Clara Jarvis (1883-1940) In 1912, when female swimming and diving events were first included in the Olympic programme, the British team was accompanied to Stockholm by two women, including Clara Jarvis, a swimming teacher who was instructress to the Leicester,
Agnes Alice Beckwith was born at 16b Walcot Place West, Lambeth, London, on 24 August 1861. Her father introduced her into his public swimming entertainments in 1865 and on 1 September, aged fourteen, she swam five miles from London Bridge to
Gertrude Ederle (1905-2003) The first woman to swim the Channel, “Trudy” – already a gold medallist for the US at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris – beat the best men’s time by two hours when she landed at Kingsdown