation of historical context aside, I loved the interesting tidbits that Stout peppered throughout -- for example, Johnny Weissmuller was one of the few swimmers during the early 20s who was perhaps more unbeatable than Ederle (the two never went head to head because of prevailing social mores at the time, but they often headlined at the same swim meets)...a few chapters later, while detailing their trip to the 1924 Paris Olympics, you discover that the reason that name sounds so familiar is that Weissmuller later starred as Tarzan in the classic films. Who'd have known? The reader encounters historical context, social commentary, and interesting trivia page after page after page. Even when the tale veers away from Ederle herself (as it often does, in the earlier, context-setting, chapters) the information being shared is so intriguing that you want to keep reading.
  As a participant in the sport that Ederle revolutionized, I really appreciated this book. But I also enjoyed it as a feminist, a history buff, and a person who just likes a tightly-plotted, fast-paced read. It was all of these things, and worth a look.
  
  
  
• 
  Susan (aka Just My Op)

  Trudy Ederle was the first woman to swim the English Channel, and this is her story. However, it is much more than that. It is also the story, to a lesser degree, of the English Channel, of the acceptance of women athletes, of the acceptance of swimming in general and especially for women. The story opens with a tragedy on the East River. A pleasure boat carrying families caught fire and many died because they didn't know how to swim. I didn't realize that even in the early 20th century, swimming for women was taboo, considered immoral. This tragedy started a movement to teach swimming, if only for safety.
  
  Trudy must have been a remarkable young lady. She was strong and athletic, accomplishing what most other swimmers would never be able to do, but she was also very close to her family and a little naive. She was sometimes taken advantage of. She was somewhat shy and also had a hearing impairment that made her uncomfortable in crowds, detrimental to her when she became well known. The story even includes a mystery about her first attempt at crossing the channel. The book was, for the most part, well written, and includes some great photographs. For my taste, there was occasionally a little too much detail, especially about individual swimming events and times. And I think that the title, Young Woman and the Sea, doesn't really do justice to the story even though it is probably a take on
  Ernest Hemingway's
  The Old Man and the Sea. Overall, the book was both informative and entertaining.
  
  (The copy I reviewed was an ARC sent to me by a friend, and as such had quite a few typos and editing mistakes that I am assuming were corrected before the final edition was published.)
  
• 
  Maria

  Trudy's story is remarkable and the telling of it is very good. All the background information is so detailed and interesting. Her abilities as a swimmer were impressive and her achievements blew the cap off of female athletics. It's sad that the thing she loved to do impacted her hearing so much, and also led to such an overwhelming, negative experience with fame and so many lost opportunities due to poor management. Trudy's life leaves us with lots of lessons. I'm excited to watch the screen version now.
• 
  Sherry Brown

  This true story was very well written. It’s amazing what Trudy Ederle accomplished in swimming the English Channel! Her determination to not give up and keep going was stunning. Great history story!
• 
  Beth Given

  My friend Alicia recommended this one, and as a history-lover, I thought I'd try it out. The story itself is a remarkable, inspiring one. Trudy Ederle was such a fantastic swimmer at all distances, and yet she still had obstacles to overcome: social stigma (it was taboo for women to appear in bathing suits in public, and they simply weren't considered true athletes based on their gender), personal problems (she was mostly deaf, and this exacerbated her reticence toward the spotlight), and the Channel itself (which the author takes the time to cast as a very worthy opponent).
  
  Yeah, I loved the way the author told the story. It simply wouldn't do for a book about swimming to be dry (haha; that's a pun), and Stout's engaging writing style made it feel like you were there in the action, from the very first sentence of each chapter. I loved the varying viewpoints he included, and especially the way he takes the reader inside Trudy's head as she spent her 14.5 hours in the English Channel. At times it felt too dramatic to be nonfiction, and I wondered how much was true -- but he includes several citations (even for Trudy's inner thoughts as she swam) on which he based his writing, and I'm satisfied with its authenticity.
  
  I recommended this book to my mom, who is both an avid reader and swimmer, and it's her new favorite. I can see why -- Trudy Ederle was a fascinating character with a remarkable accomplishment that shaped the history of women's sports -- even women's history in general. She is someone whose story deserves to be told to our generation -- and I'm grateful for the author for doing so. An engaging, enlightening, inspiring read!
• 
  Susan

  "The Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World" is the story of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel - but it's more than that.
  
