Two Girls in Swimming

Shirley May France of Somerset, Mass, had spent six weeks warming up for her second try at the English Channel. Six boatsful of reporters and radiomen were ready to follow her across. Shirley May herself was pretty confident. At 17, she was a year older, twelve pounds heavier (168), and a year wiser about the Channel than when she tried and failed last summer (TIME, Sept. 19, 1949). A little before 3 one morning last week, Shirley May, well-coated with sheep grease, waded into the water at Cap Gris Nez and struck out for Dover, 19 miles away.*

Somebody else had gone into the water a few minutes before Shirley May, but nobody had paid much attention. She was also an American, a professional swimmer named Florence Chadwick, 31, from San Diego, Calif. There had been almost no build-up for her at all. Florence had not been able to pay for the trip and training expenses, so she had taken a job as a secretary with the Arabian American Oil Co. The company had paid her way abroad; Florence had kept in practice with after-work swims in the Persian Gulf.

Florence's plan for conquering the Channel was fairly simple: just to get in and swim "as fast as I can." Her father, a retired San Diego policeman, and Trainer Henry Gunter agreed. They had watched her win the 2 1/2-mile race at La Jolla, Calif, ten times in 18 years; they thought she had the power and stamina for the Channel grind.

For the first hour, Florence swam fast --60 strokes a minute--to get away from the inshore current. Then she settled down to an eight-kick, 32-beat pace, broken only by pauses for lumps of sugar four times an hour. At 11:30 a.m., her father, following in a trawler, chalked a cheerful message on a blackboard: "Only three more miles to go."

Meantime, Shirley May too had been beating her way through the Channel for eight hours, had had cramps and violent nausea. She was asked if she wanted to quit. Shirley May shook her head emphatically. Coach Harry Boudakian gave her some food formula, and she managed to keep it down.

Those last three miles were the toughest for Florence. Much of her protective grease coating had washed off. The Channel water was numbing, the currents and choppy water off the Kentish coast had reduced her stroke to arm-dragging agony. Just 500 yards from her goal, Florence was cautioned to rest a bit. "Don't worry, I've got it made now," she shouted back. The last-minute half-pull, half-paddle up the rocks cut gashes in her hands and knees. But she scrambled ashore.

She had swum the Channel in 13 hours and 20 minutes, faster than any woman had ever done it. The old record: 14 hr. 31 min., set in 1926 by Gertrude Ederle. "It's my lucky day," said Florence Chadwick.

Out in the Channel, an exhausted, hysterical Shirley May was pulled out of the water. She had been swimming almost 14 hours, and was still six miles from shore. She was sobbing as they lifted her into the boat. The reporters were there, waiting for a statement. "Everyone's going to think I'm a flop," sobbed Shirley May.

*But more like 22, as the Channel swimmer goes, thanks to the tide.

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