A year after we followed Annette Bening‘s moving, Oscar-nominated performance as Diane Nyad in the film Nyad, a directly connected story arrives in theaters: The Young Woman and the Sea, the extraordinary true story of Trudy Ederle, the first woman successfully swimming the English Channel in the 1920s.

Nyad, whose career has been followed in detail by the media since the 1970s, had a more recognized name than Trudy, something that caught the attention of actress and producer Daisy Ridley, the big star of the Disney production.

In the film directed by Joachim Rønning, the world will now learn the incredible story of the swimmer daughter of immigrants born in New York in 1905, who defied social norms and overcame numerous challenges to become the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

As we know, swimming is a lonely process in the water for each stroke, but there is an essential support team for the goal to be achieved. In Trudy’s case, she had the support of her older sister and demanding coaches who were crucial to her victory.

The distance of the Channel between France and England can be said to be “only” 33 kilometers, but, when swimming, it is a long 33 kilometers. Trudy’s achievement in a global period between two world wars – in 1926 – makes the whole experience even more meaningful. And the misogyny she overcame is reflected in the fact that to this day, almost 100 years later, almost no one remembers her name.

It was journalist Glenn Stout‘s book that caught Hollywood’s attention. Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World was published in 2009, and just seven years later she reached the producers of Pirates of the Caribbean. Screenwriter Jeff Nathanson was looking for empowering stories to share with his two daughters and discovered the book, convincing Disney to buy the rights.

The story takes place in New York City, at the height of the Jazz Age, with two strong women leading the action and a significant victory in the world of sport. The determination of Trudy, daughter of a German butcher, overcame a childhood illness that left her partially deaf and her father’s reluctance to let her swim to become world champion. Even more: being the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

In the meantime, Daisy, the star of the new phase of the Star Wars franchise, entered the scene and soon fell in love with the opportunity. She only found out about Trudy Ederle‘s existence when she received the script. And just as Trudy had to spend months in the water training, the actress also had to face tough training to give realism to the role, including learning to swim in cold and open waters, with all the challenges of the sport.

While Daisy had the guidance of 2016 Olympic champion, Sian Clifford, in her second attempt, Trudy had the help of Bill Burgess (Stephen Graham), the second swimmer to take on the challenge, in 1911. He was vital to her victory.

But even more than this crossing, Trudy broke no less than 29 American and world swimming records, an Olympic Gold Medal (in 1924), and when swimming in the English Channel, she completed the distance in 14 hours and a half hours, so breaking the men’s record and keeping the mark unbeaten for 35 years.

Trudy, who became known as the Queen of the Waves, ended up completely losing her hearing and spent her life teaching deaf children how to swim. I’ll be interviewing Daisy for CLAUDIA soon, but given Trudy’s fascinating discovery, I couldn’t wait to share. More coming soon!

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