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could make it. She swam for another hour before asking to be pulled out, unable to see the coastline due to the fog. As she sat in the boat, she found out she had stopped swimming just one mile away from her destination. Two months later, she tried again. The same thick fog set in, but she succeeded in reaching
Catalina. She said that she kept a mental image of the shoreline in her mind while she swam. She later swam the Catalina channel on two additional occasions.
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coastline. As she began, she was flanked by small boats that watched for sharks and were prepared to help her if she got hurt or grew tired. After about 15 hours a thick fog set in. Florence began to doubt her ability, and she told her mother, who was in one of the boats, that she did not think she
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Highly accomplished as a young competitive swimmer, Chadwick won the 100-yard backstroke event at the Junior AAU National
Championship at age 14 in May 1933 with a time of 1:17, and the following August won the junior 500-meter freestyle event at the 1933 Southern Pacific National AAU Swimming and
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She died at San Diego's Mercy
Hospital of leukemia on March 15, 1995. After cremation, her ashes were scattered into the ocean off San Diego's Point Loma, not too distant from where she grew up, went to High School, and completed many of her earliest open water swims in La Jolla and San Diego
270:. One year later, Chadwick crossed the channel again, from England to France this time, in 16 hours and 22 minutes, thus making her the first woman to swim across the channel in both directions, and setting a record for the England-France journey. She ultimately swam the Channel four times.
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Chadwick entered swimming competitions from a young age, scoring her first win at the age of ten, but she realized she preferred ocean events rather than pool swims. Chadwick first began instruction and competition with 1924 Olympian
Florence Chambers, and the
241:, placed fifth. On July 4, 1933, Chadwick handily won the 600-yard Venice Roughwater Swim for Women with a time of 15 minutes flat. Chadwick swam in Southern California ocean races as an amateur for several decades, but had her heart set to
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Diving
Championships in Los Angeles. Chadwick's early instructor Florence Chambers won the 500-meter freestyle in the Women's adult division at the 1933 AAU Nationals, the same event Chadwick won as a junior competitor.
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When
Chadwick won the two-mile Los Angeles Hermosa Beach Roughwater Swim with a time of 54:23 while swimming for the San Diego Athletic Club on July 2, 1933, her early instructor
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Swim Club in San Diego at the age of 9, around 1927, and continued to swim with the
Chambers Club through around 1932, when she switched to the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
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on
November 8, 1918. Her parents were Richard Chadwick, a police officer, and Mary Lacko, a homemaker who later operated a San Diego restaurant. Chadwick grew up in the
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to design movie swimming sequences. She also worked as a credit counselor and stockbroker, and was an executive at San Diego's First Wall Street
Corporation.
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Florence
Chadwick, a long-distance swimmer who set a women's record for crossing the English Channel in 1950, died Wednesday in San Diego. She was 76. ...
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but was refused for lack of a significant reputation. Determined to complete the swim at her own expense, she failed in July after 14 hours in the water.
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Not all of her long-distance swim attempts were successful. In 1954, she tried to become the first person to swim across
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from France to England in 13 hours and 23 minutes, breaking the then-current women's record held by American swimmer
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and studied at several law schools and a business college. She was married and divorced twice, and had no children.
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During the summer of 1953, she successfully swam the Channel again (setting a new women's record), as well as the
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but gave up after becoming ill a few hours into her swim. Other unsuccessful attempts included the
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in both directions, setting a time record each time. She was also the first woman to swim the
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676:"Florence Chadwick in Weston Super Mare Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images"
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In 1950 Chadwick attempted to enter a 1950 Channel-swimming contest sponsored by the
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Notable American women: a biographical dictionary completing the twentieth century
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She gave product endorsements and served for many years as the spokesperson for
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At the age of 10, she became the youngest person to swim across the mouth of
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Florence Chadwick on TV show "What's My Line" on October 30, 1955
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What's My Line? – Florence Chadwick; Jean Simmons (Oct 30, 1955)
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Ware, Susan; Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2004).
375:. The program highlighted Chadwick's hometown of San Diego.
346:. She taught swimming at a number of venues and worked with
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Metz, Gordon, "Poway Valley Teacher of Florence Chadwick",
520:. Vol. 5. Harvard University Press. pp. 110–111.
