Nearly 100 years ago Gertrude Caroline Ederle became the first ever woman to swim the English Channel. Her story has, of course, been well documented, having received extensive media coverage not only in East Kent but across the globe.

On the 6th August 1926, a 20-year-old American woman quite literally shocked the world by crossing the Channel in a record-breaking time of 14hrs 31mins. Having departed at 7am from Cap Gris-Nez, France, Gertrude sprang more than a surprise on the sleepy villagers of Kingsdown in coming ashore at 9.40pm in Oldstairs Bay dressed to the nines in a bikini and motorcycle goggles designed by her and her sister.

Gertrude wasn’t called ‘Queen of the Waves’ and ‘The Grease Smeared Venus’ for nothing!

Due to the extremely challenging and stormy conditions, she had to swim the equivalent of 35 miles, approximately 10 miles further than the anticipated point to point. She was forced past Dover and St Margaret’s Bay and finally made it ashore at Kingsdown. Unbelievably, Gertrude’s feat still managed to smash the records of the five previous swimmers, who had made the crossing between 1875 and 1923.

Her achievement was all the more astonishing given that Gertrude had first attempted the Channel swim only 12 months earlier, when she swam a staggering 23 miles in less than 9 hours. However, she had to be disqualified when one of her support team, thinking she was unconscious and drowning, touched her during the crossing. This automatically voided the swim. Undeterred, Gertrude vowed to try again, and her courage and determination were deservedly rewarded on her second attempt.

By the time of her death on the 30th November 2003 aged 98, the world beating accomplishments of Gertrude’s youth were largely forgotten and only journalists seemed to remember her in their articles commemorating the 5th, 10th, 15th and 25th anniversaries of her swim.

It is without question that Gertie (her family nickname) made a hugely memorable contribution in an era when many found it difficult to take female athletes seriously. Indeed, few women swam at all in those days. Her Channel swim went on to inspire thousands of women across the US and beyond, to earn their Red Cross swimming certificates during the 1920’s.

Gertrude was profoundly deaf for most of her life, initially due to measles as a child, and made worse by her swimming and love of water. She spent much of her latter life teaching deaf children how to swim………and when she came ashore in Oldstairs Bay nearly a century ago, it is that legacy that she left with Kingsdown villagers to take up and care for.

In honouring Gertrude Ederle, it is hoped that the village of Kingsdown will ensure that her achievements and influential life will survive her and endure beyond these shores.

Gertrude will be remembered forever, and her legacy will live on by fundraising for the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS), a charity that Gertrude would be immensely proud of, and wholly approve.

So Kingsdown’s tribute to our Gertie, our ‘Queen of the Waves’ is twofold: -

Firstly, a sculpture of a fish named ‘Gertie’ (of course!) has been presented to and installed in the Kingsdown pub, The Rising Sun. A small plaque beneath it, directs folk to go to the beach and visit Gertrude’s MEMORIAL. They are also invited to support her legacy by donating to the NDCS.

Dan and Toni Johnson of The Rising Sun have a collection box, and further details are in place regarding the NDCS. Moreover, in collaboration with the Channel Swimmers Association (CSA), Dan and Toni are also entitling those who have completed this iconic of challenges (solo or team) to sign their name upon the ceiling in the pub.

Secondly, and more importantly, is the installation of Gertrude’s MEMORIAL, comprising a blue plaque set into a large boulder. This has been placed on the beach by the Kingsdown Angling Club (KAC) beach hut and the slipway area, which is the home of the Kingsdown swimmers. Within 24 hours of the boulder being set upon the shingle (21st September 2023), “Kingsdowners” had christened it “GERTIE’S STONE”, a gesture of instant and affectionate bonding.

It takes special people like Gertrude Ederle to inspire others and make a difference within their lifetime. Also, when Gertrude kissed our shore in 1926, she knew she had arrived at a special place, and that Kingsdowners, too, would make a difference in her memory.

Efforts are in hand to try and trace Gertrude’s family in America in order to share with them Kingsdown’s ongoing relationship with their ancestral past.

Thank you to those of you who choose to make your donation anonymously, and thank you all: between us, we’ll make a difference