Florence Chadwick
| Florence May Chadwick | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 9, 1918 San Diego, California |
| Died | March 15, 1995 (aged 76) San Diego, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | long distance swimming |
Florence May Chadwick (November 9, 1918 – March 15, 1995) was an American swimmer known for long-distance open water swimming. She was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, setting a time record each time. She was also the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Bosporus (one way), and the Dardanelles (round trip).
She was born in San Diego on November 8, 1918. Her parents were Richard Chadwick, a police officer, and Mary Lacko, a homemaker who later operated a San Diego restaurant. Chadwick grew up in the Point Loma neighborhood of San Diego and graduated from Point Loma Junior-Senior High School in 1936. She attended San Diego State College and studied at several law schools and a business college. She was married and divorced twice, and had no children.
Chadwick entered swimming competitions from a young age, scoring her first win the age of ten, but she realized she preferred ocean events rather than pool swims. At the age of 10 she became the youngest person to swim across the mouth of San Diego Bay. Starting at age eleven she competed in rough water swims, winning an annual 2.5-mile race in the ocean off La Jolla 10 times in 18 years. She swam in Southern California ocean races as an amateur for several decades, but had her heart set on swimming the English Channel. In 1950 she attempted to enter a 1950 Channel-swimming contest sponsored by the Daily Mail, but was refused for lack of a significant reputation. She determined to try at her own expense, failing in July after 14 hours in the water, but succeeding in August in her best-known contribution to swimming history.
On October 12, 1950, at the age of 31, she crossed the English Channel from France to England in 13 hours and 20 minutes, breaking the then-current women's record held by American swimmer Gertrude Ederle. One year later, Chadwick crossed the English Channel again, from England to France this time, in 16 hours and 22 minutes, thus making her the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, and setting a record for the England-France journey. She ultimately swam the Channel four times.
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