Young Woman and the Sea director "baffled" true story wasn't more known
The film tells the story of American swimmer Trudy Ederle – who became the first woman to swim across the English channel in 1926.
Just a few weeks on from its theatrical release, biopic Young Woman and the Sea is arriving on Disney Plus this weekend.
The film stars Daisy Ridley as pioneering American swimmer Trudy Ederle, who became the first woman to swim across the English channel in 1926 and received a huge hero's welcome on her return – which still ranks as the biggest parade for an athlete in New York City's history.
Before that, Ederle had already won a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics in Paris – and according to the film's director Joachim Rønning, it's hard to believe that her uplifting success story is so little-known to most people today.
"I wasn't familiar at all with the story until I read Jeff Nathanson's script, almost 10 years ago," he explained in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com.
"And I was baffled that I didn't know the story – and that was actually part of the intrigue for me, that, how come I don't know this story?
"It was such a huge world event when it happened, and probably changed women's sports forever, in many ways.
"So I almost felt an obligation to retell this story, you know, to my daughters, to a modern audience, and put Trudy the back on the map."
The film ends with real-life footage of Ederle being paraded through the streets on her return to New York, and Rønning described the fact that it still holds the record as "insane".
"I'm so happy they have footage, the real footage of it, because it's almost unbelievable," he said.
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The huge public interest in the story at the time was also something that fascinated the film's producer, Hollywood veteran Jerry Bruckheimer.
"Just the fact the communications were papers, print and radio. That's it. There's no internet. There's no television. There's nothing," he said.
"Yet you saw that parade – how did that happen? I mean, the whole world was behind this girl. The entire world was watching her swim the English Channel because she was the first woman ever to do it, or even to attempt it.
"So, it's a phenomenal story. She was in the water for over 14 hours. She swam 35 miles, freezing cold water through unbelievable obstacles. So, it's... you want people to be inspired."
Young Woman and the Sea is streaming on Disney Plus from Friday 19th July – sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