  First, a lot of history on swimming. I didn't realize that it's only been in the past 90 years or so that women were taught to swim. For much of Europe's history, swimming was thought to be ungainly and not something proper folks did. Even when men began swimming, it certainly wasn't a sport for women - for one thing, the costume! Horrors! The author recounts incidents in the early 1900s where women were arrested for public nudity while wearing bathing suits on beaches. This fear of women exposing themselves was behind much of the reluctance to see women swimming.
  
  Trudy and her sisters were in on the beginnings of women's swimming in the US, and for Trudy the water truly felt like home, partially because she was nearly deaf from a childhood bout with measles.
  
  All kinds of interesting history are recounted - men were the first to swim the English channel, often basically naked. It took quite a bit longer for a woman to do it, no doubt in large part due to the fact that many were trying to do it in cumbersome wool "swim dresses." You'll also learn why the English Channel is so difficult to swim: tides, currents, and 60-degree water all play roles.
  
  This is a fascinating tail of determination - "girl power" without all the PC feminist hype that abounds today. Highly recommended!
• 
  your mom

  I was fascinated by the story behind this book. I was mostly unaware of this tale and the writing was really excellent, drawing the reading in as if it were good fiction instead of a sports novel. Someone who is very interested in the sport of swimming might like each and every chapter, but I found about half of the chapters in the fist half of the book to be filled with too much (seemingly unnecessary) information for me. Entire chapters were dedicated to the weather, wind patterns and tides of the English Channel. As well as detailed accounts of each and every attempt made to swim it in history up until (and a few after) Trudy's successful swim.
  
  Overall a really excellent book that made me think about my role as a woman in my lifetime and shifting roles and expectations throughout recent history.
  
  
• 
  Stephanie

  I really enjoyed this book. Trudy Ederle is an inspiration-- being the first woman to swim the English Channel and faster than any man before her. I loved her attitude and determination. I enjoyed seeing her accomplishment in the context of the world around her and what was going on for women, swimming, and politics.
  
  The opening of the book is gripping with the Slocum tragedy and really sets the stage for Trudy's story. The author switches back and forth between Trudy and general swimming history in the first part of the book. While some may find the history of swimming to be lengthy and distracting, I liked it.
  
  While Trudy didn't want to be pitied or have her story seen as sad, it was pretty impossible to do so. I wish the author had done more to highlight her life achievements after swimming the channel.
• 
  Mary

  I think non-fiction, despite being my very favorite genre, either falls into two categories. 1. the best reading of all time or 2. an abysmal failure and mind numbingly boring. That being said this book falls largely in the mediocre category for me. At times I was invested and intrigued and other times I was overwhelmed with more useless information than I wanted to deal with.
  
  The book is about the first woman to swim the English channel. Now having said this I used to swim on the swim team, this is a challenge I have considered for my bucket list, and I am largely fascinated with the Channel's crazy history. So when I was in a diluge of monotony I had no idea how those less interested in the sport/history were even managing to plow through.
  
  Overall though I did like it. Just felt some of the story could have been condensed.
• 
  Jennifer

  Rather enjoyed this one, though I am definitely not a swimmer. Stout does an excellent job of keeping the relevant background details (history of swimming, geological aspects of the English Channel, various asides) brief, providing just enough information. The focus on Trudy and the people in her swimming life is at the heart of the book, and where a reader's interest lies.
  
  Even with an understanding of the culture of the early 20th Century, I was amazed (and sometimes amused) by the rather rigid, sexist views of the time. This is an excellent tale of a young woman who just wanted to swim, and was able to capitalize on the changes occurring in society that would have doomed her ambitions even 10 years earlier. A great read - although it is sad that her name and accomplishments are not better known.
• 
  Diane

  My parents were always bragging about how their high school was the first in the state to have a swimming pool, but I never understood the significance of this part of their and my PE program until reading this book. The historical nature of it really held me spellbound, as it explained how swimming stroke, and lessons evolved. Incredible! When I was a child, everyone I knew knew how to swim. It was a given. But just two generations ago, it was not. Wow! How the world changes and even simple things are taken for granted. Yes, indoor plumbing, electricity, cars, telephones, 'wireless', antibiotics - heck, plain soap and water washing, but I had never included swimming on that list until now.
• 
  Jean

