Amelia Gade Corson
Toronto Daily Star, October 18 1926
Amelia Gade Corson (1897-1982) was from Copenhagen, but emigrated to the United States in 1919. She swam around Manhattan Island and from Albany to New York before first attempting the English Channel in 1923. She got to within two miles of her goal before the tides pushed her a further five miles away.
In 1926, Ms. Corson's swim was financed by a businessman who paid $3000 in expenses and then made a $5000 bet with Lloyd's of London that she would make it across, collecting $100,000 when she did it. Her feat earned her a ticker-tape parade in New York City.
Ms. Corson's Wikipedia page claims that her husband, rowing behind her, fed her hot chocolate, sugar lumps, and crackers as she swam the Channel. I suppose that the hot chocolate might very well have contained Bovril.
Created September 7, 2025.