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Venice Roughwater swim in "San Diego Girl Cops Swimfest",
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List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame
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In 1970, as a career highlight, she was inducted into the
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Singer, Jack, "Many Stars Entered in AAU Swim Tomorrow",
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In 1952, Florence attempted to swim the 26 miles between
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On August 8, 1950, at the age of 32, she crossed the
149:(November 9, 1918 – March 15, 1995) was an American
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Women in world history: a biographical encyclopedia
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Product spokesperson, credit counselor, stockbroker
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544:, 1 September 1950, Escondido, California, pg. 13.
362:In December 1951, Chadwick appeared as herself in
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517:Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary
378:On October 30, 1955, she appeared as a guest on "
570:, Los Angeles, California, 3 August 1933, pg. 23
319:, 11 miles in a record-breaking 6 hours 7 mins.
586:, Los Angeles, California, 3 July 1933, pg. 11
476:"Florence Chadwick (USA), 1970 Honor Swimmer"
193:neighborhood of San Diego and graduated from
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225:, North of San Diego, 10 times in 18 years.
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647:. Harvard University Press. pp. 110–.
557:, Pasadena, California, 14 May 1933, pg. 11
299:(setting an all-time record of 5:06), the
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771:"Queen of the Channel, Florence Chadwick"
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334:(her last major swim attempt in 1960).
803:American female long-distance swimmers
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385:In 1962, Chadwick was inducted by the
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434:. Yorkin Publications. p. 593.
195:Point Loma Junior-Senior High School
480:International Swimming Hall of Fame
394:International Swimming Hall of Fame
185:Florence May Chadwick was born in
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828:20th-century American sportswomen
818:San Diego State University alumni
389:into its Breitbard Hall of Fame.
613:"Florence Chadwick, Swimmer, 76"
582:"San Diego Girl Cops Swimfest",
428:; Klezmer, Deborah (July 2000).
243:swim across the English Channel
159:swim across the English Channel
229:Early pool and open water wins
205:Early swimming and instruction
116:Distance freestyle, backstroke
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813:Point Loma High School alumni
365:Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town
157:. She was the first woman to
16:American swimmer (1918–1995)
798:American freestyle swimmers
730:San Diego Hall of Champions
387:San Diego Hall of Champions
249:First English Channel swims
124:Florence Chambers Swim Club
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553:"Two AAU Swim Marks Set",
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126:Los Angeles Athletic Club
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808:English Channel swimmers
291:Distance swim highlights
153:known for long-distance
823:Swimmers from San Diego
199:San Diego State College
358:Recognition and honors
328:Strait of Juan de Fuca
197:in 1936. She attended
104:Long-distance swimming
599:, 5 July 1933, pg. 28
597:The Los Angeles Times
584:The Los Angeles Times
568:The Los Angeles Times
542:Weekly Times-Advocate
330:and two tries at the
147:Florence May Chadwick
80:San Diego, California
61:San Diego, California
49:Florence May Chadwick
23:Florence May Chadwick
514:Ware, Susan (2004).
167:Straits of Gibraltar
41:Personal information
690:"Florence Chadwick"
297:Strait of Gibraltar
173:(one way), and the
155:open water swimming
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736:on August 21, 2014
486:on August 26, 2014
368:musical series on
654:978-0-674-01488-6
555:The Pasadena Post
441:978-0-7876-4062-0
344:Catalina Swimwear
313:Weston-super-Mare
239:Florence Chambers
212:Florence Chambers
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74:(1995-03-15)
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793:1995 deaths
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305:Dardanelles
175:Dardanelles
782:Categories
740:August 21,
726:"About Us"
623:August 21,
490:August 21,
412:References
373:television
303:, and the
284:California
256:Daily Mail
191:Point Loma
332:Irish Sea
187:San Diego
181:Biography
400:See also
354:Harbor.
301:Bosporus
282:and the
223:La Jolla
171:Bosporus
765:YouTube
660:July 4,
447:July 4,
151:swimmer
113:Strokes
651:
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169:, the
165:, the
82:, U.S.
63:, U.S.
311:from
131:Coach
101:Sport
96:Sport
742:2014
701:2021
662:2011
649:ISBN
625:2014
522:ISBN
492:2014
449:2011
436:ISBN
121:Club
69:Died
54:Born
763:on
382:".
370:CBS
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