  I love stories of great accomplishment. Trudy's greatest victories always came during deluge and bad weather. A great lesson for us all. Only 1 in 10 who attempt to swim the English Channel have made it . Waters of the English Channel are rarely quiet-the surf claws at each coast with ferocity in the tides and currents. I enjoyed the facts of plate techtonics, lunar orbital cycles and the strategies to be successful. Some books are worth reading twice. I will definitely read this again. I found it to be highly motivating.
• 
  Danica

  More like 3.5 stars. There were some really interesting facts in this book, and being a competitive swimmer in my past life, much of this story fascinated me. My biggest problem was with typos every few pages, and I guess the author's style of writing didn't grip me. My favorite was once she started her successful attempt at the crossing and on. I felt the writing got better at that point. Really interesting to learn about how taboo swimming for women was at the turn of the century - I really had no idea!
• 
  Laurie

  I love finding books like this that look interesting but then sort of blindside you with the quality of the writing and the originality of the subject. I knew nothing of the "early" history of swimming, or much about Channel swimming, either. Once I got past the tragedy early on, I had a hard time keeping my interest up, though. I can't really fault the subject, or the writing...it was just hard to keep going to the end. Perhaps I'll buy it when it comes out in paperback, rather than check it out of the library, so that I can take more time.
• 
  CJ

  At first I was a little irritated with Stout because he moved back and forth between telling Ederle's story and seemingly telling the stories of all the other swimmers. I quickly realized that he was setting the stage - it's impossible to understand someone's life story without understanding the time/space in which she lived.
  
  I fell in love with Trudy Ederle and her drive to swim. Even though I knew she was going to make it, I found myself on pins and needles through those chapters. An inspiring story and one well worth reading.
• 
  Fran Abel

  I loved this book. It provided all the things I love -- strong woman protagonist, history, sports, feminism, adventure -- all wrapped up into an interesting story by the author, Glenn Stout.
  
  It's always difficult to imagine how far sports and women have come so this book served as an outstanding reminder of that. In the 1920's, at a time when people said women couldn't compete with men in swimming (or almost anything), Trudy Ederle proved them wrong. She successfully swam the English Channel as the first woman, beating the previous channel swimmers (all 5 men) by 2.5 hours.
  
  
• 
  Lex Lotito

  First and foremost, Glenn Stout’s Young Woman and the Sea was very well written. Stout doesn’t just write about Trudy’s triumph, he provides relevant knowledge surrounding it - making this story much more interesting. The tone he creates is very enjoyable and accurate regarding female sports (or lack thereof) during the early 20th century.
  
  I would recommend to anyone who is interested in learning more about the history of women in sports… Well done Glenn, you created something factual and fun - a tough feat!
• 
  Nancy

  I still couldn't figure out what drove Trudy to do what she did. I had a hard time pulling out her personality. Her accomplishments were unfathomable. The first 5 mile open water swim she did with other young girls is what struck me however. A bunch of girls who normally swam short distances in pools got in cold water in the open ocean and swam 5 miles - even the 11 year old made it. Trudy was not the only amazing person in this story.
• 
  Amanda

  I never realized what an impact Trudy made on the woman's sports. Most of that was because so many women were gaining noterity around the same time that she wasn't marketed well enough. I also had very little understanding of the difficulties of swimming the English Channel. The author does a great job of storytelling--from letting us get to know Trudy, to the history of Channel swimmers, to the conditions they faced.
• 
  Amy Koester

  This story is so amazing. I had no idea the significance of Trudy Ederle being the first woman to swim the English Channel. I had no idea why swimming the Channel was such a big deal, but I certainly know now. This book puts SO many things into perspective, and the opening chapter is an example of this--so interesting. Loved it, and highly recommend it.
• 
  Audrey

  Truly a great read, but first half of the book is terribly slow with a lot of technical information and background about swimming and weather patterns. I found it hard to get through but found that in the end it helped me appreciate just what a feat it was for this young woman to accomplish. Very inspirational.