"England or drown is my motto."

On the morning of August 6, 1926, Gertrude Ederle stood in her bathing suit on the beach at Cape Gris-Nez, France, and faced the churning waves of the English Channel.

Twenty-one miles across the perilous waterway, the English coastline beckoned.

If Trudy reached it successfully, she would be the first female swimmer, and only the sixth person ever, to do so.

In Trudy's mind, failure was not an option.

Trudy's Big Swim is the harrowing, captivating and unforgettable story of a defining moment in sports history—and the courageous athlete who made it happen.

From the dust jacket