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Florence Chadwick
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 across 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).
Florence May Chadwick 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 at the age of ten, but she realized she preferred ocean events rather than pool swims. Chadwick first began instruction and competition with 1924 Olympian Florence Chambers, and the Florence Chambers Swim Club in San Diego at the age of 9, around 1927, and continued to swim with the Chambers Club through around 1932, when she switched to the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
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, North of San Diego, 10 times in 18 years.
Highly accomplished as a young competitive swimmer, Chadwick won the 100-yard backstroke event at the Junior AAU National Championship at age 14 in May 1933 with a time of 1:17, and the following August won the junior 500-meter freestyle event at the 1933 Southern Pacific National AAU Swimming and Diving Championships in Los Angeles. Chadwick's early instructor Florence Chambers won the 500-meter freestyle in the Women's adult division at the 1933 AAU Nationals, the same event Chadwick won as a junior competitor.
When Chadwick won the two-mile Los Angeles Hermosa Beach Roughwater Swim with a time of 54:23 while swimming for the San Diego Athletic Club on July 2, 1933, her early instructor Florence Chambers, placed fifth. On July 4, 1933, Chadwick handily won the 600-yard Venice Roughwater Swim for Women with a time of 15 minutes flat. Chadwick swam in Southern California ocean races as an amateur for several decades, but had her heart set to swim across the English Channel.
In 1950 Chadwick attempted to enter a 1950 Channel-swimming contest sponsored by the Daily Mail but was refused for lack of a significant reputation. Determined to complete the swim at her own expense, she failed in July after 14 hours in the water.
On August 8, 1950, at the age of 32, she crossed the English Channel from France to England in 13 hours and 23 minutes, breaking the then-current world record held by American swimmer Gertrude Ederle. One year later, Chadwick crossed the channel again, from England to France this time, in 16 hours and 22 minutes, thus making her the first woman to swim across the channel in both directions, and setting a record for the England-France journey. She ultimately swam the Channel four times.
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Florence Chadwick
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 across 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).
Florence May Chadwick 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 at the age of ten, but she realized she preferred ocean events rather than pool swims. Chadwick first began instruction and competition with 1924 Olympian Florence Chambers, and the Florence Chambers Swim Club in San Diego at the age of 9, around 1927, and continued to swim with the Chambers Club through around 1932, when she switched to the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
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, North of San Diego, 10 times in 18 years.
Highly accomplished as a young competitive swimmer, Chadwick won the 100-yard backstroke event at the Junior AAU National Championship at age 14 in May 1933 with a time of 1:17, and the following August won the junior 500-meter freestyle event at the 1933 Southern Pacific National AAU Swimming and Diving Championships in Los Angeles. Chadwick's early instructor Florence Chambers won the 500-meter freestyle in the Women's adult division at the 1933 AAU Nationals, the same event Chadwick won as a junior competitor.
When Chadwick won the two-mile Los Angeles Hermosa Beach Roughwater Swim with a time of 54:23 while swimming for the San Diego Athletic Club on July 2, 1933, her early instructor Florence Chambers, placed fifth. On July 4, 1933, Chadwick handily won the 600-yard Venice Roughwater Swim for Women with a time of 15 minutes flat. Chadwick swam in Southern California ocean races as an amateur for several decades, but had her heart set to swim across the English Channel.
In 1950 Chadwick attempted to enter a 1950 Channel-swimming contest sponsored by the Daily Mail but was refused for lack of a significant reputation. Determined to complete the swim at her own expense, she failed in July after 14 hours in the water.
On August 8, 1950, at the age of 32, she crossed the English Channel from France to England in 13 hours and 23 minutes, breaking the then-current world record held by American swimmer Gertrude Ederle. One year later, Chadwick crossed the channel again, from England to France this time, in 16 hours and 22 minutes, thus making her the first woman to swim across the channel in both directions, and setting a record for the England-France journey. She ultimately swam the Channel four times.