<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1924 Paris </Td> <Td> 100 m freestyle </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1924 Paris </Td> <Td> 400 m freestyle </Td> </Tr> <P> Gertrude Caroline Ederle (October 23, 1905--November 30, 2003) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record - holder in five events . On 6 August 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel . Among other nicknames, the press sometimes called her "Queen of the Waves ." </P> <P> Gertrude Ederle was born on October 23, 1905 in Manhattan, New York City . She was the third of six children and the daughter of German immigrants, Gertrude Anna Haberstroh and Henry Ederle . According to a biography of Ederle, America's Girl, her father ran a butcher shop on Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan . Her father taught her to swim in Highlands, New Jersey, where the family owned a summer cottage . </P>

First american woman to swim the english channel