Myrtle Huddlestone (USA) & Edouard Bernat (Austria), Channel Swimming

Edouard Bernat and Myrtle Huddlestone posing in their swimming costumes in front of some beach huts at Dover

Myrtle had one unsuccessful swim of the English Channel. It was England to France, 13th September 1929, time 21hrs 13 mins. During her swim she ate digestive biscuits, and fresh pineapple. She did this swim to raise money for her son’s education – he was 12 yrs. old. She was swimming for the Dover Gold Cup which, had she been successful, would have been given £1000 in prize money

She was the World Endurance swimmer; 61hrs 30mins in a pool, Sea swimming 55 miles in 32hrs 43mins 15secs. She held 6 World Records. She was the first person to swim the 20 mile Lake Tahoe in 1931, in 22hrs 53mins. She swam the Catalina Straits, 36 miles, in 20hrs 42mins. She was taught to swim in 1926, at the age of 30. She died at the age of 39 of heart disease. She was a widow.  

Edouard Bernat was Austrian. He had one unsuccessful attempt 26th Sept 1929, England to France, time 15hrs. He was a successful Opera Singer and had been a Lance-Corporal in the army